comprised in the Corpus Juris. Some scholars have attempted to add the later edicts of the Romano-German emperors, as an eleventh collation. This, however, is not acknowledged, and the Corpus Juris civilis has been, since the time of Accur sius, considered as completed. Those parts, even of the Justinian collection of laws, which were brought by the early commentators within the circle of their critical_examinations, have not acquired, in the European courts of judicature, any legal authority, although they have been since received into the entire collection of the Roman law. With the canonical or papal laws, the same mode of proceeding has been adopted. From the old resolves of the councils, and the papal decrees, genuine and spurious, Gratian, in the middle of the 12th century, collected his Concordantia discordantium Canonum, afterwards called the Decretum. In the 13th century, a collection of still later papal decisions or decretals, in five books (compiled by order of Gregory IX, by Raymond of Pennafort, in 1234), was added. These decretals were considered as supplementary and additional, and were therefore described and cited by the name of extra. Boniface VIII (1298) allowed the addition of a sixth book. Clement V added the decrees of the ecclesiastical council of Vienne (1311), under the name of the Clementines, or the seventh book of decretals, which completed the Corpus Juris Canonici, although pope John XXII, about 1340, and a learned individual, about 1488, collected further decretals of the popes, which were added as supplements, under the name of the Extravagantes. The name of Corpus Juris has also been given to many other codes and private collections of laws. There is a Corpus Juris Germanici Antiqui, by Georgisch; a Corpus Juris Feudalis, and a Corpus Juris Germanici, publici et privati, Medii Evi, by Senkenberg; a Corpus Juris Militaris, published at Leipsic, &c. An edition of the Corpus Juris, which may correspond to the improvements of the age, and the progress of knowledge, has, for a long time, been a desideratum. Lately, a very convenient edition_for_ordinary use has been undertaken by J. L. W. Beck, of which two volumes have already appeared (Leipsic). A complete critical edition has also been prepared by professor Schrader, of Tübingen.

CORREA DE SERRA, Joseph Francis, a learned Portuguese scholar, was born at Serpa, in the province of Alentejo, in 1750. He commenced his studies at

Rome, finished his education at Naples, under the care of the celebrated abbe Genovesi, and afterwards devoted himself to the study of the ancient languages and botany, at Rome. At the age of 27, he returned to his native land, with his friend, the duke of Lafoens. Correa was now actively engaged in the establishment of the royal academy of sciences at Lisbon, of which the duke of Lafoens was the founder, and the celebrated Pombal the patron. The former was appointed president of the academy, and Correa standing secretary. Both acted in concert, and their exertions established a cabinet of natural curiosities, a laboratory, &c., and particularly an important printingoffice, which they succeeded in freeing from all restraints of the press. Correa prepared, with the assistance of the menibers of the academy, a collection of unpublished documents (monumentos ineditos), relating to the history of his native country. In his botanical researches, he investigated the physiology of plants with distinguished ability. But, being exposed to the danger of becoming a victim to intolerance, he was obliged to take a hasty leave of Portugal. He visited Paris in 1786. Here he associated with Broussonet (q. v.), the naturalist, on the most intimate terms. After the death of Peter III of Portugal, his enemies lost their influence, and he returned to Portugal. Subsequently, Broussonet, flying from the reign of terror, arrived in Lisbon, where his connexion with Correa procured for him a flattering reception from the duke of Lafoens. But the French emigrants, who could not forgive Broussonet, for the share which he had taken in the first movements of the French revolution, denounced him to the tribunal of the inquisition as a Jacobin and a freemason, and implicated even his friend Correa. Nothing remained for Correa but to seek safety in flight, as Broussonet had already done. At this time, the duke of Lafoens kept him concealed several days in the royal library. Correa then went to London, where sir Joseph Banks, president of the royal society, received him under his protection, and introduced him to the society, and he was elected a member. He enriched the memoirs of the society with dissertations on subjects of natural history. By the interposition of the count of Linhares, minister of the Portuguese marine, he was appointed counsellor of legation to the embassy at London. After the peace of Amiens, Correa resigned this post, and resided 11 years at Paris, where the institute

ness, and the works which have issued from them, therefore, are held in high esteem ; e. g. the publications of the Alduses, the Stephenses, &c. It was not uncommon in those times for the proof-sheets to be hung up in some public place, that any body might have an opportunity of detecting errors. From this custom the proof-sheets are still called, in German, Aushängebogen (sheets hung out). Some modern presses have been distinguished; and, in the case of particular works, consisting wholly or in part of tables of figures, or of arithmetical calculations, a reward has been offered for every error discovered. In the preface to Vega's logarithmic tables, two louis d'ors are offered for every erratum detected. On the whole, however, more attention has been paid, in modern times, to elegance than to correctness of execution. Some of the English newspapers deserve much credit for their correctness, considering the rapidity with which much of their contents is printed, as in the case of parliamentary speeches, delivered late at night, perhaps after midnight, and given to the public early the next morning. The Germans, who are distinguished, in so many respects, for laborious accuracy, yet print with less correctness than the other great literary nations. Some of the editions of the works of their first authors have two or three pages of errata. CORREGGIO, Antonio Allegri, frequently called Antonio da Correggio, from the place of his birth, was born, in 1494, at Correggio, in the duchy of Modena, and was intended for a learned profession; but nature had designed him for an artist. It has not been ascertained how much he was indebted to his instructer, who was probably his uncle Lorenzo Allegri. His genius pointed out to him the way to immortality. It is related that once, after having viewed a picture of the great Raphael, he exclaimed, Anch' io sono pittore (I also am a painter); but it is not proved that Correggio ever was in Rome; and in Parma and Modena, where, according to D'Argensville, he might have seen works of Raphael, there were none at that time; so that this story wants confirmation. That Correggio, without having seen either the works of the ancient masters, or the chefs-d'œuvre of the moderns who preceded him, should have become a model for his successors, by the unassisted energies of his genius, renders him so much the more deserving of our admiration. Three qualities will always be admired in him-grace, harmony, and a skilful management of the pencil. There is a

peculiar grace in the movements of his figures, and a loveliness in their expression, which takes possession of the soul. These attitudes and movements could not be executed by any artist, without his masterly skill in foreshortening, which not only gives greater variety to a piece, but is also favorable to gracefulness. Avoiding all roughness and hardness, Correggio sought to win the soul by mild and almost effeminate beauties. He strove to obtain this object also by harmony of coloring, of which he may be called the creator. He is unrivalled in the chiar oscuro; that is, in the disposition of the light; in the grace and rounding of his figures, and in the faculty of giving them the appearance of advancing and retiring, which is the distinguishing excellence of the Lombard school, of which he may be considered the head. In his drapery, he calculated with extreme accuracy all the effects of the chiar oscuro. He possessed the power of passing, by the most graceful transition, from the bright colors to the half tints. It was ever his object to make the principal figure prominent, that the eye, after gazing till it was satisfied on the bright colors, might repose with pleasure on the softer masses. He made a skilful use of this art in his Night (la notte di Correggio), which is to be seen in the gallery in Dresden, where there are seven pictures in which his progress in the art may be recognised. That this artist was imbued with the spirit of poetry, is proved by the allusions which he sometimes introduced into his pictures; for example, the white hare in the Zingara (Gipsy), in Dresden and Naples (a Madonna, which has received this name from the Oriental style of the drapery and head-dress); and the goldfinch, in the Marriage of St. Catharine, at Naples. By the nearness of these timorous animals, the idea of the innocence and purity of the persons delineated is strongly represented, and the stillness and repose of the scene is forcibly impressed on the mind. Among his best pictures, besides the Night, are, the St. Jerome, which has kindled the admiration of several distinguished painters to such a degree as to render them unjust towards Raphael; the Penitent Magdalen; the altar-pieces of St. Francis, St. George and St. Sebastian; Christ in the Garden of Olives (in Spain); Cupid (in Vienna); the fresco painting, in Parma; and, above all, the paintings on the ceiling of the cathedral, in the same city. He died in 1534. The story of his extreme poverty, and of his death in consequence of it, has been

long since disproved, yet Oehlenschläger has made it the subject of one of his best tragedies in German and Danish.

CORREGIDOR, in Spain and Portugal; a magistrate; a police judge with appellate Jurisdiction.

CORRÈZE; a French department, formed of a part of what was the Lower Limousin. (See Departments.)

CORRIDOR (Italian and Spanish), in architecture; a gallery or long aisle leading to several chambers at a distance from each other, sometimes wholly enclosed, sometimes open on one side. In fortifieation, corridor signifies the same as covert-way, which see.

CORRIENTES, LAS; a town of Buenos Ayres, in Santa Fé, at the union of the Parana and Paraguay, 440 miles north of Buenos Ayres; lon. 60° 36′ W.; lat. 27° 50 S.; population, about 4500.

CORROSIVES (from corrodere, to eat away), in surgery, are medicines which corrode whatever part of the body they are applied to; such are burnt alum, white precipitate of mercury, white vitriol, red precipitate of mercury, butter of antimony, lapis infernalis, &c.

CORROSIVE SUBLIMATE. (See Mercury.) CORRUPTION OF BLOOD. (See Attainder.) CORSAIRS (from the Italian corso, the act of running, incursion) are pirates who cruise after and capture merchant vessels. Commonly those pirates only which sail from Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, and the ports of Morocco, are called corsairs. Those ships which, in time of war, are licensed by European or American governments to seize upon hostile ships, are called privateers. Lord Byron's Corsair, it is well known, derives its name from the character of the hero.

CORSET; an article of dress, especially intended to preserve or display the beauties of the female form. Its name appears to have been derived from its peculiar action of tightening or compressing the body, and may be compounded of the French words corps and serrer.-The influence of female charms, among civilized people, has, in all ages, been extensive and beneficial, and the sex have always regarded the possession of beauty as their richest endowment, and thought its acquisition to be cheaply made at any expense of fortune. To this cause may be attributed the origin of the cosmetic arts, with their countless baneful and innocent prescriptions, for restoring smoothness to the skin, and reviving the delicate roses upon cheeks too rudely visited by sickness or time. The preservation or production of

beauty of form, as even more admired than mere regularity of features, or from being, apparently, more attainable by art, received an early and ample share of attention, and has largely exercised the ingenuity of the fair aspirants for love and admiration. It is our office now to aid them to the utmost in attaining their wishes, by indicating the true principles upon which the corset should be constructed, and the attentions necessary to secure all the advantages of its application. Of the abuse of this instrument of the toilet, and the dire catalogue of miseries it often occasions, the writer has elsewhere spoken at large, and readers are referred thereto, who are desirous of ascertaining what great evils may flow from an apparently trifling cause.*-To prevent the form from too early showing the inroads of time; to guard it from slight inelegances, resulting from improper position, or the character of exterior drapery; to secure the beauteous proportions of the bust from compression or displacement; and, at once, agreeably to display the general contour of the figure, without impeding the gracefulness of its motions, or the gentle undulations caused by natural respiration, are the legitimate objects of the corset. For this purpose, it should be composed of the smoothest and most elastic materials, should be accurately adapted to the individual wearer, so that no point may receive undue pressure, and should never be drawn so tight as to interfere with perfectly free breathing, or with graceful attitudes and movements. It is obvious that such corsets should be entirely destitute of those barbarous innovations of steel and whalebone, which, by causing disease, have thrown them into disrepute, and which, under no circumstances, can add to the value of the instrument, when worn by a well-formed individual. Such hurtful appliances were first resorted to by the ugly, deformed or diseased, who, having no natural pretensions to figure, pleased themselves with the hope of being able, by main strength, exerted upon steel-ribbed, whaleboned and padded corsets, to squeeze themselves into delicate proportions. If, however, it be remembered that the use of corsets is to preserve and display a fine figure, not to make one, and that they are to be secondary to a judicious course of diet and exercise, it will be readily perceived that such injurious agents are utterly uncalled

* See an essay on the evils caused by tight lacing, appended to Godman's addresses delivered on various occasions, Philad. 1829.

for in their composition. By selecting a material proportioned, in its thickness and elasticity, to the size, age, &c., of the wearer, and by a proper employment of quilting and wadding, they may be made of any proper or allowable degree of stiffness. If it be then accurately fitted to the shape of the individual, and laced no tighter than to apply it comfortably, all the advantages of the corset may be fully obtained. But such, unfortunately, is not the course generally pursued. Ladies purchase corsets of the most fashionable makers, and of the most fashionable patterns and materials, regardless of the peculiarities of their own figures, which may require a construction and material of very different description. Hence it often happens that females, naturally endowed with fine forms, wear corsets designed for such as are disproportionately thick or thin, and destroy the graceful ease of their movements, by hedging themselves in the steel and whalebone originally intended to reduce the superabundant corpulence of some luxurious dowager. As no two human figures are precisely alike, it is absolutely requisite that the corset should be suited with the minutest accuracy to the wearer; and a naturally good figure cannot derive advantage from any corset but one constructed and adapted in the manner above indicated. Slight irregularities or defects may be remedied or rendered inconspicuous, by judicious application of wadding, or by interposing an additional thickness of the cloth. But it should be remembered that certain changes occur to the female frame, after the cares of maternity have commenced, which are absolutely unavoidable. Among these, the general enlargement or filling up of the figure is the most observable, but is never productive of inelegance, unless it take place very disproportionately. The undue enlargement of the bust and waist is most dreaded, and the attempt to restrain their developement by mere force has led to the most pernicious abuse of the corset. There is no doubt but that a judiciously fitted corset, whose object should be to support and gently compress, might, in such cases, be advantageously worn; but, at the same time, it must be thoroughly understood, that the corset can only be really beneficial when combined with a proper attention to diet and exercise. Thus many ladies, who dread the disfigurement produced by obesity, and constantly wear the most unyielding and uncomfortable corsets, lead an entirely inactive life, and indulge in rich and luxurious food. Under such circum

stances, it is vain to hope that beauty of figure can be maintained by corsets, or that they can effect any other purpose than that of cramping and restraining the movements, and causing discomfort to the wearer. On the other hand, proper exercise, and abstinence from all but the simplest food, would enable the corset to perform its part to the greatest advantage. There is another error, in relation to corsets, as prejudicial as it is general, and calling for the serious attention of all those concerned in the education of young ladies. This error is the belief that girls just approaching their majority should be constantly kept under the influence of corsets, in order to form their figures. They are therefore subjected to a discipline of strict lacing, at a period when, of all others, its tendency is to produce the most extensive mischief. At this time, all the organs of the body are in a state of energetic augmentation; and interference with the proper expansion of any one set is productive of permanent injury to the whole. So far from making a fine form, the tendency is directly the reverse, since the restraint of the corsets detrimentally interferes with the perfection of the frame. The muscles, being compressed and held inactive, neither acquire their due size nor strength; and a stiff, awkward carriage, with a thin, flat, ungraceful, inelegant person, is the too frequent result of such injudicious treatment. The corset of a girl, from her 12th or 15th year till her 21st, should be nothing more than a cotton jacket, made so as rather to brace her shoulders back, but without improper compression of the arm-pits, and devoid of all stiffening, but what is proper to the material of which it is made. At this age, slight imperfections of form, or inelegances of movement, are especially within the control of well-directed exercise and appropriate diet: force is utterly unavailing, and can have no other tendency than that of causing injury. We e may conclude what we have to say on the use of the corset, by imbodying the whole in a few plain, general rules:-1st. Corsets should be made of smooth, soft, elastic materials. 2d. They should be accurately fitted and modified to suit the peculiarities of figure of each wearer. 3d. No other stiffening should be used but that of quilting or padding; the bones, steel, &c., should be left to the deformed or diseased, for whom they were originally intended. 4th. Corsets should never be drawn so tight as to impede regular, natural breathing, as, under all circumstances, the improvement of