year in the bay of Bengal, on the Malabar coast, and, in still greater quantity, in the neighborhood of the Maldive islands. They are used throughout the East Indies, especially in Bengal and in the African trade, instead of small coins. The demand is so great, that, notwithstanding the insignificant price (in 1780, a pound of them might be bought for three cents), about $150,000 worth are sent every year to Bengal.

COXE, William, a historian and traveller, born in London, 1747, was educated at Eton and Cambridge, and successively accompanied several young men of the first English families, on their travels in Europe, in the capacity of tutor. Among these were the earl of Pembroke, the late Mr. Whitbread (the famous parliamentary orator), and the marquis of Cornwallis. He published an account of his travels through Switzerland (1779), and through Poland, Russia, Sweden and Denmark (1781-92), which are highly esteemed, and have been translated into almost all the languages of Europe. As a historian, he brought himself into notice by his Memoirs of Sir Robert Walpole, in 1798, which were followed by those of Horatio Lord Walpole, in 1802. He then published his History of the House of Austria (1807), which has been translated into German; next, his Memoirs of the Kings of Spain of the House of Bourbon, from 1700 to 1788 (1813, 3 vols., 4to.). Marlborough's Life and Original Papers (1818 et seq., 3 vols. 4to.) is a valuable work. Mr. Coxe died in 1828.

COXIE, or COXCIN, Michael, a painter and engraver, born at Mechlin, 1497, a pupil of Bernard van Orley, travelled to Rome, where he remained several years, attracted by the works of Raphael, with whom he was probably personally acquainted. Here he executed several paintings in fresco, and many other pieces. He also painted the history of Cupid and Psyche, in the style of Raphael, which was engraved on 32 copperplates. In the imperial gallery of Vienna, we find a Madonna with the infant Jesus, by him. His works are rare, even in the Netherlands. He died in 1592.

COYPELS, THE; 1. Noel, the father, born, it is uncertain whether at Paris or in Normandy, in 1628 or in 1629, died in 1707, at Paris. After he had embellished, by the royal command, the old Louvre with his paintings (from the cartoons of Lebrun), and had, in like manner, adorned the Tuileries, he was appointed a director of the French academy in Rome.

His four pictures for the council hall at Versailles-Solon, Trajan, Severus and Ptolemy Philadelphus-excited the admiration of connoisseurs. His chief works are, the Martyrdom of St. James (in the church of Notre Dame), Cain murdering his Brother (in the academy), the Trinity and the Conception of the Holy Virgin (in the Hôtel des Invalides). Coypel had a rich imagination, drew correctly, understood expression, and was an agreeable colorist.-2. His son, Anthony, born at Paris, in 1661, where he died in 1721, possessed spirit and invention. At the age of 14, he studied the works of the Venetian colorists, and, though his studies were interrupted by his speedy return to France, the works that he executed obtained the greatest applause, which rendered him probably more careless than he would otherwise have been. The richness of his imagination and the greatness of his composition caused his imperfect drawing to be overlooked, and his dazzling coloring excused his want of harmony. His fame laid the foundation for the manner of the French school.-3. Much more pure and correct, but comparatively neglected by the public of his time, was his younger brother, Noel Nicholas Coypel, usually called Coypel the uncle, born at Paris, in 1692, where he died in 1735. Far from desiring to dazzle by a false glitter, he aimed only at truth and nature. Without general popularity, he was satisfied with the praise of a small circle of connoisseurs of good taste. He finally received a place in the academy.-4. Charles Anthony, the son of Anthony, born at Paris, in 1694, where he died in 1752, followed the example of his father, and accommodated himself to the taste of his time with great success. The applause which he received did him much injury. He was entirely a mannerist. His coloring was dazzling, but inharmonious. His father was the author of a poetical epistle on painting, addressed to him, written with much elegance.

COYSEVOX, Antoine, a sculptor, born at Lyons, in 1640, went to Alsace, in his 27th year, to adorn the beautiful palace of the cardinal Fürstenberg at Saverne. On his return to France, he became a member of the academy of the arts of painting and sculpture, and made several busts of Louis XIV, and other works for the royal palaces. His figures are full of grace, natural and noble. He was called the Vandyke of sculpture, on account of the beauty and animation of his portraits. The statue of cardinal Mazarin, in the museum at Paris, is a masterpiece of art.

Besides this, his most distinguished works are the statue of Louis XIV, on horseback, for the estates of Bretagne; the sepulchre of Colbert; the statues representing the Dordogne, Garonne and Marne; the group of Castor and Pollux; the sitting Venus; the Nymph of the Shell; the Hamadryad; the sportive Faun with the Flute; Pegasus and Mercury. Coysevox died at Paris, in 1720, in the 80th year of his age.

CRAB (cancer, Lin.). This name, which appears to be derived from the Greek capaßos, through the Latin carabus, used by Pliny to designate certain crustaceous species, is now applied to a considerable group of invertebral animals, whose bodies are covered by an external skeleton, or calcareous crust, having 10 articulated limbs, adapted for swimming or walking, and breathing by branchia, or gills. The head and corselet are united, the latter being broader than it is long. The tail is short in proportion, and concealed by being turned forward beneath the body. This genus is distinguished from all others of the same family by the semicircular shape of the corselet, the pointed or hooked extremities of the last joint of the limbs, the narrowness of the superior shell from before backwards, the posterior direction of the hinder tarsi, and the absence of spines or ridges from the forceps, or biting claws. They belong to the fourth section of ten-legged, short-tailed crustacea (decapoda brachyura) of the latest systems, and are of numerous species, exceedingly various in size, color, and modes of living. A slight survey of the structure of these animals might lead to the opinion that their senses were limited or imperfect; but proper observation shows the contrary to be true. The sense of sight, in most of the species, is peculiarly acute, and enables them to distinguish the approach of objects from a very considerable distance. Their power of smelling is also great, though we have not yet discovered the organ by which this sense operates. It has been inferred that the antennæ serve this purpose. Until more positive knowledge is acquired on the subject, no evil can arise from this opinion as to the seat of the sense of smell. The entrance to the organ of hearing is at the base of the peduncle sustaining the antenna, and consists of a small, hard, triangular prominence, covered by a membrane, within which is a cavity containing the expanded auditory nerve. Of all the senses, that of touch, except so far as it may be possessed by the antenna, appears to be the least perfect, since the whole

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body and limbs are incrusted with a hard, compact shell. Of the sense of taste, we can say nothing, but that, as the animals possess a remarkably complex and elaborate apparatus for mastication, there is no reason for believing them devoid of this sense. The mouth is furnished with at least eight pieces or pairs of jaws, which pass the food through an extremely short gullet into a membranous stomach of considerable size. This stomach is rendered curious by having within certain cartilaginous appendages, to which strong grinding teeth are attached. These, in crabs, are five in number, and placed at the pyloric extremity, or outlet of the stomach; so that the aliment, after being subjected to the action of the jaws, is again more perfectly chewed by the stomachteeth, before entering the digestive tube, where it is exposed to the action of the biliary fluid of the liver. The latter organ is of great size in these creatures, and is all that soft, rich, yellow substance, found immediately beneath the superior shell, usually called the fat of the crab, and justly esteemed a delicious morsel. little posterior to the stomach (commonly called sandbag), the heart is situated-a somewhat globular, whitish body, which propels a colorless lymph to the gills (called dead man's flesh or fingers) and rest of the body, whence it is brought back to the heart by a hollow vein (vena cava), of considerable size. The process of sloughing, moulting, or throwing off the entire calcareous covering, which constitutes their only skeleton, is common to all the crustacea, and is very worthy of attention. As it is obvious that the hard shell, when once perfected, cannot change with the growth of the animal, it becomes necessary that it should be shed entirely; and this shedding takes place at regular periods, at which the increase of size occurs. No one can behold the huge claws o forceps of various species, and the smallness of the joints between them and the body, without feeling some surprise that the creature should be able to extricate them from the old shell, though this is readily accomplished. The aquatic crabs, when the season of shedding arrives, generally seek the sandy shores of the creeks and rivers, and, having selected a situation, they remain at rest, and the change begins. The body of the crab seems to swell, the large upper shell is gradually detached at the edge, or where it joins the thorax or corselet, and the membrane gradually gives way, and rises up from behind, somewhat like the lid of a chest.

The crab next begins to withdraw the limbs from their cases, and the large muscles of the claws undergo a softening, which allows of their being drawn through the smaller joints. This movement is slowly effected, and, at the time it is accomplished, the parts about the mouth, the antenna and eyes are withdrawn from their old cases, and the animal escapes, retaining his original figure, but soft, helpless, and incapable of exertion or resistance. By a gentle and not very obvious motion, we next observe the sand displaced below the body, and the crab begins to be covered with it, until, at length, he is sufficiently covered for safety, though still in sight. This is generally in shallow water, where the sun shines freely upon the bottom; and, in the course of 12 hours, the external membrane begins to harden, so as to crackle like paper when pressed upon, and the process of hardening goes on so rapidly, that, by the end of the next 48 hours, the crab regains something of his former solidity and ability to protect himself by flight or resistance. Myriads of these animals are caught on the shores of the rivers and creeks of the Chesapeake bay, when in their soft state, and sold to great advantage. The epicure who has never tasted soft crabs should hasten to Baltimore, Annapolis or Easton, in Maryland, in July and August, to make himself acquainted with one of the highest luxuries of the table, which fairly disputes the palm with canvass-back ducks, also to be obtained in perfection in Baltimore during the winter. The habits of crabs are very various: some are exclusively aquatic, and remain on the sands or rocks, at great depths in the sea; others inhabit excavations formed in the soft coral reefs or bars on certain coasts; some spend their days altogether on shore, living in burrows or dens, formed in a moist or boggy soil; others resort to the rocky flats or beaches, to bask in the sun, where only an occasional wave dashes over them, and seek refuge in the sea when alarmed; while some species are completely terrestrial, inhabiting holes upon the highest hills and mountains of the West Indies. Of these land-crabs, the most remarkable is the species formerly so abundant in the highlands of Jamaica (cancer ruricola), and still common in less densely peopled or uninhabited islands. When the season for spawning arrives, vast armies of them set out from the hills, marching in a direct line towards the sea-shore, for the purpose of depositing their eggs in the sand. On this grand expedition, nothing is allowed

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to turn them from their course. unyielding perseverance, they surmount every obstacle which may intervene, whether a house, rock, or other body, not avoiding the labor of climbing by going round, but ascending and passing over it in a straight line. Having reached the destined limit of their journey, they deposit their eggs in the sand, and recommence their toilsome march towards their upland retreats. They set out after nightfall, and steadily advance, until the approach of day-light warns them to seek concealment in the inequalities of the ground, or among any kind of rubbish, where they lie ensconced until the stars again invite them to pursue their undeviating course. On their seaward journey, they are in full vigor and fine condition; and this is the time when they are caught in great numbers for the table. Their flesh, which is of the purest whiteness, is highly esteemed, but, like that of all crustaceous animals, is rather difficult of digestion. Returning from the coast, they are exhausted, poor, and no longer fit for use. They then retire to their burrows, and slough, or shed their shells, after which operation, and while in their soft state, they are again sought by epicures. Seeing they are so much valued as an article of food, it is not surprising that their numbers should be exceedingly diminished, or quite extinguished, in populous islands, where multitudes are annually consumed, before they have deposited their eggs for the continuance of the species. Besides this cause of diminution, they are destroyed, in great numbers, by other animals, and numbers of them perish from exhaustion and injury on their homeward progress. When the eggs are hatched, the young, in like manner, seek the hills, and pursue the course of life peculiar to their race. Crabs generally subsist upon animal matter, especially in a state of decomposition, though some of them are very fond of certain vegetable substances. This is especially the case with the swift-running or racer crabs, which live in burrows made in a soft or watery soil, in the vicinity of sugar-cane fields. From their numbers and activity, they become a great nuisance, destroying large quantities of cane, by cutting it off and sucking the juice. They sometimes increase to such a degree, that, in conjunction with the rats and other destroyers of the cane, they blight the hopes of the planter, and completely spoil his crop. Their excavations in the soil are so deep and extensive, and it is so very difficult to catch or de

stroy them in any way, that they may be regarded as seriously subtracting from the value of estates situated near the sea, or where they are abundant. No one, who has not made the experiment, could readily believe the great distance at which these marauders descry an approaching pursuer, nor the extraordinary celerity with which they escape. Few men can run with sufficient swiftness to overtake them; and even when, from any accident, the pursuer is led to hope that he has cut off the retreat of his victim, the wonderful facility they have in running, or rather darting in any direction, or with any part of their bodies foremost, almost uniformly enables them to elude capture, and recommence their flight. It is seldom, however, that they leave the mouths of their dens, or go to a distance from them, in the day-time; and their vigilance is such, that they regain them in a moment, and disappear securely, as soon as a man or dog comes near enough to be seen. The writer has known a planter, whose crop was ruined one season by bad weather, rats and crabs combined, vent his spleen by shooting the crabs, which were not otherwise to be approached so as to be killed. This, as might be supposed, was a very ineffectual revenge, since their shells are sufficiently hard to cause most of the shot to glance harmlessly off. Perhaps poisoning, by means of the powder of the nur vomica, or St. Ignatius's bean, would prove a more effectual method. A mixture of this powder with sugar or molasses and crumbs of bread might be tried with a considerable prospect of success. The species which daily bask in the sun, on the rocky shores of the West India islands, are quite as vigilant, and very little inferior in swiftness to those above-mentioned. Some of them are very large, splendidly colored, and well suited to excite the wishes of a naturalist to add them to his collection. Many an hour of anxious watching, and many a race of breathless eagerness, have they caused the writer in vain. Sometimes when, with great caution, I had approached, and placed myself between the crab and the sea, hoping to drive him inland and secure him, just at the instant success seemed to be certain, the vigilant animal would dart sidewise, backwards, or in a direction entirely opposite to that he might be expected to take, and scamper securely to his ocean hiding-place. At other times, while stealing upon one which was prevented from observing my approach by a projecting piece of rock, and almost sure

of my prize, one vigilant imp at a distance has taken alarm, and, by dashing across the spot where the unsuspecting individual rested, set all in the vicinity to flight, and changed my anticipated triumph to mortification.-Inquirers who wish to obtain the most ample knowledge of the construction, functions and classification of crustaceous animals, we refer to Desmarest's excellent work, entitled Considérations générales sur les Crustacés (8vo., Paris, 1825). Such as wish to be satisfactorily acquainted with the habits of these curious beings, would find much gratification from a visit, during the fine season, to some of the places of resort upon our Atlantic coast, where they will find an abundant field thrown open to their examination. Perhaps cape May is one of the best situations for this purpose, on account of the facility of visiting it, and the excellence of its sea beach.

CRAB, in ship-building; a sort of wooden pillar, whose lower end, being let down through a ship's decks, rests upon a socket, like the capstern. It is employed to wind in the cable, or to raise any weighty matter. It differs from the capstern by not being furnished with a drum-head, and by having the bars going entirely through it. CRAB-APPLE. (See Apple.)

CRABBE, George, one of the most popular of the modern British poets, was born Dec. 21, 1754, at Altborough, in Suffolk. He was the son of an officer of the customs, and was intended for a surgeon. The poetical disposition of the boy showed itself early, being awakened by the opposite spirit of the father, who used to cut all the verses out of the journals which he read, considering them as a useless incumbrance. The pieces of paper containing them served the children for playthings. Thus the little George acquired the habit of reading verse, learned many of the pieces by heart, and, after a while, attempted to supply the gaps often made in the pieces by the process of excision. By and by, he wrote for the journals, and. in 1778, gained a prize for a poem on hope, which induced him to give up the study of surgery, and go to London, where he devoted himself entirely to belles-lettres Here Edmund Burke became his paternal friend and adviser. The first poems which he published after his change of residence, including the Village (1782), received great applause. Doctor Johnson encouraged the young poet to persevere. Burke persuaded him to study theology, and, by laborious application, without having visited a university, he gained an academic de

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gree. The duke of Rutland conferred on him a living in his gift, to which another was afterwards added. Crabbe now married, and became the father of a numerous family. At a later period, he received a lucrative benefice, in the county of Suffolk; and, in 1813, he was made rector of Trowbridge. The study of theology, for a long time, withdrew Mr. Crabbe almost entirely from poetic labors. late as 1807, after an interruption of almost 20 years, he gave some new poems to the public, among which the Borough deserves particular mention. His latest work is the Tales of the Hall, in which two brothers, who have met after a long separation, describe many scenes and events which they have witnessed. His smaller tales, in verse, deserve also to be mentioned. His works have gone through many editions, and, of late years, he has himself made a collection of them. His poetry has been justly compared to the painting of Teniers and Ostade, being distinguished for truth, accuracy and life. Its charm lies in the masterly treatment of subjects which, in themselves, have little of a poetical character. His muse loves to visit the huts of poverty and misery, and describes the scenes which they exhibit with heart-rending_truth. His descriptions of nature are living, circumstantial and true. Every thing about him is characteristic, clear and simple. He has been called the anatomist of the human soul.

CRABETH, Dierk and Wouter, brothers; painters on glass; said, by some, to be Germans; by others, to be Dutchmen. They lived at the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th centuries, at Gouda, where they executed 11 paintings on glass, in St. John's church, which are still admired. Wouter excelled in exactness, Dierk in power. The art of painting on glass, according to some accounts, ceased with them. It is related that the jealousy of the two brothers prevented them from communicating to each other the secret of their particular style, and that each, on receiving a visit from the other, carefully concealed such of his works as were not completed, lest the observation of the gradual improvement of the painting might enable his brother to acquire the peculiar advantages of his style.

the capital of Poland, and though, afterwards, Sigismund III (who reigned from 1587 to 1632) fixed the royal residence at Warsaw, still it remained, till 1764, the place of coronation. It contains about 25,000 inhabitants, of whom many are Germans, and a great number Jews. It consists of Cracow proper, or the old city, surrounded with fortifications, walls and ditches, and the suburbs of Stradom and Clepar on the left, and Casimir on the right, bank of the river Vistula. The traveller, on seeing the number of rich old churches and towers, the lofty castle, and the mass of houses, spread out before him on the boundless plain, would suppose that he was approaching a splendid city; but, on entering, he finds a labyrinth of crooked and dirty streets, bearing the remains of former splendor. Cracow is the see of a bishop, who formerly bore the title of duke of Severia. The church of the castle (a Gothic building well worth seeing), the richest church in Galicia, contains the monuments of many Polish kings, the tombs of the famous Sobieski, of Jos. Poniatowski, of Kosciusko and Dombrowski. Of the other 72 churches, some are remarkable for their antiquity. In the church of St. Anna stands the marble monument of Copernicus. On one of the three hills near Cracow stands the monument of Kosciusko, 120 feet high. The city is supposed to have been founded by a prince named Cracus, about A. D. 700. It adopted the Magdeburg law in 1257. From this time, it has been the seat of a flourishing commerce, and has possessed a good university, with an observatory. The university was remodelled in 1817. On the division of Poland, in 1795, Cracow fell to Austria, which had already taken possession of the suburb of Casimir. In 1809, it was, together with all West Galicia, made a part of the duchy of Warsaw. By an act of the congress of Vienna (1815), Cracow, with a territory of 487 square miles and 108,000 inhabitants (of whom 7300 are Jews, and 1500 Lutherans), was declared a republic, to remain perpetually neutral, and to be governed according to the constitution of May 3, 1815. The city has a militia for its defence. The taxes are considerably reduced, a part of the debts paid, and useful buildings have been erected. The three powers, under whose protection Cracow is (Austria, Russia and Prussia), on the 5th of Oct., 1826, established a new course of study for the university and other institutions for instruction. The constitution, signed by Met

CRACOW; a republic and city in Poland, in West Galicia, situated on an extensive plain, at the confluence of the rivers Rudawa and Vistula, where many important commercial roads centre; lon. 19 57' 9' E.; lat. 50°3′ 52" N. It was formerly