riches. He possessed a fortune equal to $5,000,000. He once gave an entertainment to the whole people, in which 10,000 tables were set, and, besides this, distributed corn enough to last each family three months. In the years of Rome 683 and 698, he was a colleague of Pompey, in the consulship, and, in 688, censor. As he was one of the most influential men in Rome, and very ambitious, his friendship was sought by Cæsar, who formed, with him and Pompey, the famous triumvirate. He perished, with a great part of his army, in an expedition against the Parthians, undertaken from motives of avarice and ambition, B. C. 53.

CRATER. (See Volcano.)

CRAVAT; an unhealthy, uncomfortable, unbecoming article of European and American dress. The ancients were unacquainted with this ridiculous and injurious style of bundling up the neck. They left unconfined that important region of the body, through which so many vessels pass, and in which are situated so many organs, which will endure no constraint with impunity. In some cases, indeed, they defended themselves from the cold by a woollen, cotton or silk band, called, in Latin, focale, from fauces, throat. But no one could venture to use this contrivance publicly, unless he was sick; in which case he might cover his head, and the upper part of the shoulders, and even wear breeches (q. v.), without disgrace. "Palliolum, sicut fascias et focalia," says Quinetilian, "sola excusare potest valetudo." It was allowable, indeed, to cover the neck with the toga in bad weather, or to hold the hand over it, for the preservation or restoration of the natural temperature. The Poles never wear any thing round the neck, notwithstanding the severity of their winters. The same custom prevails among the Orientals, by whom a white, round neck is compared to the beauty of an ivory tower. The bare neck gradually became unfashionable in Europe. It was at first surrounded, but not constrained, by a starched band of fine linen, on the upper edge of the shirt, falling back naturally upon the bust, where it was fastened by a small cord. This was the origin of all the different species of collars since used the innocent parent of those thick, hot folds, in which the neck was destined to be afterwards muffled. Ruffs, stiffened or plaited, single or in many rows, an convenient, indeed, but not a dangerous ornament, had their turn, and lasted as long as short hair was in fashion. They were abandoned, when Louis XIII allow

ed his hair to grow: then standing collars, embroidered and pinked, the plaited collarettes, the neck-band, plain or laced and pointed, encompassed the neck chin-deep; and, when Louis XIV adopted those enormous periwigs, which hardly left the throat visible, all these splendid envelopes gave way to ribands, tied in brilliant bows. Next came the epoch of the dangerous subjection of the neck to constriction and compression, from which it had hitherto been exempt. In 1660, a foreign regiment arrived in France, composed of Croats, in whose singular costume one thing was generally admired and imitated. It was a bandage about the neck, consisting of common stuff for the soldiers, and of muslin or silk for the officers. The ends were disposed in a bow, or garnished with a tuft or a tassel, and hung not ungracefully over the breast. This new article of dress was at first called a croate, and afterwards, by corruption, a cravat. The military and the rich, at that time, wore very fine cravats, with the border embroidered, or edged with broad lace. Those of the soldiers consisted of a scrap of cloth, of cotton, or, at the best, of black, plaited taffeta, bound round the neck by two small cords. Afterwards, the place of these cords was supplied by clasps or a buckle, and then cravats took the name of stocks. Under Louis XVI, the stocks yielded to the cravats à la chancelière. The last flourished but for a moment: the revolution came, and with it disappeared cravats, and even tight breeches. Soon after this epoch (1796), the cravat recovered its popularity, and increased to an incredible degree of extravagance. Some persons enveloped the neck with whole pieces of muslin; others, with a padded cushion, on which were wrapped numerous folds. In this way, the neck was puffed out so as to be larger than the head, with which it was imperceptibly confounded. The shirt-collar arose above the ears, and the upper edge of the cravat buried up the chin and the mouth nose-deep; so that the visage, bristling on either side with a grove of bushy whis kers, and its upper regions ensconced to the eyes by the hair flattened down over the brows, absolutely showed nothing except the nose, projecting in all its plenitude. The exquisites thus cravatted resembled any thing rather than men, and afforded excellent subjects for caricatures. If they wished to look any way except straight forward, they were obliged to turn the whole trunk, with which the neck and head formed but one piece. It was im

possible to incline the head in any direction. Most fashions have been invented to hide an infirmity or a deformity: large cravats were probably first used to conceal some disagreeable scars, or some unlucky malformation. A singer or a public speaker cannot use his voice to advantage during the time when his cravat is tied too tight. The habit of wearing large cravats renders the neck very liable to be affected by exposure. By uncovering the neck imprudently when heated, severe and dangerous diseases have often been contracted. A young man or young lady, on leaving a party in a warm apartment, should be careful to protect the neck and breast from cold.

CRAVEN, Elizabeth, lady; margravine of Anspach, youngest daughter of the earl of Berkeley; born in 1750, and married in 1767, to William, last earl of Craven, by whom she had seven children. But, after a connexion of 14 years, in consequence of his ill-treatment, a separation was agreed upon in 1781. Lady Craven, after this, lived successively at the courts of Versailles, Madrid, Lisbon, Vienna, Berlin, Constantinople, Warsaw, St. Petersburg, Rome, Florence and Naples; then in Anspach, where she became acquainted with the margrave Christian Frederic Charles Alexander, a nephew of Frederic the Great. On this tour, in 1787, she was persuaded by the count Choiseul-Gouffier, French ambassador to Constantinople, to descend into the grotto of Antiparos, which no woman had ever before visited. After the death of lord Craven, at Lisbon, in 1791, the margrave married her, surrendered his estates to the king of Prussia for a yearly pension, and went, with his consort, to England, where he purchased an estate (Brandenburg), not far from Hammersmith, and died in 1806. From that time, lady Craven has lived partly in England, partly in Naples. The account of her travels through the Crimea to Constantinople, in a series of letters, was first published in 1789. A new enlarged edition appeared in 1814. Besides these, she has written poems, plays and romances; also her own memoirs (Memoirs of the Margravine of Anspach, formerly Lady Craven, &c., London, 1825). These are interesting on account of her intercourse with Catharine II, Joseph II, and other princes.

CRAWFISH (astacus, Fab.); a crustaceous genus, belonging to the family decapoda macroura (ten legged, long tailed), characterized by having the anterior part of the elongated semi-cylindric superior shell

produced to form a rostrum or beak; the abdomen large, slightly attenuated posteriorly, composed of six joints, forming a tail quite as long, when extended, as the body, and terminating in five broad-fringed, swimming appendages, which fold laterally upon each other. In both sexes, the under part of the abdomen is generally provided with five pairs of false claws, each terminated by two plates or plaments. The exterior jaw-feet are mostly narrow, elongated, and do not entirely cover the other parts of the mouth. The gills are pyramidal, brush-shaped, or plume-like, separated from each other by tendinous slips, and situated beneath the sides of the great superior shell, over the external base of the feet. Of the latter, the second and third pairs are elongated, slender, and furnished at the last joint, which is movable, with small pincers; the fourth and fifth pairs have the last joints simply pointed or hooked. The sexual organs are placed, in both sexes, in the basal joint of the last pair of feet. The species belonging to this genus, as at present restricted, do not exceed six. Some of these kinds are peculiar to salt and others to fresh water. Of the former, the most celebrated is the lobster (astacus gammarus), so prominent among the luxuries of New York, and our other eastern maritime cities. In their modes of living, the crawfish generally resemble the aquatic crabs (see Crab), feeding on putrefying animal matter, spending their time on the sandy or rocky bottom of deep waters, and only approaching the shallows when impelled by the necessity of undergoing their change of shell, or when under the sexual influence. The common lobster is the largest species, and grows to a size which may well appear wonderful to persons accustomed to see none but small ones. They are brought to the New York market more than two feet in length, and weighing 20 pounds and upward Such individuals, however, are not preferred for the table, as their size is a good indication of their age, and their period of life is stated to extend to 20 years and more. The smaller, or half-sized lobsters, are considered the best. The quite small, or young ones, which are commonly sold in New Haven (Connecticut), as too small for the New York market, are, in our opinion, far superior to either.-The fresh-water crawfish, of which one species (astacus bartnoi) is very common in most of the freshwater streams and brooks from Pennsylvania southward, affords us the best opportunity for observing their habits. We

find them inhabiting excavations of considerable depth along the borders, or a short distance within the current of the stream, at the bottom of which they lie nid. In the spring of the year, by cautiously approaching, and remaining quietly on the margin of such a stream, we may see the crawfish industriously bringing from the lower part of their caves the dirt accumulated there; and this enables us to comprehend the manner in which they originally made their retreats. Upon the two great claws, folded towards each other, and thus forming, with the front of the body, a sort of shelf, the dirt is carefully brought to the surface, and thrown down just where the current will sweep it away. As the substances thus brought up are very light, it requires a very gentle movement of the animal to avoid spilling, or rather washing off his lading; and he therefore rises in the gentlest and most circumspect manner. We can testify to the patience with which this labor is continued, as, with the view of observing the operation, we have often quietly pushed in the earth from the edge of the water, which they as often have toiled on to remove. It is upon these fresh-water species that the observations have been made, relative to the re-production of limbs or claws violently broken off. But a short time elapses before a growth or vegetation occurs at the stump or broken part, and a new limb, similar to the original, though sometimes rather smaller, is soon formed. This facility of re-production is found to extend throughout the crustaceous class. Fresh-water crawfish are regarded by many as furnishing a delicate dish for the table, though their small size, and the trouble of collecting a sufficient number of them, are great obstacles to their being extensively employed in this way. They are preyed upon by various animals, especially by certain birds, whose long bills are adapted to picking them out from the bottom of their dens.

CRAYER, Gaspar, a Dutch painter, born in 158%, at Antwerp, was a pupil of Raphael Coxie, and became, by the study of nature, one of the greatest historical and portrait painters. At the Spanish court in Brussels, he painted the portrait of the cardinal Ferdinand, brother of the king, and received a pension. He established himself in Ghent, where he constantly executed works for the court. He labored with industry and perseverance till his 86th year. When Rubens saw his finest painting in the refectory of the abbey of Affleghem, he cried out, "Crayer, Crayer,

nobody will ever surpass thee!" The city of Ghent alone had 21 altar-pieces by him. In Flanders and Brabant are many of his works, and some of his pictures are in the public collections at Vienna and Münich. His paintings are praised for fidelity to nature, excellent drawing, and a coloring approaching the manner of Vandyke. The latter was his friend, and took his likeness. Crayer died in 1669.

CRAYONS; a general name for all color ed stones, earths, or other minerals and substances used in designing or painting in pastel, whether they have been beaten, and reduced to a paste, or are used in their primitive consistence, after being sawn or cut into long, narrow slips. The sticks of dry colors which go under this name, and which are cemented into a friable mass, by means of gum or size, and sometimes of clay, afford a very simple means of applying colors, being merely rubbed upon paper, after which the shades are blended or softened by means of a stump or small roll of leather or paper. The drawings require to be protected by a glass covering, to save them from being defaced, unless some means have been adopted to fix them, so that they may not be liable to be rubbed off. This may be done by brushing the back of the paper with a strong solution of isinglass, or by passing the drawing through a powerful press, in contact with a moist paper.

CREAM OF TARTAR (potassa supertar tras; cremor tartari). This salt exists in grapes and in tamarinds. The dregs of wine also contain a considerable quantity of it. Cream of tartar contains a very considerable proportion of super-tartrate of potassa, about seven or eight hundredths of tartrate of lime, and a small quantity of silica, albumen, iron, &c. It is insoluble in alcohol, but may be dissolved in 15 parts of boiling and 60 of cold water. It may be rendered much more soluble by mixing with it a certain quantity of boracic acid or borate of soda, which renders the cream of tartar soluble in its own weight of cold water, and in the half only of this menstruum when boiling. This preparation is known by the name of soluble cream of tartar. Its aqueous solution is soon decomposed by the contact of the air. It is obtained by dissolving in boiling water the common tartar-a white or reddish crystalline matter, which forms on the internal sides of the vessels in which wine has been kept-mixing with it some clay, which precipitates the coloring matter, and then permitting the liquor to crystallize. The action of this substance

varies according to the dose in which it is administered. In small doses, it is absorbed, and acts as a temperant; and, in this quality, it is employed in jaundice, foulness of the stomach and intestines, &c. In larger doses, it principally spends its action on the mucous intestinal membrane, and induces alvine evacuations, especially when given in powder. Its taste being rather less unpleasant than that of some other neutral salts used in medicine, and its operation being of a very gentle nature, it is very frequently administered. In France, the soluble cream of tartar is generally preferred.

CRÉBILLON, Prosper Jolyot de, the elder, a writer of tragedy, who is compared, by his countrymen, even to Eschylus, born at Dijon, Feb. 15, 1674, early manifested talent at the school of the Jesuits in his native town, but, at the same time, a boisterous and heedless temper. Being designed for the profession of law, he was placed with an attorney named Prieur at Paris; but they were both lovers of the theatre, so that the youth made little progress in his studies. The attorney perceived, too, that his pupil was disqualified for the profession by his passionate temperament, but showed penetration and judgment in his criticisms on dramatic performances: he therefore advised him, though he had, as yet, written nothing but some trifling songs and scraps of verse, to apply himself to dramatic composition. Crebillon did so; but his first piece, La Mort des Enfans de Brutus, was rejected by the players. He burnt the manuscript, and resolved to have no more to do with the drama; but, subsequently, at the persuasion of Prieur, he wrote Idoménée, which, in 1705, was brought upon the stage. The faults of the play were overlooked in consideration of the youth of the author, and the promising talent which it displayed; and the promptness with which the author in five days wrote anew the last act, which had displeased at the first representation, drew the attention of the public to the young poet, whose talents, after the appearance of his Atrée, in 1707, were loudly applauded. Prieur, though sick, requested to be carried to the theatre, and said to the young tragedian, "I die content; I have made you a poet, and leave in you a man who belongs to the nation." A strange taste for unnatural declamation had been excited by the Rhodogune, and this manner was carried to excess by Crébillon, in the Atrée. In 1709 appeared his Electre, which is as declamatory and as intricate as his earlier plays;

His

yet it suited the taste of the age. chef d'œuvre, at least according to La Harpe, is his Rhadamiste (1711). But Boileau, on his death-bed, hearing the first scenes of this tragedy read to him by Leverrier, could not help exclaiming to his friends, "Heavens! do you wish to hasten my death? Why, the Boyers and Pradons were suns to this author! I shall be more willing to leave the world, since our age is becoming inundated with silly trash." Most persons of the present day would probably agree with Boileau. In eight days, the Rhadamiste passed through two editions, and Paris and Versailles vied with each other in admiring it. Crébillon had been told that his talent lay in the terrible, and thought, therefore, that he could not exert himself too much in scenes of horror, and hence was called the terrible. Xerxes (1714) exceeded, in this respect, all that he had before written, but soon disappeared from the stage. Semiramis (1717), the mother enamoured of her son, and not cured of her passion by the discovery of his relationship, was severely censured. It was not till nine years after this that his Pyrrhus appeared (1726), and met with a good reception, contrary to the expectation of the author, who, in this work, had abstained from the frightful and shocking. Domestic distress and poverty seem, from this time, to have crippled the powers of his genius. His small patrimony was absorbed by debts and law expenses. A father and a beloved wife were taken from him within a short time. Amidst the embarrassments in which he was involved, he refused, with characteristic inflexibility, all the offers of assistance which were made him. When madame de Pompadour wished to humble Voltaire, Crébillon was thought of as a fit instrument for her purpose. The king gave him the office of censor of the police, a yearly pension of 1000 francs, and an appointment in the library. Thus freed from anxiety, he finished his Catiline, which was represented, at the king's expense, in 1749, with all the pomp that the court theatre could display. This piece, overrated by the party opposed to Voltaire, is undervalued by La Harpe. To make some atonement to the character of Cicero, which was thought to have been wronged in his Catiline, he wrote, at 76, the Triumvirate, or the Death of Cicero, which was brought upon the stage in his 81st year. The defects of the piece were overlooked, from respect to the age of the author. Thus much for his dramatic compositions. In general, Crébillon snows

note of the true elevation of the tragic ar, but only an imitation, sometimes a happy one, of the manner struck out by Corneille. He was a man of a proud and independent character, disdained to flatter the great, and passed much of his life in a condition bordering on poverty. More fortunate circumstances might have given more amenity to his spirit; but, neglected, as he imagined, by mankind, he sought consolation in the company of dogs and cats, which he picked up in the streets (the poorest and most sickly were those which he preferred), and found a species of enjoyment in an irregular manner of living. In 1731, he became a member of the academy. Crébillon died June 17, 1762, at the age of 88. Louis XV erected a magnificent monument to him in the church of St. Gervais, which, however, was never entirely completed till it was removed to the museum of French monuments (aux petits Augustins). Besides the splendid edition of Crébillon's works published by the order of Louis XV, for the benefit of the author, after the successful performance of Catiline (Euvres de Crébillon, imprimerie R. du Louvre, 1750, 2 vols. 4to.), there is another published by Didot the elder, 1812, 3 vols., in both of which, however, six verses are omitted in Catiline, which had been left out in the representation, as applicable to madame de Pompadour.

CRÉBILLON, Claude Prosper Jolyot de, the younger, son of the preceding, born at Paris in 1707, succeeded as an author in an age of licentiousness. By the exhibition of gross ideas, covered only with a thin veil, and by the subtleties with which he excuses licentious principles, Crébillon contributed to diffuse a general corruption of manners, before confined to the higher circles of Parisian society. In later times, the French taste has been so much changed, especially by the revolution, that such indelicacies as are found in his works would not be tolerated at the present day. His own morals, however, appear to have been the opposite of those which he portrayed. We are told of his cheerfulness, his rectitude of principle, and his blameless life. In the circle of the Dominicaux (a Sunday society), he was a favorite, and the caveau where Piron, Gallet, Collé, wrote their songs and uttered their jests, was made respectable by his company. Of his works, the best are-Lettres de la Marquise au Comte de *** (1732, 2 vols., 12mo.); Tanzai et Néadarné (less licentious, but full of now unintelligible llusions); Les Éguremens du Cœur et de

***

l'Esprit (Hague, 1736, 3 vols.), perhaps the most successful, but unfinished. One of his most voluptuous pieces is Le Sopha (1745, 2 vols.). In the same licentious strain are most of his other writings composed. It is still a disputed point whether he was the author of the Lettres de la Marquise de Pompadour. They are not included in the edition of 1779, 7 vols., 12mo. Crébillon held a small office in the censorship of the press. He died at Paris, April 12, 1777.

CRECY or CRESSY EN PONTHIEU ; a town in France, in Somme; 10 miles N. of Abbeville, and 100 N. of Paris; population, 1650. It is celebrated on account of a battle fought here Aug. 26, 1346, between the English and French. Edward III and his son, the Black Prince, were both engaged, and the French were defeated with great slaughter, 30,000 foot and 1200 horse being left dead in the field; among whom were the king of Bohemia, the count of Alençon, Louis count of Flanders, with many others of the French nobility.

CREDIT, in economy, is the postponement agreed on by the parties of the payment of a debt to a future day. It implies confidence of the creditor in the debtor; and a "credit system" is one of general confidence of people in each other's honesty, solvency and resources. Credit is not confined to civilized countries; Mr. Park mentions instances of it among the Africans; but it will not prevail extensively where the laws do not protect property, and enforce the fulfilment of promises. Public credit is founded upon a confidence in the resources, good faith and stability of the government; and it does not always flourish or decline at the same time and rate as private credit; for the people may have either greater or less confidence in the government than in each other: still there is some sympathy and correspondence between the two; for a general individual confidence can rarely, if ever, take place in the midst of distrust of the government; and, vice versa, a firm reliance upon the government promotes a corresponding individual confidence among the citizens. The history of every industrious and commercial community, under a stable government, will present successive alternate periods of credit and distrust, following each other with a good deal of regularity. A general feeling of prosperity produces extension and facilities of credit. The mere opinion or imagination of a prevailing success has, of its own force, a most powerful influence