CER 
every quarter of the world ; by their bill 
universally terminating in a point, and by 
their feeding in a great degree, though not 
exclusively, on insects. There are no less 
than forty-nine species, of which the prin- 
cipal are, 
C. familiaris, the tree-creeper of Albi- 
nos. This bird is scarcely larger tlian the 
crested wren, and is to be observed in va- 
rious parts of Europe, but especially in 
England. It runs on the bark of a tree 
with extreme ease and rapidity, and the in- 
stant it perceives a human being near it, 
conceals itself on the opposite side of the 
trunk or branch, repeating tliis movement 
according to the corresponding movement 
of the person whose notice it wishes to 
avoid, and thus perpetually endeavouring, 
and almost in all cases with success, to 
evade the observation of its pursuer. It 
feeds almost solely on insects, which it finds 
in the hollows, and among the moss, of 
trees. 
C. Lotenia, or Loten’s creeper, is a na- 
tive of Ceylon and Madagascar. It builds 
its nest of the down of plants, and is sub- 
jected to the hostility of a spider, in those 
countries, nearly as large as itself, which 
pursues it with extreme ardour, and delights 
in sucking the blood of its young. 
C. coerulea, or blue creeper, is an inha- 
bitant of Cayenne, and is remarkable for 
the ingenuity it exhibits in the construction 
of its nest, by which it precludes any at- 
tack from the monkeys and snakes, as well 
as lizards, which abound in that country. 
This nest is suspended from some slender 
twig at the end of a branch, to which those 
animals dare not venture, as it would be too 
weak to support them. The entrance to 
the nest is towards the ground, and about 
a foot distant from the body of it, to which 
the bird climbs through a narrow neck of 
this extraordinary length. 
C. sannio, or mocking creeper, is found 
in New Zealand, has an agreeable note, and 
can so modulate its voice, as seemingly to 
imitate the notes of all birds : hence it is 
called the mocking creeper. See Plate IV. 
Aves, fig. 3. 
CERTIFICATE, in law, a writing made 
in any court, to give notice to another 
court of any thing done therein. The 
clerks of the crown, assize, and the peace, 
are to make certificates into the King’s 
Bench of the tenor of all indictments, con- 
victionsf outlawries, &c. 
CERTIORARI, a wht which issues out 
of the chancery, directed to an inferior 
CER 
court, to call up the records of a cause there 
depending, in order that justice may be 
done. And this writ is obtained upon com- 
plaint, that the party who seeks it has re- 
ceived hard usage, or is not like to have 
an impartial trial in the inferior court. A 
certiorari is made returnable either in the 
King’s Bench, Common Pleas, or in Chan- 
cery. 
It is not only issued out of the Court of 
Chancery, but likewise out of the King’s 
Bench, in which last-mentioned court it 
lies where the King would be certified for 
a record. Indictments from inferior courts, 
and proceedings of the quarter sessions of 
the peace, may aho be removed into the 
King’s Bench by a certiorari ; and here the 
very record must be returned, and not a 
transcript of if ; though usually in Chan- 
cery, if a certiorari be returnable tliere, 
it removes only a tenor of the record. 
CERVICAL nerves, in anatomy, are 
eight pair of nerves, so called as having 
their oriffin in the neck. 
CERUMEN, is a viscid yellow-coloured 
liquid secreted by the glands of the audito- 
ry canal, which gradually becomes concrete 
by exposure to the air. It has an orange- 
yellow colour and a bitter taste. Wlien 
slightly heated upon paper, it melts, and 
stains the paper like an oil ; at the same 
time it emits a slightly aromatic odour. On 
burning coals it softens, emits a white 
smoke, which resembles that given out by 
burning fat ; it afterwards melts, swells, 
becomes dark-coloured, and emits an am- 
moniacal and. empyreumatic odour. A 
light coal remains behind. When agitated 
in water, cerumen forms a kind of emul- 
sion, which soon putrefies, depositing at the 
same time white flakes. Alcohol, when 
assisted by heat, dissolves | of the ceru- 
men ; the I which remain behind have the 
properties of albumen, mixed however 
with a little oily matter. 
Ether also dissolves this oily body ; but 
it is much less bitter and much lighter co- 
loured. When the albuminous part of ce- 
rumen is burnt, it leaves traces of soda and 
of phosphate of lime. From these facts 
Vauquelin considers cerumen as composed 
of the following substances : 
1. ' Albumen 
2. An inspissated oil 
3. A colouring matter 
4. Soda 
5. Phosphate of lime. 
CERUSSE, or white lead, a st^bslance 
