CUR 
cowled at the top ; style trifid ; capsule 
three-celled ; seeds solitary, arilled. There 
are two species, viz. C. toraentosa, and C. 
glabra, both natives of the West Indies. 
CIIPEL, in chemistry, a small vessel, 
made generally of bone, it absorbs me- 
tallic bodies when changed by fire into a 
fluid scoria. See Laboratory. 
CUPELLATION. See Assaying. 
CUPPING, in surgery, the operation of 
applying cupping glasses for the discharge 
of blood, and other humours, by the skin. 
CUPRESSUS, in botany, a genus of the 
Monoecia Monadelphia class and order. 
Natural order of Conifer®. Essential cha- 
racter : . male calyx, scale of an ament ; 
corolla none ; anthers four, sessile, without 
filaments ; female calyx of a strobile ; scales 
one flowered ; corolla none ; styles, con- 
cave dots ; nut angular. There are seven 
species. These are veiy beautiful and orna- 
mental trees. C. horizontalis spreading cy- 
press-tree is by far the largest growing tree, 
and is the most common timber in some 
parts of the Levant ; it is said to resist the 
worm, moth, and all putrefaction, and 
to last many hundred years. The doors of 
St. Peter’s Church at Rome were framed of 
this material, which lasted from Constantine 
to Pope Eugenins the Fourth’s time, which 
was eleven hundred years, and were then 
sound and entire, when the Pope changed 
them for gates of brass. The coffins were 
made of this material, in which the Athe- 
nians used to bury their heroes, and the 
mummy chests brought with those bodies 
out of Egypt, are made of this wood. 
CURATE, properly signifies tlie parson, 
or vicar of a parish, who has the charge or 
cure of the parishioners souls. 
Curate, also signifies a person substi- 
tuted by the incumbent, to serve his cure 
in his stead. A cure is to be licensed or ad- 
mitted by the bishop of the diocese or or- 
dinary, having episcopal jurisdiction, and 
when a curate hath the approbation of the 
bishop, he usually appoints the salary too ; 
and in such case, if he be not paid, tlie cu- 
rate hath a proper remedy in the eccle- 
siastical court, by a sequestration of the 
profits of the benefice ; but if he have no 
licence from the bishop, he is put to his re- 
medy at common law, where he must prove 
the agreement. 
CURATELLA, in botany, a genus of 
the Polyandria Uigynia class and order. 
Natural order of Magnoliae, Jussieu. Es- 
sential character : calyx five-leaved ; pe- 
tals four ; styles two ; capsule two-parted. 
CUR 
with two seeds in a cell. There is but one 
species, viz. C. americana, a native of South 
America. 
CURATOR, among civilians, a person 
regularly appointed to manage the affairs of 
minors, or persons mad, deaf, dumb, &c. 
In countries, where the civil law prevails, 
minors have tutors assigned them, till they 
are of the age of fourteen, between which 
and twenty-five, they have curators ap- 
pointed them. There are also curators for 
the estate of debtors, and of persons dying 
without heirs. 
Curator of an university, in the United 
Netherlands, an officer that has the direc- 
tion of the affairs of the university, such as 
the superintendance of the professors, the 
management of the revenues, &c. these 
officers, being elective, are chosen by the 
states of each province. Leyden has three 
curators. 
CURCULIGO, in botany, a genus of 
the Polygamia Monoecia class and order. 
Essential' character : calyx none; corolla 
six-petalled ; filaments six ; pistil one ; cap- 
sule ; seeds beaked. There is only one spe- 
cies, viz. C. orchioides, native of shady, un- 
cultivated places about Samulcotah, but by 
no means common. It is the Nallatady of 
the Telingas. 
CURCULIO, weevil, in natural history, 
a genus of insects of the order Coleoptera : 
antenn® clavate, seated on the snout, which 
is horny and prominent; four-feelers, fili- 
form. Of this genus there have been from 
800 to 1000 species enumerated, and there 
are probably many more that have not 
been observed by authors who have treat- 
ed on the subject. These have been sepa- 
rated into three sections, viz. A. jaw cylin- 
drical, one-toothed. B. lip bifid ; jaw bi- 
fid, short; snout short. C. lip rounded, 
horny; feelers very short. Of these the 
section A. is distinguished into a, snout 
longer than the thorax ; thighs unarmed ; 
b, snout longer than the thorax ; thighs 
toothed : c, snout longer than the thorax ; 
hind thighs formed for leaping: d, snout 
shorter than the thorax ; thighs unarmed : 
e, snout shorter than the thorax; thighs 
toothed. The larv® of this most splendid 
tribe of insects have six scaly legs, and a 
scaly head ; some of them infest granaries, 
eating their way into grains of com, and 
leaving nothing but the husk; some dwell 
in otlier seeds, or are lodged in the inside 
of artichokes, thistles, and various plants ; 
and others devour the leaves of trees and 
herbs. C. salmarum, or palm weevil, is two 
