CEL 
Teems to Have refemblcd that of the Perfces and difciples 
of Zoroafier. Tlie Celtes only differed from them in 
making the oak infleadof the fir the emblem of the Deity; 
in choofing this tree above all others to plant their groves 
with, and attributing feveral fupernatural virtues both to 
its wood, leaves, fruit, and mifsletoe; all which were made 
life of in their Sacrifices and other parts of their worfhip. 
But after they had adopted the idolatrous fuperflition of 
the Romans and other nations, and the apotheolis of their 
.heroes and princes, they came to worfliip them much 
in the fame manner; as Jupiter under the name of Taran, 
which in the Celtic (ignifies thunder; Mercury,whom fonie 
authors cal! Heus or He/us, probably from the Celtic huadh r 
which fignifies a dog, and might be the Anubis latiatn of 
the Eg\ptians. But Mars was held in the greateft vene¬ 
ration by the warlike, and Mercury by the trading part of 
the nation. The care of religion was immediately under 
their curates, fince known by the name of druids, and 
bards. Thefe were, as Cjefar tells us, the performers of 
lacrifices and all religious rites,and expounders of religion 
to the people; for an account of whom fee Druid ; and 
for the hifiory of the different Celtic nations, fee the ar¬ 
ticle Gaul, &c. 
CEL'TES, f. Ancient inflruments of a wedge-like 
form, which have been dug up in different parts of Grea,t- 
Britain. Antiquarians have generally attributed them to 
die Celtae ; but, not agreeing as to their ufe, they diftin- 
guifhed them by the above appellation. Mr. Whitaker 
makes it probable that they were Britifii battle-axes. 
CEL'TES (Conrad), a Latin poet, of Sweinfurt near 
Wertzburg, born in 1549, died at Vienna in 1508, at the 
age of forty-feven, after having gained the poetic laurel. 
He has left, 1. Odes, Strafburg, 1513, 8vo. z. Epigrams, 
and a Poem on the Manners of the Germans, i6do, 8vo. 
3. An hiftqrical Account of the City of Nuremburg, Straf- 
bourg, 1513, 4to. He was not deficient in the (allies of 
imagination, though not exempt from the defedts of tlie 
age in w hich he wrote. He is cenfurable for'negligencies 
in point of flyle, and with choofing his fentiments-more 
for their brilliancy than their folidity. He wrote alfo four 
books in elegiac verfe, on the fame number of tniftrefles 
lie boafls to have had. They appeared at Nuremberg in 
1302, 4to. This volume is fcarce. The emperor Maxi¬ 
milian made him his librarian, and granted him tlie privi¬ 
lege of conferring the poetic crown on whonafoever he 
Judged worthy of it. 
CELTIBE'RIA, in the ancient geography, a. country 
of rtte Hither Spain, along the right or fouth-wefi fide of 
the Tiver Iberus ; though fometimes the greatelt par t of 
Spain was called by the name of Celtiberia. The people 
were denominated Celliberi, or the Celtce feated on the Ibe- 
rus. Tliey were very brave and warlike, and hiade (ftotig 
head againfi the Romans and Carthaginians when they in¬ 
vaded their country. 
CEL'TIS, f. [a celfitate, Lat. from its height.] The 
Tote or Nettle-tree; in botany, a genus of the clafs 
pclygatnia, order liionoecia, natural order of fcabridae. The 
generic characters arc—T. Hermaphrodite flowers folitary, 
fuperior. Calyx: periantlnum one-leafed, five-parted; 
divifions ovate, patulous, withering. Corolla: none. 
Stamina : filaments five, very fliort, concealed ar fiift by 
the antherse, but, after the fhedding of tlie pollen, growing 
longer; antheras oblong, thicki.lh, quadrangular, fonr- 
furrowed. P.ftillum: germ ovate, acuminate, length of 
thecalvx; flylestwo, fpreading, varioufly inflected, fubu- 
l.ite, pubefeent on every fide, very long; ftigmas fituple. 
Pericarpium: drupe globular, one-celled. Seed: nut 
roundifh. II. Male flowers on the fame plant, inferior. 
Calyx: perianthium fix-parted; the reft as in the herma¬ 
phrodites. Corolla: none. Stamina: fix; the reft as in 
the hermaphrodites.— EJJ'ential Character. Hermaphrodite. 
Calyx five-parted; corolla none; (lamina five; flyles 
two; drupe one-feeded. Male. Calyx fix-parted; co¬ 
rolla none ; (lamina fix. 
Species. 1. Celtis auftralis, or European nettle-tree: 
CEL i 9 
leaves ovate-lanceolate. The European nettle-tree, or 
lote-tree with a black fruit, riles with an upright fiem to 
tlie height of forty or fifty-feet, with many (lender branches 
which have a fmooth dark-coloured bark, with fome grey 
fpots. Leaves alternate, near four inches long and about 
two broad in the middle. Flowersaxillary all along the 
branches; being compofed of a green calyx without any 
corolla, they make no appearance; they come out in the 
fpring, at the fame time with the leaves, and generally 
decay before thefe are arrived at half their fize. The 
fruit is the lize of a pea, and black. According to Pallas, 
it is’the fize of a fma 11 cherry, firfl yellow,, then livid, on 
a long peduncle. It grows naturally in the fottth of Eu¬ 
rope, where it is one of the larged trees. D’Alfo men¬ 
tions fome of a prodigious height and girth in Spain ; and 
Pallas fays, that they attain tlie fize of tlie elm in the- 
Cherfonefus Taurica. It is not fo common in England as 
tlie fecond. The wood of this tree is one of the hardefi 
we are acquainted with. Evelyn fays that it was anciently, 
tiled for flutes apd other nmfical inflruments, and that 
Hafts for knives and tools were made of tlie root. When. 
it arrives at any fize, its hardnefs, toughnefs, and flexibi¬ 
lity, mud entitle it to more important fcrvices. Its fine 
regular fpreading head, of a cheerful green colour, ren¬ 
ders this ttee extremely proper for clumps in parks, 
groves, fingle trees, or avenues. Of the branches are 
made hoops for cafks, and fifhing-rods. The berries are 
eaten by birds, and alio by the children in tlie Couth of 
Europe. 
2. Celtis occidental^, or American nettle-tree : leaves 
obliquely-ovate, ferrate, acuminate. The American net¬ 
tle-tree rifes with a firaight fiem, which, in young trees, is, 
fmooth and of a dark- colour ; but, as they advance, it be¬ 
comes rougher and of a lighter green. The branches 
fpread very much; tlie leaves are alternate, and on pretty 
long foot-(talks; the flowers, come out oppolite to the 
leaves upon long peduncles. The fruit is fmaller than, 
that of.the firfl fort, and, when ripe, of a dark purple co¬ 
lour. It is very nearly related to the foregoing fpecies: 
but the leaves are much broader and fhorter. It grows 
naturally in North America, and in a moift rich foil be¬ 
comes a very large tree. Evelyn fays, that John Tradel- 
cant, jun.-firfl brought it from Virginia, it flowers in. 
May, and the feeds ripen in October. There are many 
large trees of this fort in the Englifh gardens, fome of 
which produce great quantities of fruit annually, which, 
in favourable feafons, come to maturity; and there are 
few years in which the fruit is not lent from America. 
This tree conies out late in the fpring, but it is the latelf 
in fading of any deciduous tree; nor do tlie leaves alter 
their colour long before they fall, blit continue in full 
verdure till within a few days of their dropping off ; fb 
that tlie litter oecafioned by the falling leaves may be foon 
cleaned away. There is little beauty in the flower or fruit; 
but tlie branches being well clothed with leaves of a fine 
green colour, tlie trees, when mixed with others in plan¬ 
tations, make, a pleating variety during the fummer tea- 
foil. The wood of this tree,, being tough and pliable, is 
efteemed by eoachmakers for the frames of their carriages. 
3. Celtis orientals, or oriental nettle-tree: leaves ob¬ 
liquely Cordate, let rate, viilofe underneath. This tree 
rifes with a fiem abuut ten or twelve feet high, dividing, 
into many brandies) which fpread horizontally on eve. y . 
fide, and have a fmooth greenifh batk. The leaves are 
about an inch and a half long, and near an inch broad, 
inclining to a heart fhape, but oblique,, one tide of the 
bafe being fmaller and lower tiian the other ; they are of 
a thicker texture than tliofe of the common forts, and of 
a paler green, alternate as they are, anci on fliort foot-fialks. 
Linnaeus adds, that tliey are very finely ferrate, and the 
nerves underneath fmooth; the peduncles are axillary, 
very fliort, and branching. The fruit is oval and yellow ; 
when fully ripe, it turns to a darker colour. The wood 
of this tree is very white. It is a native of the Levant, , 
and. was di(.covered by Tournefot t in Armenia, whence lie 
