CUR 
aarrow; border three-parted; divifions lanceolate, fpfead- 
ing, gaping more on one (yius ; nedtary one-leafed, ovate- 
acuminate, larger than the divifions of the petal, inferted 
into the more open linns. Stamina; filaments five, of 
which tour are ere£f, linear, barren ; one (the fifth) 
within the nedtary, linear, petal-form, with a two-cleft 
tip; anther adnate. Piftillum : germ roundifh, inferior; 
ftyle length of the (famens ; fiigma fimple, hooked. Pe- 
ricarpium : capfule roundifh, tliree-celled, three-valved. 
Seeds : very many.— EJfential CharaBer. Stamens four, 
barren, a fifth fertile ; corolla, four-parted; nedtary, 
three-lobed ; filament, flat. 
Species, i. Curcuma rotunda, or round-rooted turme¬ 
ric : leaves lanceolate ovate; lateral nerves very few. 
Root perennial, with a large ovate bulb, frequently as 
big as a goofe’s egg, covered with a thin rufefcent pel¬ 
licle, that has parallel rooting rings, within folid, fleftiy, 
reddilh yellow, of a bitterilh tafte, and (lightly aromatic 
fmell. It creeps under ground by means of little bulbs 
©f the fame ovate form, growing by the fide of the ma¬ 
ternal bulb; item none ; leaves annual, three feet high, 
upright, broad-lanceolate, bluntifh, fmooth, bright green, 
grooved, with a few oblique lines; petioles fihort, di¬ 
lated at the bafe, embracing the inner ones, and refem- 
bling a thick (fern. From the middle of thefe arifes the 
flower-ftalk, fupporting a loofe fpike of flowers of a pale 
yellowifh colour, inclofed in feveral fpathes or (heaths 
which drop off. Native of the Eaft Indies, the moun¬ 
tains of China, Cochin-china, See, 
2. Curcuma longa, or long-rooted turmeric : leaves 
lanceolate ; lateral nerves very numerous. Root peren¬ 
nial, creeping, flefhy, palmate, with columnar branches, 
and parallel rooting rings, the (kin thin and pale, the 
flefh faffron-coloured, with a bitterilh tafte, and a fmell 
®f falve; flowers fellile, white, with a yellow nedtary, 
folitary, and inclofed within the fcales of the fpike ; 
feeds round, few. It has no barren filaments. The fruc¬ 
tification is thus deferibed by Retzius: A (ingle fpike 
comes forth from the laft (heaths of the leaves; it is pe- 
duncled, eredt, elub-fhaped, fquarrofe, fcarcely a foot in 
length, fhorter than the leaves, covered with imbricate, 
ovate, concave, bradles ; below the middle connedfed by 
the back, recurved, fpreading, acute, margined, veiny- 
ftreaked, whitifh green ; at the end the bradles are bar¬ 
ren, narrower, wavy-flexuofe, and of a paler colour. 
There are commonly three flowers-within each bradle, 
fometimes more, involucred. Germ hairy ; ftyle between 
the nedlaries, eredt, white, fmooth, in the groove of the 
anther ; ftigma club-ftiaped, obtufe, concave, four-tooth¬ 
ed, white ; nedlaries two, within the tube, fitting on the 
germ, eredl, cylindric, half furrounding the ftyle, hardly 
the length of the germ. Native of the Eaft Indies, Chi¬ 
na, Cochin-china, &c. It is cultivated by the Chinefe 
in their gardens, and very abundantly at Malacca. It 
very feldom produces feed. Swartz joins this curcuma 
with the genus amomum. It was much tiled formerly 
in cookery to give things a colour; it is (till ufed in the 
eaft for this purpofe and for dyeing. The root of this 
plant has had the reputation of being a powerful ape¬ 
rient and refolvent. It has been commonly prefcribed 
in obftrudlions of the liver, and other chronic complaints. 
The difeafe in which it has been thought to be molt effi¬ 
cacious is the jaundice. It is, however, now very rarely 
employed in Europe. The general dofe in fubftance is 
from a fcruple to a drachm. It tinges the urine of a 
deep yellow colour. In the eaft, turmeric is yet in high 
reputation. The firft fpecies is ftronger, and feldom 
given there internally ; externally applied as a cataplalm, 
with the root of crinum zeylanicum and the leaves of ar- 
fiemifia, it is efteemed a fovereign remedy in fwellings of 
the abdomen arifing from a fuppreffion of the menfes. 
3. Curcuma pallida, or pale turmeric : bulbs knot¬ 
ted ; fcape long, bradled. This is an annual plant, with- 
out any (tern, upright, three feet high. Native of China, 
about Canton and Cochin-china. 
Vol. V. No. *89. 
CUR 481 
Propagation and Culture. Thefe plants muft be placed 
in the bark-ftove. They are only propagated by parting 
their roots, in the fpring, before they put out new leaves. 
Plant them in rich kitchen-garden earth, and keep the 
pots conftantly plunged in the bark-bed. In fummer, 
when the plants are in a growing (late, refrelh them fre¬ 
quently with water, but not in large quantities ; and ad¬ 
mit a large fhare of air to them in warm weather. When 
the leaves are decayed they (hould have very little wet, 
and (hould be kept in a warm temperature. They ufu- 
ally flower in Auguft; but ftrong roots only produce 
flowers. 
CURD, / The coagulation of milk; the concretion 
of the thicker parts of any liquor.—Milk of itfelf is fuch a 
compound of cream, curds , and whey, as it is eafiiy turned 
and diflolved. Bacon. 
This night, at lead, with me forget your care ; 
Cheftnuts, and curds and cream, (hall be your fare. Dryd. 
To CURD, v. a. To turn to curds; to caufe to coa¬ 
gulate : 
Maiden, does it curd thy blood, 
To fay I am thy mother ? Sbakefpeare. 
CURDISTA'N, a country of Afia, inhabited by the 
Curds; part of it lying in Armenia, and part in Perfia. 
The Curds are fuppofea to be defeendants from the an¬ 
cient Chaldeans. They live chiefly on plunder, and are 
not fubjedt either to the Turks or Perfians. They have 
great numbers of cattle, which they drive with them, 
and are often fhifting places in fearch of new pafture. 
There are feveral cities or towns in Curdiftan. 
To CUR'DI.E, v. n. To coagulate; to (hoot together; 
to concrete.—Powder of mint, and powder of red rofes, 
keep the milk fomewhat from turning or curdling in the 
Itomach. Bacon. 
Some to the houfe, 
The fold, and dairy, hungry bend their flight. 
Sip round the pale, or tafte the curdling cheefe. Thomfon. 
To CURDLE, v. a. To caufe to coagulate ; to force 
into concretions.—There is in the fpirit of wine lome 
acidity, by which brandy curdles milk. Floyer. 
Ev’n now a fatal draught works out my foul; 
Ev’n now it curdles in my (lirinking veins 
The lazy blood, and freezes at my heart. Smitti. 
“ A Curdled (Icy and a painted woman are not of 
long duration.” The French fay : 
del pommele, femme far dee, 
Ne font pas de longue dure'e. 
This obfervation holds fo univerfally, that it is aflonifli. 
ing the folly of any woman (ftottld lead her to fo un¬ 
healthy and abfurd a practice as the ufe of paints or pig. 
ments for the (kin. 
CUR'DY, ad). Coagulated; concreted ; full of curds; 
curdled.—It differs from a vegetable emulfion, by coa¬ 
gulating into a curdy mafs with acids. Arbuthnot. 
CURE, / [ cura , Lat.] Remedy; reftorative.—Horace 
advifes the Romans to feek a feat in fome remote part a 
by way of a cure for the corruption of manners. Swift . 
Cold, hunger, prifons, ills without a cure, 
All thefe he muft, and guiltlefs oft, endure. Dryden. 
Act of healing.—I do cures to-day and to-morrow. Luke, 
xiii. 32.—The benefice or employment of a curate or 
clergyman.—If his cure lies among the lawyers, let no¬ 
thing be faid againfl entangling property, (pinning out 
fqueezing clients, and making the laws a greater griev. 
ance than thofe who break them. Collyer. 
7 b CURE, v. a. [euro, Lat.] To heal; to reftore to 
health ; to remedy ; to recover: with of before the dif¬ 
eafe. Ufed of patients or difeafes .—1 never knew any 
man cured of inattention. Swift..— The bones, in (harp 
colds, wax brittle; and therefore all contufions of bones, 
in hard weather, are more difficult to curt. Bacon* 
6 G Here 
