C E R 
fland.] In botany a genus of the clafs pentandria, order 
monogynia, natural order of contortas. The generic 
characters are—Calyx : perianthium very frhall, five-tooth¬ 
ed, acute, permanent. Corolla: monopetalous, with a 
large globofe bafe which is terminated by a cylindrical 
oblong tube. Border very fmall, five-toothed, acuminate, 
with the tip converging, gaping at the tides. Stamina : 
filaments five, in the bafe of the corolla, very final!, incurv¬ 
ed converging. Anthers fmall. Piitillium: germ veryt 
fmall. Style fcarce any. Stigmas two. Pericarpium : 
follicles two, cylindric, acuminate, very long, eredt, uni¬ 
locular, univalve. Seeds : numerous, imbricated, oblong, 
crowned with a pappus.— EJfential Character. Contorted. 
Follicles two, ereft. Seeds plumofe. Border of the co¬ 
rolla converging. 
Species, i. Ceropegia candelabrum: umbels pendulous, 
flowers ere< 5 l. X twining plant. Stems tlender, round, 
green or reddith. Leaves oppofite, ovate, thick, foft, 
fmootli. The peduncle, and at firll the flowers, hang down, 
but when open they eredt themfelves, and, being placed 
in a circle, have the appearance of a fet of lamps hanging 
up. The follicles or feed-veflels hang down. Native of 
the Eaft-Indies, 
2. Ceropegia biflora: peduncles two-flowered. Stem 
twining. Leaves oppofite, ovate, quite entire. Pedun¬ 
cles axillary, generally two flowered. Flowers oppofite 
to the peduncles, not reflected, but extended ftraight out. 
Native of the ifle of Ceylon. Perennial. 
3. Ceropegia fagittata, or arrow leaved ceropegia : um¬ 
bels fefiile, leaves fagittate. Stem twining, filiform, to- 
mentofe. Leaves oppofite, on very fhert petioles, fagit¬ 
tate or cordate-linear, the edges revolute, tomentofe on 
both fides but paler underneath. Umbels axillary, many- 
flowered, the peduncle Ihorter than the umbel. Calyx 
five parted, linear, tomentofe, half the length of the co¬ 
rolla, which is fcarlet, fubcylindric but lefs fwelling at 
the bafe; the divifions very Ihort, mucronate, converg¬ 
ing. Native of the Cape. Perennial. Introduced 1775, 
by Mr. Francis Maffon. 
4_. Ceropegia tenuifolia: leaves linear-lanceolate. Stems 
flender, milky, red, bay or green. Petioles very Ihort, 
oppofite. Flowers, axillary, from two to four together, 
on Ihort peduncles. Within reddifli, or reddifti brown, 
on the outfide yellowilh-green. Native of the Eaft Indies. 
5. Ceropegia obtufa : leaves blunt, ftem twining. Stem 
perennial, filiform, finooth. Leaves oblong, quite entire, 
flat, few, oppofite. Flowers pale, like thofe of the firll 
fort, but on lhorter peduncles. Fruits more flender, bro¬ 
ken at a right angle as they are, fmooth. Native of Co¬ 
chin-China with the firll, from which it differs more in 
the leaves than flowers. 
6. Ceropegia cordata, leaves cordate, umbels pendu¬ 
lous. Stem long, round, climbing, branched, perennial. 
Leaves quite entire, fmooth, oppofite, on long petioles. 
Flowers greenifli-yellow, in large hemifpherical axillary 
umbels, on long peduncles. Calyx inferior, five-leaved ; 
leaflets ovate acute fmall fpreading. Corolla five-parted ; 
parts ovate converging. Nedlary flelhy upright five-cleft; 
•with ten oblong glands Handing round the piftil. Fila¬ 
ments none. Anthers five oblong converging. Germ 
longilh, bifid. Style thick very Ihort. Stigma blunt emar- 
ginate. Native of Cochin-China, climbing in the hedges; 
CERRE'RO. See Cerrito. 
CERRE'TO, a town of Italy, in the province Umbria : 
fifteen miles weft of Nurfia. 
CER'RI, glans, and cer'ris, f. in botany. See 
Quercus. 
CERRFTO, a town of Italy, in the kingdom of Na¬ 
ples, and province of Lavora, the refidence of the billiop 
of Telefa : with a cathedral and collegiate church, and 
three convents : eighteen miles north-north-weft of Bene- 
•vento, and five north-north-eaft of Telefa. 
CER'RO, a town of Italy, in the duchy of Milan : 
eighteen miles weft Como. 
CERT-MONEY, inlaw, head-money, paid yearly by 
C E R . 43 
the refiants of feveral manors to the lords thereof, for the 
certain keeping of the leet; and fometimes to the hun¬ 
dred: as the manor of Hook, in Dorfetlhire, pays cert- 
money to the hundred of Egcrdon. In ancient records 
this is called certum leta. 
CER'TAIN, adj. [ certus , Lat ] Sure ; indubitable ; 
unqueftionable ; undoubted ; that cannot be queftioned, 
or denied.—Thofe things are certain among men, which 
cannot be denied without cbftinacy and fully. ‘Tillotfon. — 
Refolved ; determined : 
I with thee have fix'd my lot, 
Certain to undergo like doom of death. Milton. 
Undoubting; put pad doubt.- 
This form before Alcyone prefent, 
To make her certain of the fad event. Drydcn. 
Unfailing; which always produces the expedled effedl.— 
I have often wiflied that I knew as certain a remedy for 
any other diftemper. Meadows ,—Conilant; never failing 
to be; not cafual : 
Virtue, that diredls our ways 
Through certain dangers to uncertain praife. Drydcn. 
Regular; fettled; dated: 
Who calls the council, ftates a certain day, 
Who forms the phalanx, and who points the way ? Pope. 
In an indefinite fenfe, fome ; as, a certain man told me 
this.—How bad foever this falhion may jultiy be account¬ 
ed, certain of the fame countrymen do pafs far beyond it. 
Carew. 
CER'TAINLY, adv. Indubitably ; without q.ueftion; 
without doubt; without fail. Certainly he that, by legal 
means, cannot be fecured, can be much lefs fio by any pri¬ 
vate attempt. Decay of Piety. 
CER'TAINNESS, f. The fame with certainty. 
CER'TAINTY, /. Exemption from doubt.— Certainty 
is the perception of the agreement or difagreement of our 
ideas. Locke. —Exemption from failure ; as the certainty 
of an event, or of a remedy.—That which is real and 
fixed.—Regularity ; fettled Hate. 
CERTAL'DO, or Castro Caltaldo, a town of 
Italy, in the territory of Sienna. 
CER'TES, adnj. Icertes, Fr.] Certainly; in truth; in 
footh : an old word : 
Certes, fir knight, you’ve been too much to blame. 
Thus for to blot the honour of the dead, 
And with foul cowardice his carcafe fliarne, 
Whofe living hands immortaliz’d his name. Spenfer. 
CER'THIAjyi the Creeper ; in ornithology, a genus 
of birds belonging to the order of picas ; named in Greek, 
xejfiicc, xigQta, xigS-ioc ; in Italian, cerzia , cenerina, picchio 
pajferino , rampichino : in German, haum-lauffer (tree- 
runner), rindenkleber (bark-climber), hirngrille (brain- 
cricket): inDanifti, tr<s pikke, licheften , in Swedifli, kry- 
fare. The generic charadlers are as follow : Bill arched, 
thin, fomewhat triangular, and (harp. Tongue pointed ; 
feet ambulatory. There are fifty-five fpecies, and four 
varieties, of this bird now afeertained. They are fpread 
over the whole globe; live chiefly on infedls ; have mi¬ 
nute noftrils, and are confpicuous by their tall legs, their 
large hind toe, and their long hooked nails : in mod of 
them the tongue is fharp, in fome it is flat at the tip, in 
others ciliated, and in a few, tubulated. They creep very 
nimbly on trees, both in afeending and defeending, and 
on the upper and under fide of the branches: they run 
fwiftly along beams, clafping the edge with their little feet. 
They are diftinguifhed from the woodpeckers by their 
bill and tongue, from the titmice by the greater length 
of their bill, and from the nuthatches by its more flender 
and hooked form. Many foreign fpecies of creepers re¬ 
ferable much the humming-birds, by their diminutive 
fize, by the rich colours of their plumage, by their flen- 
