CYN 



CYN 



have been to establish virtuous manners. 

 The rigorous discipline which was prac- 

 tised by the first Cynics, and which after- 

 wards degenerated into the most absurd 

 severity, was at first adopted for the 

 laudibie purpose of exhibiting an exam- 

 ple of moderation and virtuous self-com- 

 mand. If. in executing this praise-wor- 

 thy design, a portion of vanity blended 

 itself with the Jove of virtue, who will not 

 be inclined to pardon the weakness, out 

 of respect to the merit of the character? 

 That they might be perfectly at liberty 

 to apply themselves to the cultivation of 

 virtuous habits and manners, without in- 

 terruption from the noisy contests of 

 speculative philosophy, the Cynics re- 

 nounced every kind of scientific pursuit ; 

 contending, that to those, who are en- 

 dued by nature with a mind disposed to 

 virtue, the pursuits of learning are an 

 unnecessary and troublesome interrup- 

 tion of the main business of life. Hence 

 they entirely discarded all dialectic, phy- 

 sical, and mathematical speculations, and 

 confined themselves to the study, or 

 rather to the practice, of virtue. This 

 was certainly injudicious ; but it is some 

 apology for their error, that Socrates had 

 taken pains to inspire his followers with 

 a contempt of theoretical science, when 

 considered in comparison with practical 

 wisdom. It may also be added, that the 

 learning which flourished at that time in 

 Greece chiefly consisted in futile specu- 

 lations, and an illegitimate kind of elo- 

 quence, which contributed little towards 

 the happiness of society, or the real im- 

 provement of the human mind. 



The sum of the moral doctrine of An- 

 tisthenes and the Cynic sect is this : Vir- 

 tue alone is a sufficient foundation for a 

 happy life. Virtue consists, not in a vain 

 ostentation of learning, or an idle display 

 of words, but in a steady course of right 

 conduct. Wisdom and virtue are the 

 same. A wise man will always be con- 

 tented with his condition, and will live 

 rather according to the precepts of vir- 

 tue, than according to the laws or cus- 

 toms of his country. Wisdom is a secure 

 and impregnable fortress ; virtue, armour 

 which cannot be taken away. Whatever 

 is honourable is good; whatever is dis- 

 graceful is evil. Virtue is the only bond 

 of friendship. It is better to associate 

 with a few good men against a vicious 

 multitude, than to join the vicious, how- 

 ever numerous, against the good. The 

 love of pleasure is a temporary madness. 

 The following maxims and apothegms 

 are also ascribed to Antisthenes : As rust 

 consumes iron, so doth envy consume the 



heart of man. That state is hastening to 

 ruin, in which no difference is made be- 

 tween good and bad men. The harmony 

 of brethren is a stronger defence than a 

 wall of brass. A wise man converses 

 with the wicked, as a physician with the 

 sick, not to catch the disease,,but to cure 

 it. A philosopher gains at least one thing- 

 from his manner of life, a power of con- 

 versing with himself. The most neces- 

 sary part of learning is, to unlearn our 

 errors. The man who is afraid of ano- 

 ther, whatever he may think of himself, 

 is a slave. Antisthenes being told that 

 a bad man had been praising , him, 

 said, "What foolish thing have I been 

 doing?" 



CYNIPS, gall-fly, in natural history, a 

 genus of insects of the order of Hymenop- 

 tera. Generic character : mouth with a 

 short one-toothed membranaceous jaw, 

 the mandibles vaulted ; horny cleft, the 

 lip entire, feelers four, short, unequal, 

 capitate ; antennx moniliform ; sting spi- 

 ral, often concealed within the body. 

 There are 35 species enumerated. The 

 numerous excrescences, or galls, found 

 on the roots, branches, and leaves of va- 

 rious trees, are produced by the punc- 

 ture of these insects; the larva is with- 

 out feet, soft, cylindrical, and inhabits 

 within the gall, feeding on the juices of 

 the tree ; the pupa resembles the perfect 

 insect, except in having only the rudi- 

 ments of wings. C. querci, or oak-leaf 

 cynips, is of a burnished shining brown 

 colour.. It is found in the hard galls un- 

 der oak leaves, generally fastened to the 

 fibres. Frequently, instead of the cynips, 

 there is seen an ichneumon, which is a 

 larger insect. This is not the inmate of 

 the gall, or he that formed it, but a para- 

 site, whose mother deposited her eggs 

 in the yet tender gall, which, when 

 hatched, brings forth a larva that destroys 

 the larva of the cynips, and conies out 

 when it has undergone its metamorpho- 

 sis, and acquired its wings. The cynips 

 of the oak-bud is of a very dark green, 

 slightly gilded : it produces one of the 

 finest galls, leafed like a rose-bud begin- 

 ing to blow. The gall is often an inch 

 in diameter. 



CYNOGLOSSUM, in botany, English 

 hound's tongue, a genus of the Pentan- 

 dria Monogynia class and order. Natu- 

 ral o'rder of Asperifolize. Borragineae, 

 Jussieu. Essential character : corolla 

 funnel form, the throat closed with 

 arches; seeds flat, affixed to the style 

 by the inside only. There are twelve 

 species. 



CYNOMETRA, in botany, a genus 



