CUT 



CUT 



notary has entered the verdict and judg- 

 ment thereupon into the rolls of the court, 

 he delivers them over to the custos brefvi- 

 um, who binds them into a bundle. The 

 custos brevium makes likwise entries o^ 

 writs of covenant; and the concord upon 

 every fine : by him also are made out 

 exemplifications and copies of all writs 

 and records in his office, and of all fines 

 levied, wnich, being- engrossed, are divid- 

 ed between him and the chirographer, 

 which last keeps the writ of covenant 

 and the note ; and the former the con- 

 cord and foot of the fine. The custos 

 brevium is made by the king's letters pa- 

 tent. 



CUSTOS rotulonim, an officer who has 

 the custody oi the rolls and records of 

 the sessions of peace, and also of the 

 commission of the peace itself. He usu- 

 ally .ssonie person of quality, and always 

 a justice of the peace, of the quorum in 

 the county where he is appointed. This 

 officer is made by writing under the 

 king's sign manual, being the Lord Chan- 

 cellor's warrant to put him in commission. 

 He may execute his office by a deputy, 

 and is empowered to appoint the clerk of 

 the peace, but he may not sell the place, 

 on divers penalties. 



CUTICLE, cuticula, in anatomy, a 

 thin membrane, closely lying upon the 

 skin or cutis, of which it seems a part, 

 and to which it adheres very firmly, being 

 assisted by the intervention of the corpus 

 reticulare. 



CUTIS, the skin, in anatomy, is that 

 strong covering which envelopes the 

 whole external surface of animals. It is 

 composed chiefly of a thin white elastic 

 layer on the outside, called the epidermis 

 or cuticle, and a thicker layer, composed 

 of fibres thickly interwoven, and dispos- 

 ed in different directions, which is the 

 cutis or real skin. The epidermis is that 

 part of the skin which is raisedrtn^bjlisters. 

 This is readily separated from the cutis 

 by maceration in hot wj*ter. It is very 

 elastic, and in soluble in water and alcohol. 

 Pure fixed alkalies and lime dissolve it 

 entirely. Mr. Hatchett, from many ex- 

 periments, has shewn that the epidermis 

 resembles albumen in many of its pro- 

 perties, or rather that it is nothing more 

 than a peculiar modification of coagulated 

 albumen. The cutis is a thick dense 

 membrane, composed of fibres inter- 

 woven like the texture of a hat. When 

 it is macerated some hours in water, and 

 agitation and pressure are employed to 

 accelerate the effect, the blood, and all 

 the extraneous matter with which it was 



loaded, are separated from it, but its tex- 

 ture remains unaltered. On evaporating 

 the water employed, a small quantity of 

 gelatine may be obtained. No subse- 

 quent maceration in cold water has any 

 farther effect. When distilled, it yields 

 the same products as fibrin. The con- 

 centrated alkalies dissolve it, converting 

 it into oil and ammonia. Weak acids 

 soften it, render it transparent, and at 

 last dissolve it. Nitric acid converts it 

 into oxalic acid and fat, while, at the 

 same time, azotic gas and prussic acid 

 are emitted. When heated, it contracts, 

 and then swells, exhales a fetid odour, 

 and leaves a dense charcoal, difficult to 

 incinerate. By spontaneous decomposi- 

 tion in water or moist earth, it is convert- 

 ed into a fatty matter, and into ammonia, 

 which compose a kind of soap. When 

 allowed to remain long in water, it softens 

 and putrefies, being converted into a kind 

 of jelly. \Vhen long boiled in water, it be- 

 comes gelatinous, and dissolves com- 

 pletely, constituting a viscid iiquor, 

 which, by proper evaporation, is convert - 

 into glue. Hence the cutis of animals 

 is commonly employed in the manufac- 

 ture of glue. 



From these facts, the cutis appears to 

 be a peculiar modification of gelatine, 

 enabled to resist the action of water, 

 partly by the compactness of its texture, 

 and partly by the viscidity of the gelatine 

 of which it is formed; for those skins 

 which dissolve most readily in boiling 

 water afford the worst glue. The skin 

 of the eel is very flexible, and affords 

 very readily a great proportion of gela- 

 tine. The skin of the shark also readily 

 yields abundance of gelatine ; and the 

 same remark applies to the skins of the 

 hare, rabbit, calf, and ox ; the difficulty 

 of obtaining the glue, and its goodness, 

 always increasing with the toughness of 

 the hide. The hide of the rhinoceros, 

 which is exceedingly strong and tough, 

 far surpasses the rest in the difficulty of 

 solution, and in the goodness of its glue. 

 W T hen skins are boiled, they gradually 

 swell and assume the appearance of horn ; 

 then they dissolve slowly. 



CUTLERY. Though cutlery, in the 

 general sense, comprises all those articles 

 denominated edge-tools, it is more parti- 

 cularly confined to the manufacture of 

 knives, forks, scissars, penknives, razors, 

 and swords. Damascus was anciently 

 famed for its razors, sabres, and swords. 

 The latter are said to possess all the ad- 

 vantages of flexibility, elasticity, and 

 hardness. These united distinctions are 



