COR 



247 



COS 



found chiefly in the knots and contracted 

 parts of stems. 



CORPUSCULAR ACTION, the action of 

 corpuscles on each other, by which all 

 chemical action takes place. 



COR'PUS JU'RIS, the collection of the 

 authentic works containing the Roman 

 law, as compiled under Justinian. 



CORRESPONDENCE. In fine arts, the fitting 

 of the parts of a design to one another. 



COR'RIDOR, from Ital. corridore. A long 

 passage or gallery in a building, connected 

 with various departments, and sometimes 

 running round a quadrangle. In fortifi- 

 cation, a covertway. See COVERTWAY. 



CORRO'SIVE StJB'LiMATE, perchloride of 

 mercury, highly poisonous. 



COR'RCGATE, Lat. ruga, wrinkle. In 

 zoology, applied to the surface of an ani- 

 mal which rises and falls in parallel 

 angles. 



CORRTTGA'TOR, Lat. from comigo, to 

 wrinkle. A muscle, the office of which 

 is to wrinkle or corrugate the part it 

 acts on. 



CORRTJP'TION, from con, and rupto, to 

 break. In law, the term is used in the 

 sense of taint, the consequence of an act 

 of attainder. 



CORSE'LET (Fr.) 1. An ancient piece of 

 armour to cover the body, worn by pike- 

 men. 2. The trunk of insects. 



COR'TZS, the Spanish name of the states 

 of the kingdom, composed of nobility, 

 clergy, and representatives of cities : 

 from corte, a court. The Assembly of 

 Cortes answers in some measure to the 

 Parliament of Great Britain. 



COR'TICAL, Lat. corticalis, resembling 

 bark. Applied in anatomy to the exter- 

 nal portions of the brain and kidney. 



CORTI'CIPERS, Lat. cortex, bark, and fero, 

 I carry. Those polyps whose substance 

 is spread over a central axis. 



COH'TICOSE, Lat. corticosus, like bark or 

 rind. Applied, in botany, to hard woody 

 pods. 



COR'TILE (Ital.), an open quadrangular 

 or curved area in a dwelling-house, in- 

 closed by the building itself. 



COR'TIXA (Lat.), a kind of table; a term 

 used in describing fungi, to denote that 

 portion of the velum which adheres to 

 the margin of the pileus in fragments. 



CORUN'DCM, a very hard genus of alum- 

 inous minerals, of which the species are 

 dodecahedral corundum, e. g. spinel, 

 octahedral corundum, e. g. automilite, 

 rhombohedral corundum, e. g. sapphire, 

 and prismatic corundum, e. g. chryso- 

 beryl. 



CO'RUS, a Jewish measure, answering to 

 the omer = 75 galls. 5 pta. for liquids, 

 and -- 32 pks. 1 pt. for corn, &c. 



COR'VEE (Fr.) In feudal law, the obli- 

 gation of the inhabitants of a district to 

 do certain services to the king, as the 



repair of roads, either gratuitously, or at 

 a rate less than the value of the work 

 done 



CORVET', Fr. corvette, Sp. corveta ; a 

 sloop of war. 



COR'VUS (Lat.), a raven. 1. In orni- 

 thology, a genus of passerine birds, com- 

 prising the raven, crow, rook, and jack- 

 daw. - 2. In astronomy, the crow, one 

 of the old constellations lying south of 

 Virgo, north of Hydra, east of Crater, and 

 west of Hydra Continua. 



CORTBAN'TES, in Grecian mythology, 

 were the priests of Cybele. 



CORYCE'UM. In ancient architecture, an 

 apartment in a gymnasium. 



CORTD'ULINE, an alkaline substance ob- 

 tained from the corydalis bulbosa. 



COR'YLUS, the hazel-nut tree : a genus of 

 seven species. Monaecia Polyandria. 

 There is only one British species, the C. 

 avellana. Name *eyAe? , of unknown ' 



origin. 



COR'YMB, from corymbus, a cluster of 

 berries, &c. ; a species of inflorescence 

 formed by many flowers, the partial 

 flower-stalks of which are gradually 

 longer, as they stand lower on the com- 

 mon stalk, so that all these flowers are 

 nearly on a level. 



COR'YPHA, a genus of palms. Hexan- 

 dria Monogynia. Fan-palm, Talipot- 

 palm Indies and New South "Wales. 

 Name from %/>i/<pyi, height, in allusion 

 to the majestic height of some of the 

 species. 



CORYTHA'IX, a genus of birds. The 

 Touracos order Scansorice. Named from 

 the head being furnished with an erectile 

 tuft. Plumage green, and quill of the 

 feather crimson. Natives of the Cape of 

 Good Hope. 



COR'-JTHCS, a genus of passerine birds : 

 the Pine Grosbeak is a species. Name 

 from xegfl, a helmet. 



CO-SECANT, the secant of the comple- 

 ment of any arc or angle. 



COS'INAGE, from Fr. cousinage, kindred ; 

 a term used in law to designate a writ to 

 recover possession of an estate in lands 

 when a stranger has entered and abated, 

 after the death of the tresail, or the 

 grandfather's grandfather, or other col- 

 lateral relation. 



CO'SINB, the sine of the complement of 

 any given arc or angle. 



COS'MICAL, from xoo-pixos, relating to 

 the world ; an astronomical term for one 

 of the poetical risings of a star : thus a 

 star is said to rise cosmically when it rises 

 with the sun. 



COS'MOLABB, from xoirf&ef, the world, 

 and Aaa&XK!*, to take ; an ancient instru- 

 ment for measuring distances, either 

 celestial or terrestrial, much the same aa 

 the astrolabe. 



