CER 



ER 



in England. It runs on the bark of a tree 

 with extreme ease and rapidity, and the 

 instant it perceives a human being near, 

 it conceals itself on the opposite side of 

 the trunk or branch, repeating this move- 

 ment according to the corresponding 

 movement of the person whose notice it 

 wishes to avoid, and thus perpetually en- 

 deavouring, and almost in all cases with 

 success, to evade the observation of its 

 pursuer. It feeds almost solely on in- 

 sects, which it finds in the hollows, and 

 among the moss of trees. 



C. Lotenia, or Loten's creeper, is a 

 native of Ceylon and Madagascar. It 

 builds its nest" of the down of plants, and 

 is subjected to the hostility of a spider 

 in those countries, nearly as large as it- 

 self, which pursues it with extreme ar- 

 dour, and delights in sucking the blood of 

 its young. 



C. ccerulea, or blue creeper, is an inha- 

 bitant of Cayenne, and is remarkable for 

 the ingenuity it exhibits in the construc- 

 tion of its nest, by which it precludes 

 any attack from the monkeys and snakes, 

 as well as lizards, which abound in that 

 country. This nest is suspended from 

 some slender twig at the end of a branch, 

 to which those animals dare not venture, 

 as it would be too weak to support them. 

 The entrance to the nest is towards the 

 ground, and about a foot distant from 

 the body of it, to which the bird climbs 

 through a narrow neck of this extraordi- 

 nary length. 



C. sannio, or mocking creeper, is found 

 in New-Zealand, has an agreeable note, 

 and can so modulate its voice, as seemingly 

 to imitate the notes of all birds : hence it 

 is called the mocking creeper. See Plate 

 IV. Aves, fig. 3. 



CERTIFICATE, in law, a writing made 

 in any court, to give notice to another 

 court of any thing done therein. The 

 clerks of the crown, assize, and the peace, 

 are to make certificates into the King's 

 Bench, of the tenor of all indictments, 

 convictions, outlawries, &c. 



CERTIORARI, a writ which issues out 

 of the chancery, directed to an inferior 

 court, to call up the records of a cause 

 there depending 1 * in order that justice 

 may be done. And this writ is obtained, 

 upon complaint that the party who seeks 

 it has received haM usage, or is not like 

 to have an impartial trial in the inferior 

 court. A certioyari is made returnable 

 either in the Kind's Bench, Common 

 Pleas, or in Chancery. 



It is not only issued out of the Court of 

 Chancery, but likewise out of the King's 

 Bench, in which last-mentioned court it 



lies, where the King- would be certified 

 for a record. Indictments from inferior 

 courts, and proceedings of the quarter 

 sessions of the peace, may also be re* 

 moved into the King's Bench by a cer- 

 tiorari ; and here the very record must 

 be returned, and not a transcript of it ; 

 though usually in Chancery, if a certiorari 

 be returnable there, it removes only a 

 tenor of the record. 



CERVICAL nerves, in anatomy, are 

 eight pair of nerves, so called, as having 

 their origin in the neck. 



CERUMEX, is a viscid yellow-colour- 

 ed liquid secreted by the glands of the 

 auditory canal, which gradually becomes 

 concrete by exposure to the air. It has 

 an orange-yellow colour and a bitter taste. 

 When slightly heated upon paper, it 

 melts, and stains the paper like an oil ; 

 at the same time it emits a slightly aro- 

 matic odour. On burning coals it softens, 

 emits a white smoke, which resembles 

 that given out by burning fat ; it after- 

 wards melts, swells, becomes dark-co- 

 loured, and emits an ammoniacal and em- 

 pyreumatic odour. A light coal remains 

 behind. When agitated in water, ceru- 

 men forms a kind of emulsion, which 

 soon putrefies, depositing at the same 

 time white flakes. Alcohol, when as- 

 sisted by heat, dissolves five-eighths of 

 the cerumen ; the three-eighths which 

 remain behind have the properties of al- 

 bumen, mixed however with a little oily 

 matter. 



Ether also dissolves this oily body ; 

 but it is much less bitter and much 

 lighter coloured. When the albuminous 

 part of cerumen is burnt, it leaves traces 

 of soda and of phosphate of lime. From 

 these facts, Vauquelin considers ceru- 

 men as composed of the following sub- 

 stances : 



1. Albumen 



2. An inspissated oil 



3. A colouring matter 



4. Soda 



5. Phosphate of lime. 

 CERUSSE, or -white lead, a substance 



compounded of the acetic acid and lead. 

 It is formed by the metal plates of lead 

 being exposed to the vapours arising from 

 boiling vinegar, and the metal being oxy- 

 dized by the action of the air, aided by 

 the affinity of the acid. This has been 

 regarded either as an oxide or a sub-car- 

 bonate of lead; though it appears pro- 

 bable that it should contain some acetic 

 acid. It serves as the basis from which 

 the more perfect salt, the sugar of lead 

 of commerce, is formed ; the cerusse, in 

 fine powder, is boiled in distilled vinegar. 



