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 eitner the works of the ancient masters, or the chefs-d'œuvre of the moderns who preceded him, should have become a inodel for his successors, by the unassisted energies of his genius, renders him so nuch the more deserving of our admira tion. Three qualities will always be adinired in him-grace, harmony, and a skilfil 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 gaz ing till it was satisfied on the bright col ors, 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 inno cence 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 ultar-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 cuthedral, 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 fortification, 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 beautics 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 inelegan.. ces, 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 ight 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 cominenced, 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 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 figure is insufficient to compensate for the air of awkward restraint caused by such lacing. 5th. They should never be worn, either loosely or tightly, during the hours appropriated to sleep, as, by impeding respiration, and accumulating the heat of the system improperly, they invariably injure. 6th. The corset for young persons should be of the simplest character, and worn in the lightest and easiest manner, allowing their lungs full play, and giving the form its fullest opportunity for expansion.-At this remote period, it is impossible for us to say whether the corset, in some form, might not have belonged to the complex toilet of the ancient Israelitish ladies. We find the prophet Isaiah, in chap. iii, inveighing against their numerous and useless decorations "the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, the chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, the bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the head-bands, and the tablets, and the ear-rings, the rings and nose-jewels, the changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping-pins, the glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails." This catalogue, at least, shows that the disposition evinced by the fair sex to adorn their persons, and render them more attractive, is not of modern origin, but most probably originated with our great mother Eve. The earliest and most delightful record we have of a contrivance like the corset, among Ethnic writers, is Homer's account of the girdle, or cestus, of Venus, mother of the Loves and Graces, which even the haughty Juno is fabled to have borrowed, in order to make a more profound impression upon her rather unmanageable husband, Jupiter. This girdle was invested by the poet with magical qualities, which rendered the wearer irresistibly fascinating : "In this was every art and every charm POPE, Iliad, book xiv, line 247, &c. This, after all, we are persuaded, was nothing but such a corset as we have described in the beginning, worn by an elegant form, to which it was accurately adapted. Even Venus herself could not look otherwise than awkward and repulsive in one of the armadillo, shell-like machines, which are sold as fashionable, without regard to their inelegance. The costume of the ancient Greek ladies was, in every particular, opposed to stiffness or personal restraint; and we find that the cestus, or girdle, to gather the flowing redundance of their robes around the waist, was considered sufficient for the display of their enchanting forms. The Roman ladies were great adepts in the mysteries of the toilet, though not possessed of the grace and elegance of the Grecian beauties. We find among them rudiments of the corset, in the bandages which they wore around the chest, for the purpose of preserving the shape of the bosom, and displaying it to advantage. They were commonly made of woollen or linen cloth, and are alluded to, in several instances, by the poets. Thus, in Terence, we find Chærea saying to his servant, concerning an unknown beauty who attracted his attention-" This girl has nothing in common with ours, whom their mothers force to stoop, and make them bind their hosoms with bandages, in order to appear more slender" (Haud similis virgo est virgi num nostrarum, quas matres student demis sis humeris, vincto pectore, ut gracila sient). TER., Eun.-A writer in the French Dictionary of Medical Sciences, in an article on corsets, which the reader may compare with the present, states that the whaleboned corset, dividing the female form into two parts, is a relic of the ancient German costume, which is still to be seen in some pictures of celebrated masters. We are not, however, prepared to retract our opinion, that such contrivances were first resorted to in cases of deformity; for, on inquiry, we find that the German fomales, as described by the Roman writers, wore dresses tight to the person, though no mention is made of artificial contri vances to give it a peculiar form. The dress of both sexes was similar, consisting of a sagum or cloak clasped at the throat, and a vest or tunic which fitted tightly, and showed all the form. Tegumen fuil sagum, fibula si defuisset, spina confertum ; locupletissimi distinguebantur veste, non fluxa, sed stricta, ac pene singula membra exprimente: idem feminis habitus qui et viris. B. AUBAMUS, De Morib. etc. omn. Gent. It might prove interesting to inquire into the influence which the costume of the mailed knights, during the age of chivalry, had upon female dress, and whether much of the disposition to display the entire figure, as far as possible, did not arise from this display constantly made by the male sex, in their closely-fitting armor. It would lead us too far, however, to engage in such an examination here; neither shal! we attempt to copy M. de Jouy's account of the thoracic corset of the Bayaderes of India (a finely-woven net made of bark, which is worn about the bust, and never laid aside), as having but little relation to the objects we have in view.-Throughout our observations, we have spoken of a certain degree of display of the female form, as not incompatible with correctness of manners. But there is a limit which, we believe, cannot be exceeded without immediate detriment to public morals, and positive offence to delicacy. A spirit of rivalry and emulation to excel in dress has frequently betrayed females of unquestionable character into wearing costumes which their modesty would shrink from under ordinary circumstances. Perhaps a majority of them, exclusively intent upon their own adornment, do not reflect upon the consequences that may result from their appearance in public. It is certainly exacting a great deal of young men, in the full vigor of life, to expect them to behold, unmoved, the most seductive of forms displayed with all the allurements of dress, in such a manner as scarcely to leave any thing for the imagination; nor is it surprising, that their passions should be excited, and their principles shaken, when, in the street, in church, and, in short, every where, such exhibitions are constantly placed before them. It cannot be doubted, but that this cause daily operates to the deterioration of public morals; and it is full time that it should receive the serious attention of parents and guardians. There was a time when this mode of dressing to display every personal charm was peculiar to an unfortunate class of beings, regarded as lost to all the modesty and dignity of the sex; but it is a melancholy truth, that this distinction between the lost and the reputable no longer exists in our great cities, where leaders of fashion and celebrated beauties, claiming the highest rank and character, are most remarkable for the solicitude with which they prepare their lovely persons to be gazed at and admired, in all their proportions, by the passing crowd! We should not have alluded to this subject, did we not hope that a slight animadversion upon its evil tendency would help to produce its correction. It has an immcdiate influence in lowering the sex in the estimation of men, since it lessens their reverence for beings they would otherwise always look upon with deep respect; and surely the fair sex have not yet to learn, that modest reserve and retiring delicacy are among the most po tent auxiliaries of their charms. That they should rush into the extreme we have deprecated, appears to result merely from inattention; and we sincerely hope that but a short time will elapse before they will strictly respect the boundaries established by good sense and good taste, united with the lovely purity inherent in their sex, remembering the exclamation of the poet "O! Beauty is a holy thing When veiled and curtained from the sight CORSICA, the third in size of the Italian islands, is separated from the northern coast of Sardinia by the straits of Bonifacio, which are 10 miles in breadth. It is about 50 miles distant from Tuscany, and 100 from France. It contains 3790 square miles, 18 large towns, of which 4 are seaports (with 3 harbors, capable of containing large fleets), 5 market-towns, 560 villages, including 63 pièves, or cultivated valleys, and 180,400 inhabitants. San Fiorenzo, which has fine roads for ships to anchor in, ought to be the capital, and to be fortified. A range of mountains, with numerous branches, traverses the whole extent of the island, and, near the middle, rises to such an elevation, that the snow remains on the summits during the greater part of the year. The monte Rotondo and the monte d'Oro (from 8 to 9000 feet in height) are covered with perpetual snows. This chain of mountains consists, in part, of precipitous rocks, and is, in part, overspread with forests. A number of small rivers, of which the Golo alone is navigable, flow easterly and westerly into the sea. Most of these frequently become dry in summer. The eastern coast is more flat than the western, on which are most of the inlets of the sea. is mild, since the heat of the sun is rendered less oppressive by the high mountains and sea breezes. The air, in many parts of the island, owing to the many lakes of stagnant water, is unhealthy; and these districts have, consequently, become desolate. The soil is very fertile, particularly in the valleys and near the coast; for which reason the inhabitants, although very inattentive to agriculture, yet reap a sufficient supply of grain for their necessities (with the exception of oats, which are not produced there). The lower order of Corsicans subsist, commonly, on chestnuts, and seldom obtain wheat bread. Wine, which resembles the Malaga and French wines, notwithstanding the negli The climate |