C RE 



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CRE 



valves of the shells becoming very thick 

 by age. 



CHAT^'GCS, a genus of permanent plants, 

 of which the hawthorn and wild service- 

 tree are species. Icooandria bitjynia. 

 Name from x^a-nia, to be strong. 



CRAT-S'VA., a genus of plants. Polyan- 

 dria JHonoyynia. Nam from x^airato;, 

 strong, in allusion to the strong alliaceous 

 odour of the fruit of most, of the species, 

 which has acquired for it the name of 

 garlic peart. The bark of the C. tapia is 

 a bitter tonic much esteemed in India as 

 a febrifuge. 



CIIA\'OX, from Fr. craie, chalk ; a gene- 

 ral name for all slender, soft, and friable 

 cylinders variously coloured, for delineat- 

 ing figures upon paper, usually called 

 chalk drawings. Red. green, brown, and 

 other coloured crayons are made with 

 fine pipe or china clay paste, intimately 

 mixed with earthy or metallic pigments, 

 then moulded and dried. Lithographic 

 crayons are made of lamp-black , shell-lac, 

 hard tallow-soap, and white wax, fused 

 together and cast in a mould of the re- 

 quired size. 



CREAM OF TARTAR, bitartrate of potash. 

 or the whke tartar of commerce freed 

 from its impurities. 



CRE'ANCE. In falconry, a fine small line 

 fastened to a hawk's beak when she is 

 first lured. 



CRE'ASOTE, from xpoe,;, flesh, and (, 

 to preserve;an oily, colourless, transparent 

 liquid, of a penetrating odour, resembling 

 that of smoked meat, and of a burning 

 and exceedingly caustic taste: obtained 

 most easily from tar. It takes its name 

 from its antiseptic property. 



CREDEN'DA. In theology, things to be 

 believed : articles of faith ; in distinction 

 from agenda or practical duties. 



CREDENTIALS, LETTERS or, the letter 

 from one monarch to another, constituting 

 the evidence of the validity of the title 

 of a minister at a foreign court. 



CRED'IT. In commerce, the term used 

 to express the trust or confidence placed 

 by one individual in another, when he 

 assigns him money or other property in 

 loan, or without stipulating for its imme- 

 diate payment. The party who lends is 

 said to give credit, and the party who 

 borrows to obtain credit. 



CREEK, Sax. crecea. In geography, a 

 ehore or bank on which the water beats, 

 running in a small channel from the sea. 

 In the United States, creek is synonymous 

 with rivulet. 



CREEL. A fish-basket. 



CREE'PER. 1. In botany, creeping plants 



are called creeper*. 2. In ornithology, a 



name common to all the species of the 

 pcnus Certhia, Lin., from their habit of 

 Climbing tree* like WOOdOWkert. 



CREE'PERS, an instrument of iron, with 

 hooks or claws, for drawing up things 

 from the bottom of a well, pit, &c., or for 

 dredging the bottom of a river, &c., in 

 search of something, as the body of a 

 drowned person. 



CREMO'NA, a general title for the violins 

 made at Cremona in Italy, during the 

 17th and 18th century, chiefly by the 

 Aiuati family. 



CRE'NATE, Lat. crenatvt, notched or 

 scolloped. Applied to objects in natural 

 history when the indentations on the 

 borders, as of leaves, are rounded and not 

 sufficiently deep to be called teeth. 



CRENEL'LE, in Gothic architecture, the 

 opening of an embattled parapet. 



CHEN'ULATE (dim. of crenate) ; indented 

 round the margin with small notches. 



CRE'OLES, the descendants of whites 

 born in Mexico, South America, and the 

 West Indies, in whom the European blood 

 has been imniixed with that of other 

 races. 



CKE'PAXCE, \ A chop in one of a horse's 



CRE'PANE. ) hind legs, caused by the 

 shoe of the other hind foot crossing and 

 striking it. This sometines degenerates 

 into an ulcer. 



CRE'POX, a fine stuff made either of fine 

 wool, or of wool and silk, of which the 

 warp is twisted much harder than the 

 weft. The crepons of Naples consist alto- 

 gether of silk. 



CREPCSCULA'RIA, a family of Lepidopte- 

 rous insects in the system of Cuvier, 

 composing the genus Sphinx of Linnjeus ; 

 name from creptisculum , twilight, as 

 " these lepidoptera appear only in the 

 morning or evening." 



CRESCEN'DO (Ital.) In music, when the 

 volume of sound is increased from soft to 

 loud, marked thus ~ 



CRES'CENT, from crescens, growing. In 

 heraldry, an honourable ordinary in the 

 form of a new moon or crescent. 



CRESCEN'TiA,the Calabash tree: a genus. 

 Didynamia Angiospermia. Name from 

 cresco, in allusion to the rapid growth and 

 large size of the nut or fruit. Natives of 

 the West Indies and South America. 



CRESS. A number of plants which have 

 a more or less pungent flavour are called 

 cresses. The garden and sciatic cresses 

 are species of the genus Lepidium; the 

 water and wild cresses belong to the 

 genus Sysimbrium. 



CREST, from Norm, crest, it rises. A 

 term used in armoury to signify the top 

 part of the helmet generally ornamented ; 

 and in heraldry, that part of the casque 

 or helmet next the mantle. 



CRETA'CEOCS GROUP. In geology, a group 

 of strata comprising those from the chalk 

 of Maestricht to the lower greeu sand- 

 stone inclusive. These strata are all 



