C R A 
and fweet ; but if they are differed to grow till they are 
green, they become tough and bitter. This plant may 
be propagated in a garden, by fowing the feed foon after 
itls ripe, in a fandy or gravelly foil, where it will thr ive 
exceedingly, and increafe greatly by its creeping roots, 
which will foon overfpread a large fpot of ground, if 
encouraged ; but the heads will not be fit to cut until 
the plants have had one year’s growth ; and in order to 
have it good, the bed in which the plants grow ihould, 
at Michaelmas, be covered over with fand or gravel 
about four or five inches thick, which will allow a pro¬ 
per depth for the fhoots to be cut before they appear 
above ground ; and if this issrepeated every autumn, in 
the fame manner as is practifcd in earthing of afparagus- 
beds, the plants will require no other culture. This 
may be cut for ufe in April and May, while it is young ; 
but, if the (hoots are fuffered to remain, they will pro¬ 
duce fine regular heads of white flower's, which appear 
very handfome, and will perfeC their feeds, by which 
they may be propagated. 
We are obliged to the Rev. Mr. Laurents for a more 
particular account of the culture of fea-colewort or fea- 
cale, which he obtained from the welt of England. 
Prepare the bed intended to receive the feeds as for af- 
paragus : low them in March : before they are put'into 
the ground, bruife the outer coat without wounding the 
feeds, to accelerate their growth ; let three feeds in a 
triangular form fix inches apart, leaving a fpace of two 
feet between the triangles; bury the feeds three inches 
deep. The plants will make their appearance in four 
or five months, but they (hould not be cut until the 
third fpring. About the end of November, when the 
leaves are rotten, clear them away, and cover the bed 
with a coat of half rotten dung. In the fecond year, 
about March, when the plants are beginning to perforate 
the fnrface, take or rake off lightly the coat of dung, 
and give the plants full liberty to grow. In November, 
or fooner if the leaves be rotten, clear them off, and co¬ 
ver as in the former year. In the third year, immedi¬ 
ately after removing the dung in the fpring, cover the 
plants with a thick coat of fand or coal aflies, or fmall 
pebbles. As they grow, continue to keep them from 
the air, until they are cut for ufe. In cutting them, 
remove the fand, afhes, or pebbles, and then cover the 
roots again. Some of the plants will bear cutting two 
or three times in a feafon. After the lad cutting is fi- 
nilhed, remove the'eover, and let the plants grow until 
the leaves are decayed ; and then clear and cover for the 
winter. Some cover their plants with earthen pans or large 
garden pots, putting a tilefherd over the hole, for all air 
mud be fecluded in order to have them white. The 
fecond and third may be propagated in the fame manner. 
The fifth and fixth are inhabitants of the green-houfe. 
The others are hardy. The two lad grow freely from 
cuttings. See Bunias and Myagrum. 
CRAM'BO,y. cant word, probably without ety¬ 
mology.] A play at which one gives a word, to which 
another finds a rhyme ; a rhyme : 
So Maevius, when he drain’d his fkull 
To celebrate fome fuburb trull. 
His fimilies in order fet, 
And ev’ry crambo he could get. Swift. 
CRA'MER (Gabriel), born at Geneva, in 1694, was 
a pupil of John Bernoulli, and a profedor of mathematics 
from the age of nineteen. He was known all over Eu¬ 
rope, and was of the academies of London, Berlin, Mont¬ 
pelier, Lyons, and Bologna. He died, in 1752, at Lan¬ 
guedoc, whither he had repaired for the recovery of his 
health. Befides an excellent work or two of his own, 
fie made a mod important and intereding collection of 
the works of James and John Bernoulli, which were 
publifhed in 1743, under his infpeftion and care, in fix 
volumes, quarto. 
CRA'MER (John Andrew), a celebrated installur- 
€ R A 3 It) 
gid, was born at Quedlinburgh, in the year 1710, and 
died at Berghietzlnibel, near Drelden, on the 6th of 
December, 1777. That the Germans, in general, have 
taught mining and metallurgy to all Europe, is well 
known ; and Cramer contributed not a little to edablifii 
their reputation in both thefe arts. Being a man of ge¬ 
nius, he acquired an extenfive knowledge of almod every 
branch of fcience, but particularly of thofe which relate 
to the method of extracting metals from their ores. He 
polfelled alfo great prefence of mind, and was endowed 
with tire talent of exprefiing his ideas in an eafy, agree¬ 
able, and engaging, manner. He was the fird perfon who 
edabliflted the art of allaying on juft principles ; and 
would have extended his improvements to large works, 
had his life been fpared only a few years longer. As a 
writer, Cramer is well known by his Elements of the 
Art of A (laying*, Elementa Artis Docimajliccx, a fubjeCt on 
which he gave lectures both in England and Holland ; 
his work on the Management of Eoreds and Timber, 
which unfortunately he never completed ; and hisTrea- 
tife on Metallurgy. Among his chemical productions, 
the artificial gems which he made, and which were fuch 
clofe imitations of nature as to deceive the bed judges, 
deferve to be particularly mentioned. But his talents 
were not confined to chemidry ; for he had made himfelf 
well acquainted with natural philofophy, natural hidory, 
mathematics, adronomy, and political economy. In re¬ 
gard to his perfonal character, the following particulars 
will ferve to give. Come idea of it. His indifference in re¬ 
gard to drefs and external appearance was fo great, that 
a gentleman, who .was defirous to engage him in his fer- 
vice, the fird time he preferred himfelf before him, took 
him for a beggar, and was jud on the point of offering 
him fome money, when he was told that the fuppofed. 
objeCt of his charity was Cramer. He has often been 
known to (it down at the table of a minider, who fre¬ 
quently invited him to dine with him, dreifed in a gold- 
laced coat, but having his hands and face covered with 
coal-dud and fmoke, in confequence of his chemical la¬ 
bours. His habitation alfo displayed great Angularity: 
it was nearly a counterpart to Diogenes’s tub. Attached,, 
like a (wallow’s neb, to the outfide of the town-wall, it 
confided, in conformity to Cramer’s plan, of one low 
dory, which, befides his own apartment, contained no¬ 
thing but a kitchen and two other fmall cabins. The 
entrance to it was through an aperture in the town-wall, 
which led into a narrow court ; at the end of this was a 
dark fmoky kitchen, and then his own apartment, covered 
with dud and dirt, and where books, models, crucibles, 
coals, &c. were feen lying in confudon, both upon and 
beneath the tables and (tools. Food and drink, deep and 
red, were wants which lie gratified as he found occafion, 
without regard to regular order or fixed periods. He 
often indulged, therefore, at midnight, in the ufe of fuch 
kinds of food, and in fuch abundance, as mod people 
commonly allot to.their principal meal; and fometimes 
he would throw himfelf into bed to deep jud when his 
fervant was preparing to lay the cloth for dinner. 
CRA'MER (John Andrew),, one of thofe modern 
writers who do honour to Germany, and who dihin- 
guidled himfelf as a theologian, a poet, and an hidorian, 
was born at loftad.t, ih the Erzgebirge, on the 29th of 
January, 1723. Having received a virtuous and learned 
education under his father, a clergyman of that place, 
and at the fchool of Grimma, he was fent, in 1742, to 
the univerdty of Leipfic, with no more to maintain him 
than one hundred and dxty dollars ; but by private teach¬ 
ing, trandating, and correcting for the prefs, he found 
means to fupport himfelf with decency and comfort. In 
the year 1745 he gave public IeCures at Leipfic; he be¬ 
gan alfo his tranflation of Boifuet’s Univerfa! Hidory ; and. 
in 1746 publifhed a weekly paper called The Guardian 
Spirit; in this labour he was affided by J. A. Schlegel, 
In 1748 he became preacher at Crellwitz, near Magde¬ 
burg on the Saule j but fpon after,, having made himfelf 
better 
