Chapter 6

Bibliography.—The history of the decipherment may be further studied in R. W. Rogers,History of Babylonia and Assyria, vol. i. (N.Y. and London, 1900); and in A. J. Booth,The Discovery and Decipherment of the Trilingual Cuneiform Inscriptions(London, 1902), which is very exhaustive and accurate. The Sumerian question may best be studied in F. H. Weissbach,Die Sumerische Frage(Leipzig, 1898), and Charles Fossey,Manuel d’Assyriologie, tome i. (Paris, 1904). For development and characteristics, see Friedrich Delitzsch,Die Entstehung des ältesten Schriftsystems(Leipzig, 1897); Paul Toscanne,Les Signes sumériens dérivés(Paris, 1905).

(R. W. R.)

CUNEO(Fr.Coni), a town and episcopal see of Piedmont, Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, 55 m. by rail S. of Turin, 1722 ft. above sea-level. Cuneo lies on the railway from Turin to Ventimiglia, which farther on passes under the Col di Tenda (tunnel 5 m. long). It is also a junction for Mondovi and Saluzzo, and has steam tramways to Borgo S. Dalmazzo, Boves, Saluzzo and Dronero. Pop. (1901) 15,412 (town), 26,879 (commune). Its name (“wedge”) is due to its position on a hill between two streams, the Stura and the Gesso, with fine views of the mountains. The Franciscan church, now converted into a military storehouse, belongs to the 12th century, but there are no other buildings of special interest. The fortifications havebeen converted into promenades. Cuneo was founded about 1120 by refugees from local baronial tyranny, who, after the destruction of Milan by Barbarossa, were joined by Lombards. In 1382 it swore fealty to Amedeus VI., duke of Savoy. It was an important fortress, and was ceded by the treaty of Cherasco (1796), with Ceva and Tortona, to the French. In 1799 it was taken after ten days’ bombardment by the Austrian and Russian armies, and, in 1800, after the victory of Marengo, the French demolished the fortifications.

CUNEUS(Latin for “wedge”; plural,cunei), the architectural term applied to the wedge-shaped divisions of the Roman theatre separated by thescalaeor stairways; see Vitruvius v. 4.

CUNITZ, MARIA(c.1610-1664), Silesian astronomer, was the eldest daughter of Dr Heinrich Cunitz of Schweinitz, and the wife (1630) of Dr Elias von Löven, of Pitschen in Silesia—both of them men of learning and distinction. From her universal accomplishments she was called the “Silesian Pallas,” and the publication of her work,Urania propitia(Oels, 1650), a simplification of the Rudolphine Tables, gained her a European reputation. It was composed at the village of Lugnitz, close by the convent of Olobok (Posen), where, with her husband, she had taken refuge at the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War, and was dedicated to the emperor Frederick III. The author became a widow in 1661, and died at Pitschen on the 24th of August 1664.

See A. G. Kästner,Geschichte der Mathematik, iv. 430 (1800); N. Henelii,Silesiographia renovata, cap. vi. p. 684; J. C. Eberti’sSchlesiens wohlgelehrtes Frauenzimmer, p. 25 (Breslau, 1727);Allgemeine deutsche Biographie(Schimmelpfenning); &c.

CUNNINGHAM, ALEXANDER(c.1655-1730), Scottish classical scholar and critic, was born in Ayrshire. Very little is known of his uneventful life. It is probable that he completed his education at Leiden or Utrecht. He was tutor to the son of the first duke of Queensberry, through whose influence he was appointed professor of civil law in the university of Edinburgh. In 1710, the Edinburgh magistrates, regarding the university patronage as their privilege, appointed another professor, ignoring the appointment of Cunningham, who had been installed in the office for at least ten years. Cunningham thereupon left England for the Hague, where he resided until his death. He is chiefly known for his edition of Horace (1721) with notes, mostly critical, which included a volume ofAnimadversionesupon Richard Bentley’s notes and emendations. They marked him as one of the most able critics of Bentley’s (in many cases) rash and tasteless conjectural alterations of the text. Cunningham also edited the works of Virgil and Phaedrus (together with theSententiaeof Publilius Syrus and others). He had also been engaged for some years in the preparation of an edition of the Pandects and of a work on Christian evidences.

Life by D. Irving inLives of Scottish Writers(1839).

The above must not be confused with Alexander Cunningham, British minister to Venice (1715-1720), a learned historian and author ofThe History of Great Britain(from 1688 to the accession of George I.), originally written in Latin and published in an English translation after his death.

CUNNINGHAM, ALLAN(1784-1842), Scottish poet and man of letters, was born at Keir, Dumfriesshire, on the 7th of December 1784, and began life as a stone mason’s apprentice. His father was a neighbour of Burns at Ellisland, and Allan with his brother James visited James Hogg, the Ettrick shepherd, who became a friend to both. Cunningham contributed some songs to Roche’sLiterary Recreationsin 1807, and in 1809 he collected old ballads for Robert Hartley Cromek’sRemains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song; he sent in, however, poems of his own, which the editor inserted, even though he may have suspected their real authorship. In 1810 Cunningham went to London, where he supported himself chiefly by newspaper reporting till 1814, when he became clerk of the works in the studio of Francis Chantrey, retaining this employment till the sculptor’s death in 1841. He meanwhile continued to be busily engaged in literary work. Cunningham’s prose is often spoiled by its misplaced and too ambitious rhetoric; his verse also is often over-ornate, and both are full of mannerisms. Some of his songs, however, hold a high place among British lyrics. “A Wet Sheet and a Flowing Sea” is one of the best of our sea-songs, although written by a landsman; and many other of Cunningham’s songs will bear comparison with it. He died on the 30th of October 1842.

He was married to Jean Walker, who had been servant in a house where he lived, and had five sons and one daughter.Joseph Davey Cunningham(1812-1851) entered the Bengal Engineers, and is known by hisHistory of the Sikhs(1849).Sir Alexander Cunningham(1814-1893) also entered the Bengal Engineers, attaining the rank of major-general; he was director general of the Indian Archaeological Survey (1870-1885), and wrote anAncient Geography of India(1871) andCoins of Medieval India(1894).Peter Cunningham(1816-1869) published several topographical and biographical studies, of which the most important are hisHandbook of London(1849) andThe Life of Drummond of Hawthornden(1833).Francis Cunningham(1820-1875) joined the Indian army, and published editions of Ben Jonson (1871), Marlowe (1870) and Massinger (1871).

The works of Allan Cunningham includeLives of the Most Eminent British Painters, Sculptors and Architects(1829-1833);Sir Marmaduke Maxwell(1820), a dramatic poem;Traditionary Tales of the Peasantry(1822), several novels (Paul Jones, Sir Michael Scott, Lord Roldan); theMaid of Elwar, a sort of epic romance; theSongs of Scotland(1825);Biographical and Critical History of the Literature of the Last Fifty Years(1833); an edition ofThe Works of Robert Burns, with notes and a life containing a good deal of new material (1834);Biographical and Critical Dissertationsaffixed to Major’sCabinet Gallery of Pictures; andLife, Journals and Correspondence of Sir David Wilkie, published in 1843. An edition of hisPoems and Songswas issued by his son, Peter Cunningham, in 1847.

CUNNINGHAM, WILLIAM(1805-1861), Scottish theologian and ecclesiastic, was born at Hamilton, in Lanarkshire, on the 2nd of October 1805, and educated at the university of Edinburgh. He was licensed to preach in 1828, and in 1830 was ordained to a collegiate charge in Greenock, where he remained for three years. In 1834 he was transferred to the charge of Trinity College parish, Edinburgh. His removal coincided with the commencement of the period known in Scottish ecclesiastical history as the Ten Years’ Conflict, in which he was destined to take a leading share. In the stormy discussions and controversies which preceded the Disruption the weight and force of his intellect, the keenness of his logic, and his firm grasp of principle made him one of the most powerful advocates of the cause of spiritual independence; and he has been generally recognized as one of three to whom mainly the existence of the Free Church is due, the others being Chalmers and Candlish. On the formation of the Free Church in 1843, Cunningham was appointed professor of church history and divinity in the New College, Edinburgh, of which he became principal in 1847 in succession to Thomas Chalmers. His career was very successful, his controversial sympathies combined with his evident desire to be rigidly impartial qualifying him to be an interesting delineator of the more stirring periods of church history, and a skilful disentangler of the knotty points in theological polemics. In 1859 he was appointed moderator of the General Assembly. He had received the degree of D.D. from the university of Princeton in 1842. He died on the 14th of December 1861. He was one of the founders of the Evangelical Alliance. A theological lectureship at the New College, Edinburgh, was endowed in 1862, to be known as the Cunningham lectureship.

ALife of Cunningham, by Rainy and Mackenzie, appeared in 1871.

CUNNINGHAM, WILLIAM(1849- ), English economist, was born at Edinburgh on the 29th of December 1849. Educated at Edinburgh Academy and University and Trinity College, Cambridge, he graduated 1st class in the Moral Science tripos in 1873, and in the same year took holy orders. He was university lecturer in history from 1884 to 1891, in which year he was appointed professor of economics at King’s College, London, a post which he held until 1897. He was lecturer in economic history at Harvard University (1899), and Hulsean lecturer at Cambridge (1885). He became vicar of Great St Mary’s, Cambridge, in 1887, and was made a fellow of the British Academy. In 1906 he was appointed archdeacon of Ely. Dr Cunningham’sGrowth of English Industry and Commerce during the Early and Middle Ages(1890; 4th ed., 1905) andGrowth of English Industry and Commerce in Modern Times(1882; 3rd ed., 1903) are the standard works of reference on the industrial history of England. He also wroteThe Use and Abuse of Money(1891);Alien Immigration(1897);Western Civilization in its Economic Aspect in Ancient Times(1898), andin Modern Times(1900), andThe Rise and Decline of Free Trade(1905). Dr Cunningham’s eminence as an economic historian gave special importance to his attitude as one of the leading supporters of Mr Chamberlain from 1903 onwards in criticizing the English free-trade policy and advocating tariff reform.

CUP(in O.E.cuppe; generally taken to be from Late Lat.cuppa, a variant of Lat.cupa, a cask, cf. Gr.κύπελλον), a drinking vessel, usually in the form of a half a sphere, with or without a foot or handles. The footless type with a single handle is preserved in the ordinary tea-cup. The cup on a stem with a base is the usual form taken by the cup as used in the celebration of the eucharist, to which the name “chalice” (Lat.calix, Gr.κύλιξ, a goblet) is generally given. (SeeDrinking VesselsandPlate.)

CUPAR,a royal, municipal and police burgh, and capital of the county of Fifeshire, Scotland, 11 m. W. by S. of St Andrews by the North British railway. Pop. (1901) 4511. It is situated on the left bank of the Eden, in the east of the Howe (Hollow) of Fife, and is sometimes written Cupar-Fife to distinguish it from Coupar-Angus in Perthshire. Among the chief buildings are the town hall, county buildings, corn exchange, Duncan Institute, cottage hospital, Union Street Hall and the Bell-Baxter school. The school, formerly called the Madras Academy, was originally endowed (1832) by Dr Bell, founder of the Madras system of education, but, having been enriched at a later date by a bequest of Sir David Baxter (1873), it was afterwards called the Bell-Baxter school. The Mercat Cross stands at “the Cross” in the main street, where it was set up in 1897, having been removed from Hilltarvit, an eminence in the neighbourhood of Cupar, on the western slope of which, at Garliebank, the truce was signed between Mary of Guise and the lords of the Congregation. In the parish, but at a distance from the town, are the Fife and Kinross asylum and the Adamson institute, a holiday home for poor children from Leith. The town received its charter in 1356 from David II., and, being situated between Falkland and St Andrews, was constantly visited by Scottish sovereigns, James VI. holding his court there for some time in 1583. The site of the 12th-century castle, one of the strongholds of the Macduffs, thanes or earls of Fife, is occupied by a public school. On the esplanade in front of Macduff Castle, still called the Playfield, took place in 1552 one of the first recorded performances of Sir David Lindsay’sAne Satyre of the Three Estaits(1540); hisTragedy of the Cardinal(1547), referring to the murder of Beaton, being also performed there. Sir David sat in the Scottish parliament as commissioner for Cupar, his place, the Mount, being within 3 m. north-west of the town. Lord Chancellor Campbell (1799-1861) was a native of Cupar.

Cupar is an agricultural and legal centre. Its chief industry is the manufacture of linen, and tanning is carried on. At Cupar Muir, 1½ m. to the west, there are a sandstone quarry and brick works. The town has also some repute for the quality of its printing, both in black and colour. This was largely due to the Tullis press, which produced about the beginning of the 19th century editions of Virgil, Horace and other classical writers, under the recension of Professor John Hunter of St Andrews, which were highly esteemed for the accuracy of their typography. Cupar belongs to the St Andrews district group of burghs for returning one member to parliament, the other constituents being Crail, the two Anstruthers, Kilrenny, Pittenweem and St Andrews.

There are several interesting places within a few miles. To the north-east is the parish of Dairsie, where one of the few parliaments that ever met in Fife assembled in 1335. The castle in which the senate sat was also the residence for a period of Archbishop Spottiswood, who founded the parish church in 1621. Two miles and a half north of Dairsie is situated Kilmany, which was the first charge of Thomas Chalmers. He was ordained to it in May 1803 and held it for twelve years. David Hackston, the Covenanter, who was a passive assister at the assassination of Archbishop Sharp, belonged to this parish, his place being named Rathillet. After his execution at Edinburgh (1680) one of his hands was buried at Cupar, where a monument inscription records the circumstances of his death. To the west of Kilmany lies Creich, where Alexander Henderson (1583-1646), the Covenanting divine and diplomatist, and John Sage (1652-1711), the non-juring archbishop of Glasgow, were born. Henderson took a keen interest in education and gave the school at Creich a small endowment. Some 3 m. to the south-west of Cupar is Cults, where Sir David Wilkie, the painter, was born. His father was minister of the parish, and Pitlessie, the fair of which provided the artist with the subject of the first picture in which he showed distinct promise, lies within a mile of the manse. In the sandstone of Dura Den, a ravine on Ceres Burn, 2½ m. E. of Cupar, have been found great quantities of fossils of ganoid fishes. The rocks belong to the Upper Old Red Sandstone.

CUPBOARD,a fixed or movable closet usually with shelves. As the name suggests, it is a descendant of the credence or buffet, the characteristic of which was a series of open shelves for the reception of drinking vessels and table requisites. After the word lost its original meaning—and down to the end of the 16th century we still find the expression “on the cupboard”—this piece of furniture was, as it to some extent remains, movable, but it is now most frequently a fixture designed to fill a corner or recess. Throughout the 18th century the cupboard was a distinguished domestic institution, and the housewife found her chief joy in accumulating cupboards full of china, glass and preserves. With the exception of a very few examples of fine ecclesiastical cupboards which partook chiefly of the nature of the armoire in that they were intended for the storage of vestments, the so-called court-cupboard is perhaps the oldest form of the contrivance. The derivation of the expression is somewhat obscure, but it is generally taken to refer to the French wordcourt, short. This particular type was much used from the Elizabethan to the end of the Carolinian period. It was really a sideboard with small square doors below, and a recessed superstructure supported upon balusters. Of these many examples remain. Less frequent is the livery cupboard, the meaning of which may be best explained by the following quotation from Spenser’sAccount of the State of Ireland:—“What livery is we by common use in England know well enough, namely, that it is an allowance of horse-meat, as they commonly use the word stabling, as to keep horses at livery; the which word I guess is derived of livering or delivering forth their nightly food; so in great houses the livery is said to be served up for all night—that is, their evening allowance for drink.” The livery cupboard appears usually to have been placed in bedrooms, so that a supply of food and drink was readily available when a very long interval separated the last meal of the evening from the first in the morning. The livery cupboard was often small enough to stand upon a sideboard or cabinet, and had an open front with a series of turned balusters. It was often used in churches to contain the loaves of bread doled out to poor persons under the terms of ancient charities. They were then called dole cupboards; there are two large and excellent examples in St Alban’s Abbey. The butter, or bread and cheese cupboard, was a more ordinary form, with the back and sides bored with holes, sometimes in a geometrical pattern, for the admission of air to the food within. The corner cupboard, which is in many ways the most pleasing and artistic form of this piece of furniture, originated in the 18th century, which as we have seen was the golden age of the cupboard. It was often of oak, but more frequently of mahogany, and had either a solid or a glass front. The older solid-fronted pieces are fixed to the wall half-way up, but those of the somewhat more modern type, in which there is much glass, usually have a wooden base with glazed superstructure. Most corner cupboards are attractivein form and treatment, and many of them, inlaid with satinwood, ebony, holly or box, are extremely elegant.

CUPID(Cupido, “desire”), the Latin name for the god of love, Eros (q.v.). Cupid is generally identical with Amor. The idea of the god of love in Roman poetry is due to the influence of Alexandrian poets and artists, in whose hands he degenerated into a mischievous boy with essentially human characteristics. His usual attribute is the bow. For the story of Cupid and Psyche, see underPsyche.

CUPOLA(Ital., from Lat.cupula, small cask or vault,cupa, tub), a term, in architecture, for a spherical or spheroidal covering to a building, or to any part of it. In fortification the word is used of a form of armoured structure, in which guns or howitzers are mounted. It is a low flat turret resembling an overturned saucer and showing little above the ground except the muzzles of the guns. See for details and illustrationsFortification and Siegecraft; alsoOrdnance.

CUPPING.The operation of cupping is one of the methods that have been adopted by surgeons to draw blood from an inflamed part in order to relieve the inflammation. The skin is washed and dried; a glass cup with a rounded edge is then firmly applied, after the air in it has been heated; the cooling of the air causes the formation of a partial vacuum, and the blood is thus drawn from the neighbouring parts to the skin under the cup. Either the blood is drawn from the patient’s body through a number of small wounds which are made in the skin, with a special instrument, before the cup is applied; or the cup is simply applied to the unbroken skin and the blood drawn into the subcutaneous tissue within the circumference of the cup. The result of both methods is the same,—namely, a withdrawal of blood locally from the inflamed part. The former is called moist cupping, the latter dry cupping. This operation has naturally declined in vogue with the obsolescence of blood-letting as a remedy.

CUPRA,the name of two ancient Italianmunicipiain Picenum.

1. Cupra Maritima (Civita di Marano near the modern Cupra Marittima), on the Adriatic coast, 48 m. S.S.E. of Ancona, erected in the neighbourhood of an ancient temple of the Sabine goddess Cupra, which was restored by Hadrian inA.D.127, and probably (though there is some controversy on the point) occupied the site of the church of S. Martino, some way to the south, in which the inscription of Hadrian exists. At Civita the remains of what was believed to be the temple were more probably those of the forum of the town, as is indicated by the discovery of fragments of a calendar and of a statue of Hadrian. Some statuettes of Juno were also among the finds. An inscription of a water reservoir erected in 7B.C.is also recorded. But the more ancient Picene town appears to have been situated near the hill of S. Andrea, a little way to the south, where pre-Roman tombs have been discovered.

See C. Hülsen in Pauly-Wissowa,Realencyclopädie(Stuttgart, 1901), iv. 1760; G. Speranza,Il Piceno(Ascoli Piceno, 1900), i. 119 seq.

2. Cupra Montana, 10 m. S.W. of Aesis (mod. Jesi) by road. The village, formerly called Massaccio, has resumed the ancient name. Its site is fixed by inscriptions—cf. Th. Mommsen inCorp. Inscrip. Lat.ix. (Berlin, 1883), p. 543; and various ruins, perhaps of baths, and remains of subterranean aqueducts have been discovered near the church of S. Eleuterio.

See F. Menicucci in G. Colucci,Antichità Picene, xx. (1793).

CUPRITE,a mineral consisting of cuprous oxide, Cu2O, crystallizing in the cubic system, and forming an important ore of copper, of which element cuprite contains 88.8%. The name cuprite (from Lat.cuprum, copper) was given by W. Haidinger in 1845; earlier names are red copper ore and ruby copper, which at once distinguish this mineral from the other native copper oxide—cupric oxide—known as black copper ore or melaconite. Well-developed crystals are of common occurrence; they usually have the form of the regular octahedron, sometimes in combination with the cube and the rhombic dodecahedron. A few Cornish crystals have been observed with faces of a form {hkl} known as the pentagonal icositetrahedron, since it is bounded by twenty-four irregular pentagons. In this class of cubic crystals there are no planes or centre of symmetry, but the full number (thirteen) of axes of symmetry; it is known as the trapezohedral hemihedral class, and cuprite affords the best example of this type of symmetry. The etching figures do not, however, conform to this lower degree of symmetry, nor do crystals of cuprite rotate the plane of polarization of plane-polarized light. The colour of the mineral is cochineal-red, and the lustre brilliant and adamantine to sub-metallic in character; crystals are often translucent, and show a crimson-red colour by transmitted light. On prolonged exposure to light the crystals become dull and opaque. The streak is brownish-red. Hardness 3½; specific gravity 6.0; refractive index 2.85.

Compact to granular masses also occur, and there are two curious varieties—chalcotrichite and tile-ore—which require special mention. Chalcotrichite (from Gr.χαλκός, copper, andθρίξ,τριχός, hair) or “plush copper ore” is a capillary form with a rich carmine colour and silky lustre; the delicate hairs are loosely matted together, and each one is an individual crystal enormously elongated in the direction of the diagonal or the edge of the cube. Tile-ore (Ger.Ziegelerz) is a soft earthy variety of a brick-red to brownish-red colour; it contains admixed limonite, and has been formed by the alteration of chalcopyrite (copper and iron sulphide).

Cuprite occurs in the upper part of copper-bearing lodes, and is of secondary origin, having been produced by the alteration of copper sulphides. Beautifully crystallized specimens were formerly found in Wheal Gorland and Wheal Unity at Gwennap, and in Wheal Phoenix near Liskeard in Cornwall; they also occur in the copper mines of the Urals, and in Arizona. Isolated crystals bounded by faces on all sides, and an inch or more in diameter, are found embedded in a soft white clay at Chessy near Lyons; they are usually altered on the surface, or throughout, to malachite. Chalcotrichite comes from Wheal Phoenix and Fowey Consols mine in Cornwall, and from Morenci in Arizona; tile-ore from Bogoslovsk in the Urals, Atacama in South America, and other localities. Small crystals of cuprite, together with malachite, azurite and cerussite, are sometimes found encrusting ancient objects of copper and bronze, such as celts and Roman coins, which have for long periods remained buried in the soil. Artificially formed crystals have been observed in furnace products.

(R. W. R.)

CUPULIFERAE,a botanical order, or, in recent arrangements, group of orders, containing several familiar trees. The plants are trees or shrubs with simple leaves alternately arranged and small unisexual flowers generally arranged in catkins and pollinated by wind-agency. The generally one-seeded nut-like fruit is associated with the persistent often hardened or greatly enlarged bracts forming the so-called cupule which gives the name to the group. The group is subdivided as follows, and these subdivisions are now generally regarded either as distinct natural orders or the first two as sub-orders of one natural order.

BetuleaeorBetulaceae. Female flowers arranged, two to three together on scale-like structures formed by the union of bracts, in catkins; ovary two-celled; fruit small, flattened, protected between the ripened scales of the catkin. IncludesBetula(birch) andAlnus(alder).

CoryleaeorCorylaceae. Female flowers in pairs, the bracts enlarging in the fruit to form a membranous cup (hazel), or a flat three-lobed structure (hornbeam). Ovary two-celled. IncludesCorylus(hazel) andCarpinus(hornbeam).

Fagaceae(Cupuliferae in a restricted sense). Bracts forming a fleshy or hard cupule which envelops the one to several fruits. Ovary three-celled. IncludesQuercus(oak),Fagus(beech),Castanea(sweet-chestnut).

Detailed accounts of the trees will be found under separate headings.

CURAÇAO,orCuraçoa, an island in the Dutch West Indies. It lies 40 m. from the north coast of Venezuela, in 12° N. and 69° W., being 40 m. long from N.W. to S.E., with an average width of 10 m. and an area of 212 sq. m. The surface is generally flat, but in the south-west there are hills attaining an elevation of 1200 ft. The shores are in places deeply indented, forming several natural harbours, the chief of which is that of St Anna on the south-west coast. Curaçao consists of eruptive rocks, chiefly diorite and diabase, and is surrounded by coral reefs. Streams are few and the rainfall is scanty, averaging only 16 in. per annum. Although the plains are for the most part arid wastes, sugar, aloes, tobacco and divi-divi are produced with much toil in the more fertile glens. Salt, phosphates and cattle are exported. The commerce is mainly with the United States, and there is a large carrying trade with Venezuela. The famous Curaçoa liqueur (see below) was originally made on the island from a peculiar variety of orange, theCitrus Aurantium curassuviensis. Willemstad (pop. about 8000), on the harbour of St. Anna, is the principal town. It bears a strong resemblance to a Dutch town, for the houses are built in the style of those of Amsterdam, and the narrow channel separating it from its western suburb of Overzijde and the waters of the Waigat, which intersect it, recall the canals. The narrow entrance leading to the Schottegat or Inner Harbour is protected by forts. The negroes of the island speak a curious dialect calledPapaimento, composed of Spanish, Dutch, English and native words. Curaçao gives name to the government of the Dutch West Indies, which consists of Aruba, an island lying W. of Curaçao, with an area of 69 sq. m. and a population of 9591; Buen Ayre, lying 20 m. N.E., with an area of 95 sq. m. and a population of 4926; together with St Eustatius, Saba and part of St Martin. The governor is assisted by a council of four members and a colonial council of eight members nominated by the crown. The island of Curaçao has a population of 30,119; and altogether the Dutch West Indies have a population of 51,693.

Curaçao was discovered by Hojeda about 1499 and occupied by the Spaniards in 1527. In 1634 it fell into the hands of the Dutch, who have held it ever since, except during the year 1798 and from 1806 to 1814 when it passed into the possession of Great Britain.

See Wynmalen, “Les Colonies néerlandaises dans les Antilles,”Revue colon. internat.(1887), ii. p. 391; K. Martin,West-Indische Skizzen(Leiden, 1887); De Veer,La Colonie de Curaçoa(Les Pays Bas, 1898). Also several articles on all the islands inTijdschrift v. h. Ned. Aardr. Genootschap(1883-1886).

CURAÇOA,a liqueur, chiefly manufactured in Holland. It is relatively simple in composition, the predominating flavour being obtained from the dried peel of the Curaçoa orange. The method of preparation is in principle as follows. The peel is first softened by maceration; then a part of the softened peel is distilled with spirit and water, and the remainder is macerated in a portion of the distillate so obtained. After two or three days the infusion is strained and added to the remainder of the original distillate. This simple method is subject to variations in manufacture, and the addition of a small quantity of Jamaica rum, in particular, is said to much improve the flavour. Dry Curaçoa contains about 39%, the sweet variety about 36% of alcohol. A lighter variety of Curaçoa, made with fine brandy, is known as “Grand Marnier.”

CURASSOW(Cracinae), a group of gallinaceous birds forming one of the subfamilies ofCracidae, the species of which are among the largest and most splendid of the game birds of South America, where they may be said to represent the pheasants of the Old World. They are large, heavy birds, many of them rivalling the turkey in size, with short wings, long and broad tail, and strong bill. In common with the family to which they belong, they have the hind toe of the foot placed on a level with the others, thus resembling the pigeons, and unlike the majority of gallinaceous birds. With the exception of a single species found north of Panama, the curassows are confined to the tropical forests of South America, east of the Andes, and not extending south of Paraguay. They live in small flocks, and are arboreal in their habits, only occasionally descending to the ground, while always roosting and building their nests on the branches of trees. Their nests are neat structures, made of slender branches interlaced with stems of grass, and lined internally with leaves. They feed on fruits, seeds and insects. They are often tamed in several parts of South America, but have never been thoroughly domesticated anywhere. Large numbers of these birds were, according to K. J. Temminck, brought to Holland from Dutch Guiana towards the end of the 18th century, and got so completely acclimatized and domesticated as to breed in confinement like ordinary poultry; but the establishments in which these were kept were broken up during the troubles that followed on the French Revolution. Their flesh is said to be exceedingly white and delicate, and this, together with their size and the beauty of their plumage, would make the curassows an important gain to the poultry yards of Europe, if they were not such bad breeders. The subfamily of curassows contains four genera and twelve species, all confined to South America, with the exception ofCrax globicera—a Central American species, which extends northward into Mexico. This bird is about 3 ft. in length, of a glossy black colour over the whole body, excepting the abdomen and tail coverts, which are white. In common with the other species of this genus its head bears a crest of feathers curled forward at the tips, which can be raised or depressed at will. The female is of a reddish-brown colour, although varying greatly in this respect, and was formerly described as a separate species—the red curassow. In another species,Crax incommoda, the greater part of the black plumage is beautifully varied with narrow transverse bars of white. The galeated curassow (Pauxi galeata) is peculiar in having a large blue tubercle, hard and stony externally, but cellular within, and resembling a hen’s egg in size and shape, situated at the base of the hill. It only appears after the first moulting, and is much larger in the male than in the female.

CURATE(from the Lat.curare, to take care of), properly a presbyter who has the cure of souls within a parish. The term is used in this general sense in certain rubrics of the English Book of Common Prayer, in which it is applied equally to rectors and vicars as to perpetual curates. So, on the continent of Europe, it is applied in this sense to parish priests, as the Fr.curé, Ital.curato, Span.cura, &c. In a more limited sense it is applied in the Church of England to the incumbent of a parish who has no endowment of tithes, as distinguished from a perpetual vicar, who has an endowment of small tithes, which are for that reason sometimes styled vicarial tithes. The origin of such unendowed curacies is traceable to the fact that benefices were sometimes granted to religious housespleno jure, and with liberty for them to provide for the cure; and when such appropriations were transferred to lay persons, being unable to serve themselves, the impropriators were required to nominate a clerk in full orders to the ordinary for his licence to serve the cure. Such curates, being not removable at the pleasure of the impropriators, but only on due revocation of the licence of the ordinary, came to be entitled perpetual curates. The term “curate” in the present day is almost exclusively used to signify a clergyman who is assistant to a rector or vicar, by whom he is employed and paid; and a clerk in deacon’s orders is competent to be licensed by a bishop to the office of such assistant curate. The consequence of this misuse of the term “curate” was that the title of “perpetual curate” fell into desuetude in the Anglican Church, and an act of parliament (1868) was passed to authorize perpetual curates to style themselves vicars (seeVicar). The term is in use in the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland to designate an assistant clergyman, and also to a certain extent in the American Episcopal Church, though “assistant minister” is usually preferred.

CURATOR(Lat. for “one who takes care,”curare, to take care of), in Roman law the “caretaker” or guardian of a spendthrift (prodigus) or of a person of unsound mind (furiosus), and, more particularly, one who takes charge of the estate of anadolescens,i.e.of a personsui juris, above the age of apupillus, fourteen or twelve years, according to sex, and below the full age of twenty-five. Such persons were known as “minors,”i.e.minores viginti quinque annis. While the tutor, the guardian of thepupillus, was said to be appointed for the care of the person, the curator took charge of the property. The term survives in Scots law for the guardian of one in the second stage of minority,i.e.below twenty-one, and above fourteen, if a male, and twelve, if a female. Under the Roman empire the title of curator was given to several officials who were in charge of departments of public administration, such as thecuratores annonae, of the public supplies of corn and oil, or thecuratores regionum, who were responsible for order in the fourteenregionesor districts into which the city of Rome was divided, and who protected the citizen from exaction in the collection of taxes; thecuratores aquarumhad the charge of the aqueducts. Many of these curatorships were instituted by Augustus. In modern usage “curator” is applied chiefly to the keeper of a museum, art collection, public gallery, &c., but in many universities to an official or member of a board having a general control over the university, or with the power of electing to professorships. In the university of Oxford “curators” are nominated to administer certain departments, such as the University Chest.

CURCI, CARLO MARIA(1810-1891), Italian theologian, was born at Naples. He joined the Jesuits in 1826, and for some time was devoted to educational work and the care of the poor and prisoners. He became one of the first editors of the Jesuit organ, theCiviltà Cattolica; but then came under the influence of Gioberti, Rosmini and other advocates for reform. He wrote a preface to Gioberti’sPrimato(1843), but dissented from hisProlegomena. After the events of 1870, Curci, at Florence, delivered a course on Christian philosophy; and in 1874 began to publish several Scriptural works. In his edition of the New Testament (1879-1880) he makes some severe remarks on the neglect of the study of Scripture amongst the Italian clergy. In the meantime he began to attack the political action of the Vatican, and in hisIl Moderno Dissidio tra la Chiesa e l’Italia(1878) he advocated an understanding between the church and state. This was followed byLa Nuova Italia ed i Vecchi Zelanti(1881), another attack on the Vatican policy; and by hisVaticano Regio(1883), in which he accuses the Vatican of trafficking in holy things and declares that the taint of worldliness came from the false principles accepted by the Curia. His former work at Naples drew him also in the direction of Christian Socialism. He was condemned at Rome, and in a letter toThe Times(10th of September 1884) declares that it was on account of his disobedience to the decrees of the Roman Congregation: “I am a dutiful son of the Church who hesitates to obey an order of his mother because he does not see clear enough the maternal authority in it.” He was cast out of the Society of Jesus and suspended, and during this time Cardinal Manning put his purse at Curci’s disposal. Finally he accepted the decrees against him and retracted “all that he said contrary to the faith, morals and discipline of the Church.” He passed the remainder of his life in retirement at Florence, and, a few months before his death, was readmitted to the Jesuit Society. He died on the 8th of June 1891.

(E. Tn.)

CUREL, FRANÇOIS,Vicomte de(1854- ), French dramatist, was born at Metz on the 10th of June 1854. He was educated at the École Centrale as a civil engineer, the family wealth being derived from smelting works. He began his literary career with two novels,L’Été des fruits secs(1885) andLe Sauvetage du grand duc(1889). In 1891 three pieces were accepted by the Théâtre Libre. The list of his plays includesL’Envers d’une sainte(1892);Les Fossiles(1892), a picture of the prejudices of the provincial nobility;L’Invitée(1893), the story of a mother who returns to her children after twenty years’ separation;L’Amour brode(1893), which was withdrawn by the author from the Théâtre Français after the second representation;La Figurante(1896);Le Repas du lion(1898), dealing with the relations between capital and labour;La Fille sauvage(1902), the history of the development of the religious idea;La Nouvelle Idole(1899), dealing with the worship of science; andLe Coup d’aile(1906).

See alsoContemporary Reviewfor August 1903.

CURÉLY, JEAN NICOLAS(1774-1827), French cavalry leader, was the son of a poor peasant of Lorraine. Joining, in 1793, a regiment of hussars, he served with great distinction as private and assous-officierin the Rhine campaigns from 1794 to 1800. He was, however, still a non-commissioned officer of twelve years’ service, when at Afflenz (12th of November 1805) he attacked and defeated, with twenty-five men, a whole regiment of Austrian cavalry. This brilliant feat of arms won him the grade ofsous-lieutenant, and the reputation of being one of the men of the future. The next two campaigns of theGrande Arméegained him two more promotions, and as a captain of hussars he performed, in the campaign of Wagram, a feat of even greater daring than the affair of Afflenz. Entrusted with despatches for the viceroy of Italy, Curély, with forty troopers, made his way through the Austrian lines, reconnoitred everywhere, even in the very headquarters-camp of the archduke John, and finally accomplished his mission in safety. This exploit, only to be compared to the famous raids of the American Civil War, and almost unparalleled in European war, gained him the grade ofchef d’escadrons, in which for some years he served in the Peninsular War. Under Gouvion St Cyr he took part in the Russian War of 1812, and in 1813 was promoted colonel. In the campaign of France (1814) Curély, now general of brigade, commanded a brigade of “improvised” cavalry, and succeeded in infusing into this unpromising material some of his own daring spirit. His regiments distinguished themselves in several combats, especially at the battle of Arcis-sur-Aube. The Restoration government looked with suspicion on the most dashing cavalry leader of the younger generation, and in 1815 Curély, who during the Hundred Days had rallied to his old leader, was placed on the retired list. Withdrawing to the little estate of Jaulny (near Thiaucourt), which was his sole property, he lived in mournful retirement, which was saddened still further when in 1824 he was suddenly deprived of his rank. This last blow hastened his death. Curély, had he arrived at high command earlier, would have been ranked with Lasalle and Montbrun, but his career, later than theirs in beginning, was ended by the fall of Napoleon. His devoted friend, De Brack, in his celebrated workLight Cavalry Outposts, considers Curély incomparable as a leader of light cavalry, and the portrait of Curély to be found in its pages is justly ranked as one of the masterpieces of military literature. The general himself left but a modest manuscript, which was left for a subsequent generation to publish.

See also Thoumas,Le Général Curély: itinéraires d’un Cavalier léger, 1793-1815(Paris, 1887).

CURES,a Sabine town between the left bank of the Tiber and the Via Salaria, about 26 m. from Rome. According to the legend, it was from Cures that Titus Tatius led to the Quirinal the Sabine settlers, from whom, after their union with the settlers on the Palatine, the whole Roman people took the name Quirites. It was also renowned as the birthplace of Numa, and its importance among the Sabines at an early period is indicated by the fact that its territory is often called simplyager Sabinus. At the beginning of the imperial period it is spoken of as an unimportant place, but seems to have risen to greater prosperity in the 2nd century. It appears as the seat of a bishop in the 5th century, but seems to have been destroyed by the Lombards inA.D.589. The site consists of a hill with two summits, round the base of which runs the Fosso Corese: the western summit was occupied by the necropolis, the eastern by the citadel, and the lower ground between the two by the city itself. A temple, the forum, the baths, &c., were excavated in 1874-1877.

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