c o c 
COE 
381 
c o c 
6. Coccus polonicus, an insect which may 
properly enough be called the cochineal of 
the northern part of the world. As the co- 
chineal loves only the hot climates, this crea- 
ture affects only the cold ones. Though 
collected for the use of the dyers, it is greatly 
inferior to the true cochineal. It is commonly 
known by the name of the scarlet grain of 
Poland. It is to be met with not only in Po- 
land, but in many of the northern countries. 
It is found affixed to the root of a plant, and 
pid : if kept in a cool place, in sand, it retains j long next the trunk, but diminishing in length 
its qualities fora considerable time. The toward the extremity of the branches, which 
are fastened at top by brown stringy threads 
qualities 
medical effects of it are, to stimulate the so 
lids, attenuate the juices, and promote the 
fluid secretions : it seems to extend its action 
through the whole habit, and to affect the 
minutest glands. It has frequently done 
service in some kinds of scurvies, and 
other chronic disorders proceeding from 
a viscidity of the juices or obstructions of 
the excretory ducts. Sydenham recom- 
usually to plants of that species thence called | mends it likewise in dropsies, particularly 
polygonum cocciferum. Towards the end those which follow intermittent fevers. Both 
of June the coccus is in a fit state to be ga- 1 water and rectified spirit extract the virtues 
thered. Every one of these creatures is then 1 of this root by infusion, and elevate them in 
nearly of a spherical form, and of a fine vio- j distillations : along with the aqueous fluid 
let colour. Some of them, however, are | an essential oil rises, possessing the whole 
not larger than poppy-seeds, but others are ! taste and pungency of the horse-radish, 
the size of a pepper corn ; and each of them ! COCIlLI'i ES, in natural history, an ap- 
is lodged, either in part or entirely, in a sort pellation given to the petrified shells of 
of cup like that of an acorn. On some j snails. 
plants are found only one or two of these, t COCK. See Phasianus. 
and on others more than forty ; and they are j Cock-boats, those used only in river's, 
sometimes placed near the origin of the stalks i or ear the shores. 
of the plants. Ccck’s-comb. SeeCELOSiA. 
COCCYX, or coccygis os, in anatomy, a Cock-pit, in a ship of a war, a place on 
bone situated at the extremity of the os sa- the lower floor or deck, abaft the main-cap 
that grow out of them, of the size of ordinary 
packthread, and are interwoven like a web. 
The nuts hang at the top of the trunk, in 
clusters of a dozen each. Each nut, next the 
stem, has three holes closely stopped ; one 
being wider and more easily penetrated than 
the rest. When the kernel begins to grow 
it incrusts the inside of the nut in a bluish, 
jelly-like substance : as this grows harder the 
inclosed liquid, distilled into the nut from the 
roots, becomes somewhat acid ; and the ker- 
nel, as the put ripens, becomes still more so- 
lid, and at length lines the whole inside of 
the nut for above a quarter of an inch thick, 
being as white as snow, and of the flavour of 
a filberd. The quantity of liquor in a full- 
grown nut is frequently a pint and upwards. 
The husky tegument of the nut consists of 
strong, tough, stringy filaments, which, when 
removed from the limit, resemble coarse oak- 
um. The leaves are wrought into brooms, 
hammocks in form of nets, mats, sacks, and 
other useful utensils. The tree is propagated 
by planting the nuts, which in six or eight 
crum. See Anatomy. ! stan, lying between the platform and the j weeks will come Tip, provided they are fresh 
COCHINEAL. See Coccus. i steward's room, where are partitions for the and thoroughly ripe ; but this is what few of 
With us this article pays no duty ;• and is | purser, surgeon, and his mates. them are when brought into this country: 
esteemed a great cordial, sudorific, alexiphar- Cock-swain, or coxon, an officer on board for they are always gathered before they are- 
mic, and febrifuge ; and much used by dyers a ship of war, who lias the care of the barge ripe, that they may keep during the passage, 
and painters, the high crimson colour ft at- and ali things belonging to it, and must be The best way, therefore, would be to gather 
also ready with his crew to man the boat on such nuts as are thoroughly ripe in their na— 
all occasions : he sits at the stern of the boat, tivb country, and plant them in a tub of dry 
and steers. sand, to keep- them from the vermin during; 
Cock-water, among miners, a stream of the passage. Here they' w ill frequently 
water, brought into a trough, to wash away sprout, which wi.l be- an advantage, as they 
fords being scarcely equalled by any thing ; 
and making, according to their different ma- 
nagement of it, all the degrees and kinds of 
red. 
COCHLEA, in anatomy, the third part 
in the 
of the labyrinth of the ear. See Ana- ; the sand from tin ore, while stamping 
to my. , middle. 
COCHLEARIA, scurvy-grass, a genus i COCKETT, cockettum, cocketum. The cus- 
of the siiieulosa order, in the tetrad vnamia j tom -house seal, or the office where goods to be 
class of plants ; and in the natural method j wooden shivers, to keep them from splittin 
ranking under the 39th order, siliquosa. The 
silicula is einarginated, turgid, and scabrous ; 
with the valves gibbous and obtuse. There 
are eight species ; the most remarkable of 
which are, 
1. Cochlearia Anglica, or garden scurvy- 
grass, it grows naturally on the sea shore, in 
the north of England and in Holland, but is 
cultivated for use in the gardens near London. 
It has a fibrous root, from which arise many 
round succulent leaves, which are hollowed 
like a spoon ; the stalks rise from six inches 
to a foot high. The flowers are produced in 
clusters iat the end of the branches, con- 
sisting of fo.ur small white petals.. This plant 
is propagated by seeds, which should be sown 
in July: in spr.ng they will be fit for use. 
Scurvy-grass is a pungent stimulating medi- 
cine, capable of dissolving viscid juices, 
opening obstructions of the viscera and the 
more distant glands, and promoting the more 
fluid secretions. -It is particularly celebrated 
in scurvies, jindis the principal herb employ- 
ed in these disorders in the northern coun- 
tries. 
2. Cochlearia armoracia, or horse-radish, 
is so well known as to need no description. 
It is propagated by cuttings or buds from the 
sides of old roots. The root has a quick 
pungent smell, and penetrating acrid taste ; 
it nevertheless contains in certain vessels a 
sweet juice, which sometimes exudes on the 
surface. By drying it loses all its acrimony, 
becoming first sweetish, and then almost insi- 
may then be immediately planted in pots of 
earth, and plunged in the bark-stove. 
COCTION, a general term for ail altera- 
tions made in bodies by the application of fire 
or heat : of this there are various species, as 
maturation, friction, assation, elixation, us- 
tion, &c. See Friction, Ac. and also' 
the articles Pharmacy and .Decoction.. 
COD. See Gadus. 
CODE, a collection of the laws and con- 
stitutions of the Roman emperors,, made by 
order of Justinian. The code is accounted 
the second volume of the civil law, and con- 
tains 12 books, the matter of which is nearly 
the same with that of the digests, especially 
but the style is neither 
method so accurate, as that of 
the digests : and it determines matters of 
daily use, whereas the digests discuss the 
more abstruse and subtile questions of the' 
law, giving the various opinions of the antient 
lawyers. 
CODICIL. See Will. 
COECUM. See Anatomy. 
COEFFICIENTS, in algebra, such num- 
ihr distant from settlements. It fre- bers, or given quantities, as are put betore 
letters, or unknown quantities, into which 
letters they are supposed to be multiplied : 
thus, in 3 a, of hr, or ex.r; 3 is the coeffi- 
cient or 3 a, b of bx, and c of cxx. When 
no number is prefixed, unity is supposed to be 
the coefficient ; thus 1 is the coefficient of a 
or of b. See Algebra. 
Coefficient of any generating term in: 
fluxion v, is the quantity arising from the di- 
vision oi that term by the generated quan- 
tity. 
i COELIAC artery. See Anatomy,. 
and galling by the pin of the block. 
COCKETT, cockettum, cocketum. The 
custom-house or the office where goods to be 
transported are first entered, and pay their 
custom ; and are to have a cockett, signify- 
ing that their merchandises are customed, and 
may be discharged. See Custom-house. 
COCOS, in botany, a genus belonging to the 
natural order of palmae. It is of the monoecia 
hexandria. The calyx of the male is tripar- 
tite ; the corolla tripetalous, with six stamina. I ,’Xeigffi boXs ; 
I lie calyx ot the female qumquepartite ; the : so n< ? r the meth 
corolla tripetalous; the stigmata three ; and.., 1 , ., 
the plum coriaceous. There are five spe- 
cies. The principal is, 
Cocos nucifera, the cocoa-nut tree. See 
Plate. It is supposed to be a native of the 
Maidive, and some desert islands- in the East 
Indies, and thence to have been transported 
to all the warm parts of America : for it is 
not found in any of the inland parts, nor any 
quently rises 60 feet high. The body of the 
trunk, which generally leans to one side, oc- 
casioned by the great weight of nuts it sus- 
tains when young, is the exact shape of an 
apothecary’s large iron pestle, being of an 
equal thickness at Imp and at bottom, but 
somewhat smaller in the middle ; its colour is 
of a pale brown throughout, and the bark 
smooth. The leaves or branches are often 
14 or 13 feet long, about 28 in number, 
winged of a yellow colour, straight and taper- 
ing. The pinnae are. green, often three feet 
