CIV 
united into various bodies; berry nine-cell- 
ed. There are live species ; of which w'e 
shall notice the C. aurantiuin, orange-tree ; 
of this there are sixty varieties. 1. Seville 
orange, which is a handsome tree, and tlie 
hardiest of any as it shoots freely in this 
country, and yields fruit of excellent qua- 
lity for domestic uses. 2. The China 
orange, which does not come to perfection 
here, but in warm countries it grow's in tlie 
open eround. 3. The forbidden-fruit tree, 
whicirrcsembles the common orange, but 
the fruit when ripe is larger and longer than 
the biggest orange : besides these there are 
the horned orange ; the hermaphrodite 
orange, and the dwarf. C. medica, the ci- 
tron tree ; of tliis species the lemon tree is 
accounted a variety ; of which there are 
many sorts. The flowei-s of all the species 
appear in May and June, and the fruit con- 
tinues setting in June and July, and ripens 
the year following. 
CIVET, a kind of perfume, bearing the 
name of the animal whence it is taken. The 
animal, commonly known by the name of 
the civet, or civet-cat, is the viverra ci- 
vetta of Linnaeus. 
The civet is an animal of a wild disposi- 
tion, and lives 'in the usual manner of others 
of tliis genus, preying on birds, the smaller 
quadrupeds, &c. It is a native of several 
parts of Africa and India ; but not of Ame- 
rica, as some have erroneously assert- 
ed ; though it has been transported from 
the' Phillippine Islands, and the coast of 
Guinea. This animal, as well as the zibet, 
though originally natives ot the w'arm cli- 
mates of Africa and Asia, ■ are capable of 
subsisting in temperate and even in cold 
countries, provided they are defended from 
the injuries of the weather, and fed with 
succulent nourishment. Numbers of them 
are kept in Holland, for the sake of pro- 
curing and selling the perfume which they 
yield, called civet, and sometimes erro- 
neously confounded with musk. There is 
a considerable traffic of civet from Basso- 
ra, Calicut, and other places, where the 
animal that produces it is bred ; though 
great part of the civet among us is furnish- 
ed by the Dutch, who rear a considerable 
number of the animals. That which is ob- 
tained from Amsterdam is preferred to that 
which comes from the Levant or India, be- 
cause the latter is generally less pure. That 
brought from Guinea would be the best, if 
the negroes, as well as the Indians and Le- 
vanters, did not adulterate it with thejuices 
of plants, or with labdanum, storax, and 
other balsamic and odoriferous drugs. The 
CLA 
quantity supplied depends much on the 
quality of tlie nourishment, and the appetite 
of the animal, which always produces more 
in proportion to the goodness of its food. 
See Viverra. 
CIVIL death, any thing that retrenches 
or cuts off a man from civil society, as a 
condemnation to tlie hulks, perpetual ba- 
nishment, condemnation to death, out- 
lawry, and excomimuiication. 
Civil law, is that law which every par- 
ticular nation, commonwealth, or city, has 
established peculiarly for itself. The civil 
law is either written or unwritten ; and the 
written law is public or private ; public, 
which immediately regards the state of the 
commonwealth, as the enacting and execu- 
tion of laws, consultations about wai' and 
peace, establishment of things relating to 
religion, &c. ; private, that more imme- 
diately has respect to the concerns of every 
particular person. The unwritten law, is 
custom introduced by the tacit consent of 
the people only, without any particular es- 
tablishment. The authority of it is great, 
and it is equal with a written law, if it be 
wholly uninterrupted, and of a long conti- 
nuance. 
The civil law is allowed in tliis kingdom 
in the two universities, for the training up of 
students, &c. in matters of foreign treaties 
between princes ; marine affairs, civil and 
criminal ; in the ordering of martial causes ; 
the judgment of ensigns and arms, rights of 
honour, &c. 
Civil list, the money allotted for the 
support of the Ring’s household, and for de- 
fraying certain charges of government. 
Civil year, is the legal year, or annual 
account of time, which every government 
appoints to bo used within its own domi- 
nions, and is so called in contradistinction 
to the natural year, which is measured ex- 
actly by the revolution of the heavenly bo- 
dies. 
CIVILIAN, in general, denotes some- 
thing belonging to the civil law ; but more 
especially the doctoi-s and professors there- 
of are called civilians : of these we have a 
college or society in London, known by the 
name of Doctors-coramons. 
CLAIM, a challenge of interest in any 
thing, that is in the possession of another, 
or at least out of a man’s own ; as claim by 
charter, by descent, &c. 
CLAIllAULT (Alexis Claude), a ce- 
lebrated French mathematiciau and acade- 
mican, was born at Palis the iStli of May, 
1713. His fatlier, a teacher of mathematics 
at Paris, was his sole instructor, teaching 
