CR A 
creature is tridentated; the thorax is undivided; 
the claws are very large, deprefled, and confidera- 
bly ciliated on the outfide; three of the legs are 
Tubulated on each fide ; the antennjE are very long, 
and reverted when not in ufej and the body is 
about the fize of a horfe-bean. It is found on the 
coafts of the Hebrides. 
Crab, Long-Clawed. This fpecies has a bi- 
furcated front, a fpine at the corner of each eye, 
and another on each fide of the thorax towards the 
tail; the body is ovated and fmooth; the antennse 
are as long as the body ; the claws are double the 
length of the body; and the feet are fubulated. 
Crab, Horrid. This clafs has a proje£ling 
bifurcated fnout ; the body is cordiform ; and the 
claws and legs are covered with long and very 
fliarp fpines. This animal, which is pretty large, 
is found among rocks on the eallern coafts of Scot- 
land; and is alfo common in Norway. 
Crab, Spider. The front of this animal is 
bifid; the thorax is briftly; the body is cordiform 
and tuberculated ; the claws are long and ovated ; 
and the legs are long, flender, and fubulated. 
Crab, Slender-Legged. This fpecies has a 
bifid fnout ; the body is fmall, tuberculated, and 
fhaped like a heart; the claws are long; and the 
legs are of a very difproportionate fize, flender, 
and hairy. 
CRAB-LICE. A very odious and trouble- 
fome ipecies of vermin, which ftick fo faft in the 
human fkin, that they are with difficulty diflodged. 
When viewed with a glafs, they bear a ftrong re- 
femblance to the fmall crab-fifli; whence they have 
obtained their popular name. They are diftin- 
guifhed by fome authors under the different appel- 
lations of Pluflulae, Morpiones, Petol^, and Peffo- 
lat:E ; and chiefly infeft the arm-pits and privities 
of thofe who indulge in promifcuous amours. 
Thefe vermin are by foine fuppofed to progno- 
fticate a fpeedy diffolution to thofe whom they re- 
linquilh without the help of medicine. When 
touched with a rag wetted in the milk of fublimate, 
they are at once deftroyed. 
CRAKE. A bird of the gallinule or rail kind ; 
and fuppofed by many to be the fime with the water- 
rail, an error originating from a want of due atten- 
tion to their different characflers and natures. The 
bill of this bird is fhort, ftrong, thick, and exa<5tly 
formed like that of the water-hen ; though it never 
frequents watery places, but is always found among 
corn, grafs, broom, or furze. The feathers on the 
crown of the head, the hind- part of the neck, and 
the back, are black edged with bay ; the coverts of 
the wings are of the fame colour, but without any 
fpots; the tail is ftiort, and of a deep bay; the belly 
is white; and the legs are cinereous. 
This bird, which is migratory, quits this king- 
dom before the approach of winter, but has a ftrong 
averfion to the trouble of flying. The legs, which 
are remarkably long for the fize of the l^ird, hang 
down while it is on the wing ; and, in general, it 
feems rather inclined to trufl to fwiftncfs of foot 
than rapidity of flight. It lays from twelve to 
twenty eggs, of a dull wliire colour, marked with 
a few yellow fpots ; but, notwithftanding this very 
great number, the breed is by no means plentiful 
in England. It's note, which is very Angular, re- 
fembles the word Crex, ofien repeated. 
In Scotland and Ireland, Crakes are very nume- 
rous: they arrive thme about the middle or end of 
April, when they are very lean; but, before they 
leave thefe iflands, they become plump and fat, 
and generally weigh upwards of eight ounces. 
CRA 
CRAMP-FISH. The Englifh name of the 
torpedo, or eleftric ray ; a fifli pofl^efllng the Angu- 
lar power of benumbing the fingers of thofe who 
touch it, even through the medium of a rod. 
CRAMPER. An appellation given by fome 
authors to the brama fexatilis, or pagrus In'dicus ; 
a large and broad fea-fifh caught among the rocks 
on the fhores of many parts of the Eaft Indies. 
CRANE. This bird, in the Linngean fyftem 
of zoology, forms a fpecies of the ardea, or heron ; 
the charadleriftic of which is, that the head is crif- 
tated, and almoft bare of feathers. 
Birds of the Crane kind, (which, in an ex- 
tenfive fenfe, comprehends a very numerous clafs) 
being habituated to marfliy places, may be known 
either by the length of their legs, or their fcaly 
coverings: they are in general very thinly fea- 
thered half way up their thighs, and all of them 
above their knees. In moft birds of this clafs 
the bill is very remarkable; it is generally longer 
than that of any other bird; and at the point is 
pofTelTed of extreme fenfibility, being furniflied 
with nerves for the better feeling of it's food un- 
der flime in marfhy places where it cannot pof- 
fibly be difcerned. Some of theie birds are fwr- 
nifhed with every convenience; having long legs 
for wading, long necks for ftooping, and long 
bills for fearching. They lead a life of preca- 
rious liberty, in fens and marflhes, and on the mar- 
gins of feas or lakes : they fubfift on fifh and in- 
fers ; build their nefts in a very fimple manner; 
and are exceeded in cunning and fecundity by al- 
moft every other clafs of animals. 
Crane, Common. Various and contradiftory 
are the accounts refpefting the fize and dimenfions 
of this bird. According to Wiilughby and Pen- 
nant, the Crane is from five to fix feet long from 
the tip of the bill to the tail ; while other naturalifts 
aflfert that it is above five feet high; and fome 
others, that it is even equal in height to a man. 
Briflbn feems to give this bird it's real dimenfions, 
when he defcribes it as fomething lefs than the 
brown ftork, which is about three feet high, and 
four from the tip of the bill to the tail. Still, 
however, the numerous teftimonies of it's fuperior 
fize are not to be totally rejefted ; and perhaps that 
bird from which BrifTon took his dimenfions was 
one of the imalleft kind. According to this au- 
thor, the Crane is exactly three feet four inches 
from the tip to the tail, and four feet from the head 
to the toe. It is flender in proportion to it's 
height, and has a long neck and long legs. The 
top of the head is covered with black briftles ; and 
the back part of it, which is bald and red, is a 
fufficient diftinftion between this and the ftork, ta 
which it is very nearly allied in fize and conforma- 
tion. The plumage is afli-coloured ; and two 
large tufts of feathers fpring from the pinion of 
each wing bearing fome refemblance to hair, and 
finely curled at the extremities, which the Crane 
can ereft or deprefs at pleafure. Gefner informs 
us that, in his time, thefe feathers were often fet in 
gold, and worn in the caps of perfons of diftinftion 
by way of ornament. 
Such is the defcription of a bird concerning 
which fo many fables have been invented and pro- 
pagated. The Crane is a bird with which all the 
ancient writers were familiar; and, in depicting it, 
they have not failed to blend imagination with hif- 
tory. From the policy of thefe birds, they tell us, 
we are to conceive an idea of the moft perfect re- 
public among mankind; from their tendernefs to 
their aged parents;^ v/hom they take care to nou- 
rilh. 
