Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume I Part 166

1. (FINE.) From flour, 1 lb.; sugar, 1/4 lb.; melted b.u.t.ter, 1/2 lb.; 3 eggs; milk, q. s. Requires little baking.

2. (RAISED CRUST, FOR MEAT PIES, &C.) As the last, but using 6 oz. of lard for the b.u.t.ter, and 2 instead of 3 eggs.

3. (SHORT.) From flour, 1 lb.; b.u.t.ter and sugar, of each 2 oz.; eggs, 2 in no.; made into a stiff paste.

_Obs._ The quality is improved if the whole or a portion of the b.u.t.ter is employed in the way directed under PUFF PASTE. For further information hereon, consult the cookery books of Acton, Beeton, Rundell, and Soyer.

=CRY'OLITE= (3NaF_{1}AlF_{3}). A native double fluoride of aluminium and sodium, found in large quant.i.ties in Greenland, employed in the manufacture of alum, and also as a source of metallic aluminium.

=CRYOPH'ORUS.= See REFRIGERATION.

=CRYS'TAL.= A solid body, having a regular geometrical form. The plane surfaces by which a crystal is bounded are termed faces; these intersect in straight lines or edges; and these again meet in points, and form angles. The axis of a crystal is an imaginary line pa.s.sing through its centre, and terminating either in the middle of two faces or of two edges, or in two angles; and axes terminating in similar parts of a crystal are named similar axes. When the axes of a crystal are properly chosen, and placed in a right position, the various faces are observed to group themselves in a regular and beautiful manner around these axes, and to be all so related to them as to compose a connected series, produced according to definite laws. The mult.i.tudinous forms of crystals have been distributed by mineralogists and chemists into six primary cla.s.ses or systems, distinguishable from one another by the relative positions and lengths of the three axes about which the planes or faces are arranged; while the different figures of any particular system are distinguishable by the arrangement of the planes in respect to the axes. Thus, the cube or hexahedron, the rhombic dodecahedron, and the octahedron all belong to the regular system, which is characterised by 3 equal axes cutting one another at right angles. But in the cube each plane cuts 1 axis, and is parallel to 2 axes; in the dodecahedron each plane cuts 2 axes, and is parallel to a third; while in the octahedron each plane cuts the 3 axes. The names and definitions of the six crystalline systems are given below:--

1. REGULAR SYSTEM. { The 3 axes equal { and rectangular.

2. SQUARE PRISMATIC S. } 2 equal axes. } The 3 axes unequal, 3. RIGHT PRISMATIC S. } and rectangular.

All unequal. } 4. RHOMBOHEDRAL S. { The 3 axes equal, { but not rectangular.

5. OBLIQUE PRISMATIC S. } The 3 axes not 1 axis rectangular to 2. } equal, and not 6. DOUBLY O.P.S. } rectangular.

None rectangular. }

=CRYSTALLISATION.= The act or process by which crystals are formed. The frequent reference to this subject in the pages of this work, and the constant employment of the process of crystallisation in the manufacture of salts, &c., in the laboratory, seem to point out the necessity of a few explanatory remarks thereon under this head. When fluid substances are suffered to pa.s.s with adequate slowness to the solid state, or when solutions of solids are slowly concentrated by evaporation, or the solvent powers of the menstruum, gradually lessened by cooling, the ultimate particles of matter frequently so arrange themselves as to form regular geometrical bodies, familiarly known by the name of crystals. This wonderful property, which is possessed by a great variety of substances in the mineral kingdom, and by nearly all saline bodies, is resorted to for many useful and important purposes in the chemical arts. It is by means of crystallisation that the majority of salts are obtained in a state of purity; for in the act of pa.s.sing into the crystalline state, the foreign substances with which they are united are left behind in the mother-liquor.

Salts are crystallised, either by allowing their hot and saturated solutions to cool slowly, or by simply evaporating the menstrua as long as crystals form. In the first case the liquid is commonly evaporated until a pellicle appears on the surface, when the vessel is set aside in some sheltered situation until cold, at which time the crystals are collected, and the process repeated for fresh crystals. In the second case the crystals are usually removed from the liquid as soon as they are deposited. The first method is adopted for those salts that are considerably more soluble in hot than in cold water, as carbonate of soda, Epsom salts, &c.; the last method, for those that possess nearly equal solubility in both cases, and also for many salts which are not required in handsome crystals; thus common salt and chromate of potash are crystallised in this way. Many of the alkaloids, and their salts, are obtained in crystals, by allowing their solutions (generally alcoholic or ethereal) to evaporate spontaneously. By repeating the processes of solution and crystallisation two or three times with the same body, the crystals obtained by the last operation will usually be found to be quite pure.

Many solids may be readily obtained in a crystalline state by melting them and allowing them to cool very slowly. Thus, iodide of sulphur is crystallised by melting it in a flask placed in a salt-water bath, and allowing it to remain in the water until the whole becomes cold. Sulphur and many metals are crystallised by pouring them, in a state of fusion, into a hot vessel having a plug in the bottom, which is withdrawn as soon as the surface becomes cool, when the liquid portion runs out, and leaves the under surface in the form of a ma.s.s of agglomerated crystals.

Perfectly pure wax, stearine, and spermaceti have a very pleasing appearance when treated in this way.

=CRYS'TALLOID.= See DIALYSIS.

=CU'BEBIN.= A peculiar substance obtained from cubebs.

_Prep._ From cubebs (from which the oil has been expelled by distillation), by digestion in alcohol, evaporating the resulting tincture to one fourth, filtering, and then evaporating the remaining fluid almost to dryness. The residuum is left in a cold place until it a.s.sumes a semi-crystalline appearance, when it is thrown on a filter, and the fluid portion (the 'cubebine' of M. Ca.s.sola) allowed to drain off. In 24 hours the substance left on the filter is dissolved in 4 times its weight of boiling alcohol (sp. gr. 90), the solution allowed to deposit its undissolved resin (still maintaining it near the boiling temperature), after which the clear portion is decanted. The crystals deposited as the liquid cools are cubebin. It is purified by redissolving it in boiling concentrated alcohol, and the addition of a little boiling water and animal charcoal, when long, white needles will be deposited if the solution is allowed to cool very slowly.

_Prop., &c._ It is insoluble in water, and nearly so in cold alcohol, but very soluble in boiling alcohol. It strikes a fine crimson colour with sulphuric acid, which remains unaltered for some hours; a property which distinguishes it from piperin. Its physiological action has been but little studied. According to Dr Gorres, this for the most part resembles that of cubebs.

=CU'BEBS.= _Syn._ CUBEB PEPPER; CUBEBA (B. P. & U. S.), CUBEBae (B. P.), L.

The immature and stalked fruit of _Piper cubeba_ or _Cubeba officinalis_.

Cubebs are stimulant, stomachic, and aromatic, like the other peppers; they are also diuretic, and appear to possess a specific influence over the urino-genital organs.--_Dose_, 10 to 20 gr., in affections of the bladder and prostate gland, and in gleet and leucorrha; 1 to 3 dr., in the early and inflammatory stages of gonorrha, in piles, &c. They may be taken in water, milk, or bitter ale.

=CU'c.u.mBER.= The fruit of the _Cuc.u.mis sativus_ (Linn.). Used as a salad vegetable. It is somewhat indigestible, but when properly dressed, with plenty of oil, it may be eaten without the slightest fear of evil consequences. The practice of pouring off the natural juice extracted from the cuc.u.mber by salt cannot be too strongly condemned. See ELATERIUM.

=CUD'BEAR.= _Syn._ PERSIO. A dye-stuff obtained from _Lecanora tartarea_ and other lichens, by a process nearly similar to that used in making ARCHIL. The lichen is watered with stale urine or other ammoniacal liquor, and suffered to ferment for 3 or 4 weeks, after which the whole is poured into a flat vessel, and exposed to the air until the urinous smell has disappeared, and it has a.s.sumed a violet colour. It is then ground to powder. Its use is confined to a few cases of silk dyeing, where it is employed to yield shades of ruby and maroon; upon wool it gives deep-red shades. The colours produced by it are very fugitive. Like archil, there are two varieties of this dye-stuff--BLUE CUDBEAR and RED CUDBEAR. See ARCHIL.

=CULM.= In _mineralogy_, a slaty kind of ANTHRACITE, occurring in Wales and North Devon. The term is also applied to any impure, shaly kind of coal.

=CU'MARIN.= See COUMARIN.

=CU'MIN.= _Syn._ CYMINI SEMINA, CYMINUM, L. The fruit (seed) of _c.u.minum cyminum_. It is carminative and aromatic, like the caraway and anise. See PLASTER.

=CU'MINOL.= A colourless, transparent oil, of powerful odour. It exists with CYMOL in OIL of c.u.mIN. See CYMOL.

=CU'PELLATION.= The process of a.s.saying gold and silver and their alloys by means of the CUPEL. See a.s.sAYING.

=CUP'PING.= This method of topical bleeding is performed as follows:--

The skin being softened by means of a sponge and warm water, and the hair and other extraneous substances being previously removed, one of the small bell-like gla.s.ses (CUPPING-GLa.s.sES; CUCURBITU'Lae), having the air contained in it rarefied by being pa.s.sed over the flame of a spirit-lamp, is immediately applied to the part. From the formation of a partial vacuum beneath the cup, the pressure of the air on the surrounding surface causes that portion immediately under the cup to swell, and the vessels to become turgid. When this has taken place the cup is removed, and several incisions are instantly made by means of a scarificator, an instrument containing numerous lancets, which, by means of a spring, make a number of incisions at the same moment; the depth of these incisions being regulated by means of a screw which protrudes or withdraws the lancets, according to the vascularity of the part, or the quant.i.ty of blood to be abstracted.

The cupping gla.s.s is now again applied. When a sufficient quant.i.ty of blood has been collected in the cup, it is removed by gently introducing the nail of one of the fingers under the upper edge, by which means, air being allowed to enter, the cup becomes detached. The part being washed with warm water to remove any clots of blood, another cup is applied as before, and the operation continued until a sufficient quant.i.ty of blood is withdrawn. Sometimes, especially when applied to the scalp, the cups fill so rapidly with blood as to become detached almost immediately on being applied. This method of local bleeding is frequently called 'CUPPING WITH SCARIFICATIONS,'

When cupping-gla.s.ses are applied without the use of the lancet or scarificator, the operation is called 'DRY CUPPING,' and is much used to cause a speedy irritation of the skin and reaction, for the relief of oppressive breathing, local pains, &c. To obtain the full benefit from this operation, the cups should be suffered to remain upon the part until they cause an exudation of a small quant.i.ty of serum, or a considerable amount of irritation of the part. Dry cupping has been found extremely beneficial in poisoned wounds; as it acts not only by abstracting the poison, but also, by the pressure the gla.s.ses exercise on and around the part, in preventing the absorption of it.

_Obs._ For the operation of cupping, a basin of hot water, sponges, and clean, soft towels, should be provided. In clumsy hands, cupping is occasionally a severe and painful operation; but this is not the case with the skilful operator. A good cupper does not exhaust much of the air in the cup before applying it, but simply pa.s.ses its mouth rapidly over the flame of the lamp. When it is held over the flame even for a few seconds, the compression of the edge of the cup upon the skin is so great, that it checks the flow of the blood to the scarified part. A good cupper also removes the cup without spilling the contents, and completes the whole operation quickly and neatly. There are, however, few persons, who are not professional cuppers, who are sufficiently expert to exhaust the air in the cup by means of the common lamp; although it is by far the best. A good plan is to rarify the air in the cup by means of a small cone of paper, dipped in spirits of wine, or strong brandy; this is ignited and thrown in the cup, which is instantly to be applied to the proper spot.

Where cupping-gla.s.ses and the scarificator are not to be had, wine-gla.s.ses, or any very small tumblers, may be subst.i.tuted for the first; and small incisions by means of a thumb lancet will answer the purpose of the other.

The cicatrices of the scarification leave permanent marks on the skin; on which account, when blood is to be drawn from the head or neck, the gla.s.ses should be applied behind the ears, and a portion of hair removed in such a manner that the part may be covered by what remains.

A most convenient cupping apparatus is manufactured by Mr Bigg, the eminent surgical instrument maker of Leicester Square, consisting of cups and an exhausting syringe, so arranged that the use of the spirit-lamp is rendered unnecessary, and the operation of cupping may be performed nearly as expertly by an inexperienced nurse as by the most accomplished professional operator. It is invaluable in places remote from town.

=CURAR'INE.= _Syn._ CURARIA. The vegeto-alkaline base of curara, urari, woorara, woorali, or wourali, the arrow-poison of Central America.

In physiological effects curarine is antagonistic to strychnia, a fact which has led to its being proposed as an antidote for the latter poison.

Curarine is also said to have been employed in Germany in the treatment of hydrophobia with such success that the patient to whom it was administered recovered. It is a most potent poison, and should not be allowed to come into contact with the fingers.

=CURB.= In _horses_. An enlargement at the back of a horse's hock caused by injuring a ligament in this region. See SPRAIN.

=CURCU'MIN.= The yellow colouring matter of turmeric, obtained by digesting the alcoholic extract of the powder in ether, and evaporating the clear ethereal solution to dryness. A brownish-yellow ma.s.s, yielding a bright-yellow powder. It is scarcely soluble in water, but very soluble in both alcohol and ether. Boracic and hydrochloric acids redden it; alkalies turn it reddish brown.

=CURD.= Coagulated casein. See CHEESE.

=CUR'RANTS.= The currants of our garden are varieties of the _Ribes rubrum_ and _Ribes nigrum_. (Linn.) The first includes RED CURRANTS and WHITE CURRANTS; the fruit of both of which are gently acidulous, cooling, and wholesome. The juice makes excellent wine. The fruit of the last (BLACK CURRANTS, QUINSY-BERRIES) is aperitive, and has been used in calculous affections; the juice is made into wine, jellies, jams, lozenges, &c. The young leaves are used as a subst.i.tute for tea; one or two buds, or half a small leaf, impart to black tea the flavour and fragrance of green. The currants of the grocers (ZANTE CURRANTS) are a small variety of dried grapes. The word "currant" is a corruption of Corinth, whence the fruit originally came.

=CUR'RY.= _Syn._ CURRIE. A noted dish in Indian cookery, much esteemed throughout the East. Curries are simply stews, of which rice usually forms a characteristic ingredient, highly flavoured with fried onions and curry powder, to which sliced apples and lemon juice are sometimes added. They are made from every variety of fish, meat, poultry, game, &c., according to the fancy of the parties.

_To make a Dish of Curry._--Cut an onion into slices and fry it with an apple, finely chopped, in two ounces of dripping; then add slices of cold meat; mix a dessert-spoonful of curry powder and one of flour in half a pint of water; pour it over the meat, and shake the whole over the fire till it boils.

=Cur'ry Powder.= _Prep._ (Kitchener.) From coriander-seed, 1/4 lb.; turmeric, 1/4 lb.; cinnamon-seed, 2 oz.; cayenne, 1/2 oz.; mustard, 1 oz.; ground ginger, 1 oz.; allspice, 1/2 oz.; fenugreek-seed, 2 oz.; all dried thoroughly, pounded in a mortar, rubbed through a sieve, and mixed together.

The famous Ceylon curry powder is said by Dr Balfour to have the following rather indefinite composition:--A piece of green ginger, two fragments of garlic, a few coriander and c.u.min seeds, six small onions, one dry Chili, eight peppercorns, a small piece of turmeric, half a dessert-spoonful of b.u.t.ter, half a cocoa-nut, and half a lime. For it to be in perfection the powder should be made the day on which it is cooked.

_Obs._ The above must be regarded as merely a subst.i.tute for Indian curry powder, which contains many ingredients not to be obtained in England. It should be kept in a bottle closely corked or stoppered. The curry powder sold at the present time consists of coriander-seed, turmeric, cayenne, fenugreek-seed, and a large proportion of sago-flour.

=CUS'CONINE.= See ARICINE.

=CUSPA"RIA.= _Syn._ CUSPARIA BARK (B. P.), ANGOSTU"RA B.; COR'TEX ANGOSTU"Rae, C. CUSPA"RIae, CUSPARIA (Ph. L. and E.), L. "The bark of _Galipea cusparia_" (Ph. L.), or _Galipea officinalis_ (Ph. E.). A valuable drug, imported directly or indirectly from South America.--_Dose_, 10 gr. to 30 gr., as a tonic, stomachic, and febrifuge, in similar cases to those in which CASCARILLA, CALUMBA, and CINCHONA, are commonly given.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Characters. False Angostura. True Angostura.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------- { Flat or rolled _Form_ { Thick, rugous, rolled upon { up, little { itself. Edges cut perpendicularly. { wrinkled, { edges bevelled.

{ Brown, or greenish-yellow, { { presenting protuberances { { or excrescences, { { produced by { _Colour_ { the great development { Greyish-yellow.

{ of the corky layer, which { { has a still more yellow { { colour. {