C O V 



250 



C U A 



COUPLES. In architecture, rafters framed 

 together in pairs, with a tie fixed above 

 their feet. 



COUP'LING-BOX. An iron cylinder for 

 connecting shafts of machinery. 



COUPU'RE. In fortification, a passage 

 cut through the glacis, in the re-entering 

 merle of the covert-way, to facilitate the 

 sallies of the besieged. 



COVHANT, Fr. running. Applied in he- 

 raldry to any animal borne in an escutch- 

 eon in a running attitude. 



COURSE, Fr. from Lat. curro, to run. 1. 

 In navigation, that point of the horizon or 

 compass which a vessel steers on, or the 

 angle which the rhomb-line makes with 

 the meridian. 2. In building, a con- 

 tinued layer of bricks or stones. 3. 



Among slaters, a row of slates or tiles, 



arranged with their lower ends level. 



4. In architecture, the course of the face 

 of an arch is the arch-stones which have 

 their joints radiating to the centre ; the 

 course of a plinth is its continuity in the 

 face of the wall. A bond course is further 

 inserted into the wall than those adjacent. 



COURSE or EXCHANGE. In commerce, the 

 price or rate at which the currency of one 

 country is exchanged for that of another, 

 supposing the currencies of both to be of 

 the precise weight and purity fixed by 

 their respective mints. 



COURSES. In a ship, the principal sails, 

 as the main-sail, fore-sail, and mizen. 

 Sometimes the name is given to the stay- 

 sails of the lower masts ; also to the main 

 stay-sails of all brigs and schooners. 



COCRSING-JOINT, one between two 

 courses of masonry. 



COURT-BARON, a court held by every 

 lord of a manor within the same ; punish- 

 ment is by amercement. 



COURT-LEET, a court of record, held 

 once a year in a particular hundred, lord- 

 ship, or manor, before the steward of the 

 leet. 



COURT-MARTIAL, a. court consisting of 

 military or naval officers, for the trial of 

 military or naval offenders. 



COURT or CONSCIENCE, a court for the 

 determination of cases where the debt or 

 damage is under 40s. 



COURT-PLAISTER, a plaister made by co- 

 vering black silk with a mixture of balsam 

 of benzoin and isinglass. 



COUSINET', ) the stone which is placed 



CUSHION, / on the impost of a pier, to 

 icceive the first stone of the arch ; also, 

 the part of the front of an Ionic capital 

 between the abacus and echinus. 



COVE-BRACKETING. In architecture, is 

 generally applied to that of the quadrantal 

 cove. 



COVED AND FLAT CEILING, a ceiling in 

 which the section is the quadrant of a 

 circle, rising from the walls, and inter- 

 secting in a flat surface. 



COV'ENAST. In history, the famous bond 

 of association adopted by the Scottish 

 Presbyterians, in 1638. In a theological 

 sense, it is a promise made by God to man 

 upon certain conditions. In law, it is an 

 engagement under seal, to do or to omit 

 a direct act; it is also a form of action, 

 which lies where a party claims damage* 

 for breach of a covenant under seal. 



COVENAX'TERS, the great body of the 

 Scottish people, who at the era of the Ke- 

 formation, in 1638, and several times 

 afterwards, subscribed the National Co- 

 venant. 



COVERTS. In ornithology, the feathers 

 attached to the wings. 



COV'ERTL-RE. In law, the state of a 

 married woman, who is considered as 

 under cover, or the power of her husband, 

 and therefore called a femme-covert, or 

 feme-convert. 



COVERT-WAT. In fortification, a level 

 space of about 20 ft. broad from the side 

 of the ditch , surrounding half-moons, &c. 

 It has usually a parapet, with palisades 

 down the middle, and a foot-bank, and is 

 sometimes called the corridor. 



COVER-WAY, the recess left in brick- 

 work for the reception of the roofing. 



COVIN. In law, a collusive agreement 

 between two or more to prejudice a third 

 person. The term is from Norman coryne, 

 a secret place of meeting. 



COV'ING, from cove, a term used in ar- 

 chitecture, to denote the projection of the 

 upper stories of houses over the lower. 

 The covings of a fireplace are the inclined 

 vertical parts of the sides. 



COW-POX. This name may be given to 

 any pustulous disease affecting the cow, 

 but it is especially applied to that which, 

 appears on the teats, in the form of vesi- 

 cles of a blue livid colour : they contain 

 the virus called vaccine. The same virus 

 may be obtained from the heel of a horse, 

 when affected by the disease called the 

 grease. 



COWQUAKES, the quaking grass; names 

 common to all the species of the genus 

 Briza. 



COW'RT, a small shell brought from the 

 Maldives, which passes current as coin 

 in small payments in Hindostan, and 

 throughout extensive districts in Africa. 



COW'SLIP or Cow's- LIP, a species of Pri- 

 mula or primrose of several varieties. 

 The American cowslip belongs to the 

 genus Dodecatheon ; the Jerusalem and 

 mountain cowslip to the genus Pulmon- 

 aria. 



C. P. S. stand for Gustos privati sigilli, 

 i. e. keeper of the privy seal. 



CR. In book-keeping, an .abbreviation of 

 the word creditor. 



CRAB, Sax. crabba. 1. In natural his- 

 tory (see CANCER). 2. In astronomy (see 



CA>-CEB). 3. In botany, the wild apple- 





