,546 C Y P 
Cyprus has fo much decreafed, that the inhabitants 
now fcarcely amount to 40,000. This ifland was for¬ 
merly one of the lichefl and mod fertile in the world. 
It abounded with mines of gold, lilver, copper, iron, 
marcafite, rock alum, and even emeralds ; but of thefe 
ancient productions nothing now remains, except the 
remembrance, and the names of the places from which 
they were procured. The prefent government fetters 
curiofity in this refpeCt, and forbids every kind of re¬ 
ferred. Some centuries ago, a great quantity of oil was 
made here ; but, in the time of the Venetians, a lpirit 
of fpeculation abolilhed that ufeful branch, and the 
cultivation of olives was abandoned for that of cotton. 
Saffron, rhubarb, and other valuable productions, are at 
prefent totally neglefted. Deer, roebucks, afles, wild 
boars, and a great number of the. molt beautiful phea- 
fants, once enlivened the plains of Cyprus; but they 
are now almolt deftroyed : and it would leem as if thele 
animals had refufed to embellifh a country which is no 
longer the feat of liberty. The principal productions 
of the ifland at prefent are filk, cotton, wool, nutmegs, 
wines, turpentine, kermes* opium, wheat, barley, colo- 
quintida, pitch, tar, glalfwort, l'alt, St. John’s bread, 
timber for building, umbre, and green earth. All thele 
productions form fo many branches of commerce, which 
the iHand carries on with Europe. Its wine is highly 
and defervedly celebrated. This ifland formerly was 
very abundant in olive oil, and exported conliderable 
quantities of it every year to foreign countries ; but 
olives have decreafed fo much for fome time paft, that it 
is now found neceffary to import them. It abounded 
alfo with jujebs, from the feed of which the inhabitants 
extracted a very delicate oil. The fame thing is ltill done 
in Natolia ; and this oil is one of the mod lucrative 
branches of its trade with the coad of Syria. It is, 
above all, exceedingly ufeful in thole years when olives 
are fcarce. Oil of glalfwort was alio a great refource, 
when that of olives, or the feeds of the jujeb, could 
not fupply enough for the numerous demands ot the 
ifland. The foil here produces pulfe, and all kinds of 
wild herbs, a knowledge of which would be a valuable 
acquifition to botany ; but there are few trees, and con- 
fequently few fruits. Nature, however, to makeup tor 
this lofs, has been exceedingly lavilh in flowers ; and 
the mod beautiful and delicate plants of Italy, France, 
and Holland, may be eadly naturalifed. Hyacinths, 
anemonies, ranunculufes, and narcilludes, both Angle 
and double, which require fo much care in Europe, 
thrive, even upon the mountains, without cultivation, 
and render the beautiful plains of this ifland like an im- 
menfe parterre. There would be even dill more of 
them, did not the Cypriots rob the vallies, in order to 
ornament their gardens. Oranges, of an exquiflte tafle 
and delicious flavour, are very common here. For want of 
hands, great part of this ifland dill remains uncultivated, 
and produces nothing but wild thyme, and other oderi- 
ferous herbs. In the flde of a mountain near Paphos, 
there is a cavern, which produces the mod beautiful 
rock cryflal. On account of its brilliancy, it has been 
called the Paphian diamond; it is cut and poiidied in the 
fame manner as other precious dones. People are for¬ 
bidden, under the fevered punifliment, to carry away 
the fmalled bit of it; and the mountain is fun ounded 
with guards, but their fidelity is not proof againfl the 
mod trifling prefent. The like prohibition has been 
made refpecting the done amianthus or albedos, of which 
there is a quarry near the village of Paleandros. In- 
combudible cloth, it is faid, has been made of it: and 
fire, indead of changing, increafes its whitenefs. See 
the article Asbestos. There are found here alfo red 
jafper, agates, and three dirt'erent kinds of done. The 
hills neared to Larne conlifl wholly of talc, which ferves 
for the compolition of that plafler ufed in all the houfes 
of the country. No wild animals are leen here but 
foxes and hares-: the odoriferous herbs on which the 
f Y R 
latter feed, give their flefli an excellent fade and a mofB 
agreeable flavour. The mod common of the winged 
tribe are rails, partridges, fnipes, quails, and thrulhes. 
Of water-fowl there is great abundance. The becaficos 
and ortolans are remarkably fat, and fo numerous, that 
the peafants think they make a good market when they 
can difpofe of them at the rate of a penny for a bunch, 
or a dozen for 4 d.andgreat numbers of them are potted and 
exported. Among therepti-les is feundafpecies of the ce«. 
rafles, or horned viper, defCribed under the article Colu¬ 
ber. It frequen's the corn fields, and is here in fuch num. 
bers, that the reapers, befides wearing bulkins, fix fmall 
bells to their Icytlies, to frighten it away. The ifland is 
often infeded with locufls, which fly in fuch fwarmsasto 
darken the air. The tarantula of Cyprus is a large fpider, 
of a brown colour inclining to black, and covered with 
long hair : its bite is not mortal ; but it is, neverthelefs, 
dangerous, and often occsfions excruciating pain, ac¬ 
companied with a fever. That of the galley is however, 
incurable. This is a thin flat animal, about a foot and 
a half long; of a yellow colour, and furnilhed with a 
multitude of legs, which it moves uniformly, like the 
oars of a galley, bench it has acquired its trivial name. 
The black fnake is alfo found here, about a yard and 
a Half long ; but it is not venomous : people take it in 
their hands without danger, and, having dripped off its 
Ikin, broil the flefli, as we do the eel, and is faid to be 
extremely well-taded. The oxen are lean, and of a 
fmall flze. The Greeks never eat beef; for they hold 
it as a maxim, that the animal that tills the ground, 
which is the fervant of man, and the companion of his 
labours, ought not to be ufed for food. The mutton is 
juicy and tender. No arts are cultivated in Cyprus 
but fuch as are abfdlutely neceflary. The wants of the 
inhabitants fupport a few manufactures, the produce of 
which is, however, fcarcely futiicient for their con- 
fumption. 
CY'PRUS,/ in botany. See Lawsonia. 
CY'PSELIS, f. [xtii}'£A k, from y.v^eXy, a bee-hivej 
The aperture of rite ear; alfo the ear-wax. 
CYP'SELUS, a king of Arcadia, who married the 
daughter of Ctedphon, to Arengthen himfelf againfl the 
Heraclidae.—A man of Corinth, fon of Eetion, and fa¬ 
ther of Periander. He dedroyed the Bacchiadae, and 
feized upon the fovereign power, about flx hundred and 
fifty-nine years B. C. He reigned’thirty years, and was 
fucceeded by his fon. Periander had two fons, Lycophron 
and Cypfelus, who was infane. Cypfelus received his 
name from the Greek word y.v-^eM;, a coder, becaufe, 
when the Bacchiadae attempted to kill him, his mother 
faved his life, by concealing him in a coffer. Paufanias. 
CYRANO DE BERGERAC (Savinien), a French 
author of Angular character, the fon of a gentleman of 
Bergerac in Perigord, where he was born in 1620. He 
entered young as a cadet in the regiment of guards, 
where he difplayed his courage in the ufnal mode of 
that day, by a number of duels. It is fomewhat to his 
credit, however, that his quarrels were not on his own 
account, but in defence of his friends. His actions ob¬ 
tained him the title of the intrepid. He was wounded at 
the lieges of Mouflbn and of Arras, which, with Iris 
love of letters, caufed him to quit the army. He fludied 
philofophy under Gaflendi, along with Chapelle, Mo- 
liere, and Bernier. The vivacity of his imagination, 
and an inexhauflible fund of pleafantry, obtained him 
fome powerful friends, and he made himfelf known in 
the literary world by various publications. His life was 
irregular, and his opinions free ; at length, the.confe- 
quences of an accidental blow on the head produced a 
reformation in his conduit, but they occafioned his 
death fifteen months afterwards, in 1655. He wrote a 
tragedy, named Agrippina ; and a comedy, in profe, the 
Pedant Joue, both well received by the public : blit he 
is bed known for his “ Comic Hidory of the States and 
Empires of the Moon;” a burlefquepiece, in which ft- 
