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CCR'RTING, from corium, a hide, and 

 rado. to scrape ; the art of dressing skins 

 a^tcr they are tanned, for the purposes of 

 the shoemaker, coach and harness maker, 

 &c., or of giving them the necessary 

 lustre, colour, and pliancy. 



CUR'SITOR, from curso, to run ; a clerk 

 of the Court of Chancery, whose business 

 is to make out original writs. In the sta- 

 tute 18 Edw. III., the cursitors (24 in 

 number) are called d'erks of course. 



CCR'SOR (Latin), a runner ; a small slid- 

 ing piece of brass in some mathematical 

 Instruments, as the piece of anequinoxial 

 ring-dial, which slides to the du.v of the 

 mouth ; the point that slides along the 

 beam-compass, &c. 



CCRSO'RIA, a family of insects, order 

 Orthoptera, Cuv. The posterior legs as 

 well as the others are solely adapted for 

 running, whence the name, from cursor, a, 

 runner. The earwigs and cockroaches 

 are examples. 



CURSO'RIUS, a genus of birds, order 

 Grnllatoriee ; family Pressirostres. The 

 lesrs are long, and adapted for running, 

 whence the name, from cursor, a runner. 



CCR'TAIN. In military affairs, that part 

 of a rampart which lies between two 

 bastions. 



CURTA'NA, the sword of Edward the 

 Confessor, having its edge blunted, as an 

 emblem of mercy. 



CURTEST or COURTESY of ENGLAND, is 

 the right of a husband to hold his wife's 

 lands after her death for his life. 



CCR'TATE DISTANCE. In astronomy, the 

 distance of a planet's place from the sun 

 or earth, reduced to the ecliptic, *>r the in- 

 terval between the sun and earth, and 

 that point where a perpendicular let fall 

 from the planet, meets with the ecliptic. 



CC'RDLE MAGISTRATES, were those of 

 the greatest dignity in the Roman em- 

 pire, and were distinguished by the 

 privilege of sitting upon ivory chairs 

 (sellai curules) in the exercise of their 

 functions. 



CpR'vATtrRE. In geometry, the bending 

 by which a line becomes a curve of any 

 particular form and properties. 



CCRVE, from curvo, to bend A curve or 

 curved line is that of which no portion, 

 however small, is straight. A crooked line 

 may be either a curved line or the junc- 

 tion of two or more straight lines drawn 

 in different directions. The variety of 

 curves are innumerable, i.e., they have 

 different degrees of curvature, but those 

 most frequently referred to, besides the 

 circle, are the ellipsis, the parabola, the 

 hyperbola, and the cycloid. A. curve of 

 double curvature is one in which all the 

 parts are not situated in the same plane, 

 and which can only be traced upon a 

 curve surface. 



CIRYET', FT. covrbette; It.cortetta; Sp. 



corveta ; a particular leap of a horse, 

 when he raises both his fore legs at once, 

 equally advanced, and as his fore legs are 

 descending he raises his hind legs, so that 

 all his four legs are up at once. 



CUSP, from cuspis, a point ; a point or 

 horn of the moon or other luminary. This 

 term is also applied to the pendents in the 

 gothic style of architecture ; assembled 

 they form trefoils, quatrefoils, &c. 



CUS'PIDATE, Lat. cuspidatus, sharp- 

 pointed ; applied to leaves, &c. which, ter- 

 minate in a spine. 



CUS'TOM ART FREEHOLD. In law, is a su- 

 perior kind of copyhold, the tenant hold- 

 ing, as it is expressed, by copy of court 

 roll, but not at the will of the lord. 



CUS'TOM-HOUSE, the house or office 

 where commodities are entered for im- 

 portation or exportation ; where the du- 

 ties, bounties, or drawbacks payable or 

 receivable upon such importation or ex- 

 portation are paid, and where ships are 

 cleared out, &c. 



CCSTOM. In law,\ong established usage, 

 which constitutes the unwritten law, and 

 long consent, which gives it authority. 



CUS'TOMS. In commerce, duties charged 

 upon commodities on their being im- 

 ported into or exported out of a country. 



CUS'TOS (Latin), a keeper, as, (1). C. 

 brevium, the principal clerk of the Court 

 of Common Pleas, who keeps all the writs 

 made returnable in that court ; (2). C. 

 rotulorum, an officer who has the care of 

 the rolls and records of the sessions of 

 peace; also of the commission of the 

 peace. 



CCS'TOS MES'SIUM. In astronomy, an as- 

 terism named in honour of the astrono- 

 mer Messier, and in allusion to his name 

 it is called the Guardian of the Harvests, 

 Rt. asc. 35 and Decl. 68 N. 



CU'TICLE, Lat. cutis, skin. In anatomy, 

 the scarf-skin. In botany, the thin vesi- 

 cular membrane that covers the exter- 

 nal surface of vegetables. 



CUT'TER. In marine language, a small 

 vessel with one mast, and sloop-rigged, 

 constructed for swift sailing ; also a small 

 boat attached to a ship of war: it has 

 six oars. 



CUT'TLEFISH, the sepia of Linnaeus ; more 

 strictly the sepia of Lamarck. See SEPIA. 



CUT'TY-STOOL. In Scottish kirks, a small 

 gallery near the roof (more commonly a 

 bench or chair), painted black, in which 

 the offenders against chastity are obliged 

 to sit during the performance of the ser- 

 vice for three sabbaths, subjected to the 

 rebukes of the minister. 



COT-WATER. Of a ship, the sharp part 

 of the head under the beak or figure. 



CY'AN ATE, a salt formed by the union of 

 the cyanic acid with a salifiable base. 



CT'ANIC ACID, an acid obtained br S*- 

 rullas, iii 1829, from perchloride 



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