COR 



COR 



agreeable scent. The seeds are grateful 

 to the taste, and, incrusted with sugar, are 

 sola by the confectioners. The first sort, 

 though found wild in Essex, where it has 

 bt-cn long cultivated, is not a native of 

 this country. They are both brought 

 from the South of Europe, China, and 

 Cochin China. 



COKIARIA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Dioecia Decandria class and order. Es- 

 sential character : calyx five-leaved ; co- 

 rolla five petalled, very ttke the calyx. 

 Male, anthers two parted : female, 

 styU s five ; seeds five, covered with suc- 

 culent berried petals. There are three 

 species. 



CORIS, in botany, a genus of the Pen- 

 tandria Monogynia class and order. Na- 

 tural order of Lysimachiae, Jussieu. Es- 

 sential character: corolla one-petalled, 

 irregular ; calyx spinou* ; Capsule tive- 

 valved superior. There is but one spe- 

 cies, viz. C. monspeliensis, Montpelier 

 coris. This plant is seldom more than 

 six inches high, and spreads near the 

 surface of the ground like heath. It 

 flowers in June, and makes a very pretty 

 appearance. There are two varieties of 

 this plant, one with a red, and tiie other 

 with a white flower. Native of the South 

 of France. 



CORISPERMUM, in botany, a genus 

 of the Monanciria Digynia class and or- 

 der. Natural order of Oleraceae. Atripli- 

 ces, Jussieu. Essential character: calyx 

 none ; petals two : seed one, oval, naked. 

 There are two species, viz. C. hys- 

 sopifolium, hyssop-leaved tickseed, and 

 C. squarrosum, rough spiked tickseed. 

 These plants having little beauty are sel- 

 dom cultivated, except in botanic gardens. 

 They are natives of Russia. 



CORK, is a substance analogous to 

 wood, it is the exterior bark of a tree be- 

 longing to the genus oak, which grows 

 wild in the southern parts of Europe. 

 When the tree is fourteen or fifteen 

 years old it is fit to be barked, and may 

 be done successively for several years. 

 The bark always grows up again, and its 

 quality improves as the age of the tree 

 increases. If the bark is not taken off in 

 due time, it splits and peels off' by itself, 

 being pushed away by the second 



fro \vth. The best bark comes from 

 pain and Portugal : it is taken off in 

 sheets, care being used in keeping them 

 as large as possible. After it is detached 

 from the tree the Portuguese burner char 

 it, laying the convex side of the bark to 

 the fire in order to straighten and swell 

 it. It is then piled in stacks ready for sale. 



Cork is formed into soles for shoes, 

 into corks and bungs for stopping bot- 

 tles, &c. into a floatage for the nets of 

 fishermen ; it is employed generally, 

 though perhaps with a considerable de- 

 gree of error, in teaching the art of 

 swimming; it is also ingeniously used, 

 on account of its lightness, when an am- 

 putation of the human leg has been ne- 

 cessary, to supply the deficiency ; the 

 Spaniards line stone walls with it, which 

 not only renders their houses very warm, 

 but corrects the moisture of the air ; the 

 Egyptians made coffins of it, which, be- 

 ing covered in the inside with a re- 

 sinous composition, preserved their dead 

 bodies. It is burnt to make that light 

 black substance called Spanish black, 

 from its having been first made in 

 Spam 



Cork bark has not only been applied 

 as above, but also in the preservation of 

 life when endangered by shipwreck ; the 

 most conspicuous exhibition of its advan- 

 tages is in the application of it in the 

 construction of the " life boat," or " cork 

 boat," as it was originally called. See 

 BOAT, life. 



A cork jacket too has been revived 

 from an old German discovery, by Mr. 

 Dubourg, to preserve the lives of persons 

 in danger of drowning, which is construct- 

 ed as follows : pieces of cork about ihiee 

 inches long by two wide, and tne usual 

 thickness of the bark, <*re inclosed oe- 

 tween two pieces of strong cloth or can- 

 vass, and formed like a jacke; without 

 sleeves ; the pieces of cloth are sewed to- 

 gether round each piece of cord, 16 keep 

 them in their proper situations ; vti.- lower 

 part of the jacket, about the hips, is 

 made like the same part of wont ens' 

 stays, to give freedom to the thighs in 

 swimming: it is made sufficiently large 

 to fit a robust man, and is secured to the 

 body by two or three strong tapes sewed 

 far back on t-.ach side, and tied before ; 

 the strings are thus placed, to enable any 

 wearer to tighten it to his own conve- 

 nience. Cork in its action lias the elas- 

 ticity of a spring, and when pressed into 

 any aperture, its exerts u force acting out- 

 wardly on all sides from the centre. It is 

 this quality that makes it valuable in 

 shutting out the external air from hquors 

 and elastic fluids ; ani it is fitted for this 

 purpose in a degree proportioned to the 

 impermt ability of its pores. The elas- 

 ticity of cork has also been employed for 

 many other purposes in the arts ; it forms 

 the spring of the lifter in ordinary candle- 

 sticks, and where the frame is not 



