1. Whether you play the open or close game, bring out all your pieces
into play before you begin the attack; for if you do not and your
adversary should, you will always attack, or be attacked, at a great
disadvantage; this is so essential, that you had better forego an
advantage than deviate from it; and no person can ever play well who
does not strictly practise this. In order to bring out your pieces
properly, push on your pawns first, and support them with your pieces,
by which your game will not be crowded, and all your pieces will be at
liberty to play and assist each other, and so co-operate towards
obtaining your end; and either in your attack or defence, bring them out
so as not to be driven back again.
2. When you have brought out all your pieces, which you will have done
well, if you have your choice on which side to castle; then consider
thoroughly your own and adversary’s game, and not only resolve where to
castle, but likewise to attack where you appear strongest, and your
enemy weakest. By this it is probable you will be able to break through
your adversary’s game, in which some pieces must be exchanged. Now pause
again, and survey both games attentively, and do not let your
impetuosity hurry you on too far; at this critical juncture (especially
if you still find your adversary very strong) rally your men, and put
them in good order for a second or third attack, still keeping them
close and connected, so as to be of use to each other. For want of this
method, and a little coolness, an almost sure victory is often snatched
out of a player’s hands, and a total overthrow ensues.
3. At the last period of the game, observe where your pawns are
strongest, best connected, and nearest to queen; likewise mind how your
adversary’s pawns are disposed, and compare these things together; and
if you can get to queen before him, proceed without hesitation; if not,
hurry on with your king to prevent him: I speak now, as supposing all
the noblemen are gone; if not, they are to attend your pawns, and
likewise to prevent your adversary from going to queen.—_Vide_
_Hoyle_—_Jones, &c._
CHESS-BOARD, _s._ The board or table on which the game of chess is
played.
CHESS-MAN, _s._ A puppet for chess.
CHEVAUX-DE-FRISE, s. A piece of timber traversed with wooden spikes,
pointed with iron, five or six feet long.
CHEW, _v._ To grind with the teeth, to masticate; to meditate, or
ruminate in the thoughts; to taste without swallowing.
CHICK, CHICKEN, _s._ The young of a bird, particularly of a hen, or
small bird.
CHINE, _s._ The part of the back in which the back-bone is found; a
piece of the back of an animal.
CHIRP, _s._ The voice of birds or insects.
CHOP, _v._ To do any thing with a quick motion; to light or happen
upon any thing. To fall upon a scent.
CHOUGH, _s._ A bird which frequents the rocks by the sea.
This species weighs about fourteen ounces; length near seventeen inches.
The bill is longer and more slender than in any of the genus, a little
curved, of a deep orange red, much resembling red coral, and is
remarkably brittle; irides hazel.
The plumage is wholly black, glossed with purple; legs and feet red;
claws black, strong, and much hooked. The female differs in not being so
large, and in the bill being shorter; the plumage in both sexes is
alike.
This bird with us seems to be chiefly confined to Devonshire, Cornwall,
and Wales, where it is found on most of the bold rocky shores. It has
been seen on the cliffs of Dover, supposed to have escaped from
confinement, and stocked those rocks. But we believe the breed in those
parts is again lost.—_Montagu._
CHRONIC, _a._ Relating to time. A chronic distemper is of long
duration. _Vide_ LAMENESS.
CHUB, _s._ A river fish. The cheven.
[Illustration]
This fish takes its name from the head, not only in our own but other
languages; we call it chub, according to Skinner, and from the old
English cop, a head; the French, testard; the Italians, capitome: in
different parts of England this fish is called cheven, nob, or botling;
he much resembles the carp, but is of a longer form; the body is oblong,
rather round, and of a pretty equal thickness in the greater part of the
slope; the scales are large; the irides silvery; the cheeks of the same
colour; the head and back of a deep dusky green; the sides silvery, but
in the summer, yellow; the belly white; the pectoral fins of a pale
yellow; the ventral and anal fins, red; the tail forked, of a brownish
hue, but tinged with blue at the end; it is altogether a handsome fish,
will sometimes weigh upwards of five pounds; but Salvianus speaks of
them as increasing to eight or nine. The flesh of the chub is not in
much esteem, being coarse, and when out of season, full of small hairy
bones; the head and throat are the best parts, taking care to have the
latter well washed and cleansed from the grass and weeds usually in it.
The roe is exceedingly good, and this fish stewed as carp, will, it is
said, deceive a connoisseur.
The haunts of the chub are in rivers whose bottoms are of sand or clay,
or which are bounded by clayey banks; particularly in deep holes, shaded
by trees, weeds, &c. They frequently float on the surface, and are
sometimes in streams and deep waters where the currents are strong; in
ponds fed by a rivulet they grow to a large size. They spawn in April,
and are most in perfection in December and January, having then very few
of the hairy bones aforementioned.
The chub does not afford the angler so much diversion as the trout, from
being so dull a fish on the hook, and when once struck becoming soon
tired; but he bites so eagerly, that, when he takes the bait, his jaws
are heard to chop like those of the dog, and having a very wide leather
mouth, and his teeth in his throat, there is little danger of his
breaking hold; to fish for him, the angler should have a stout long rod,
a strong line (if he uses a reel he will be enabled the better to fish
under bushes) with a yard or more of the best silk-worm-gut at bottom, a
hook proportioned to the bait used, a swan-quill float, and the line so
shotted, eight or ten inches from the hook, as to sink the float to a
quarter of an inch above the surface; the same ground-bait to be used as
for the carp, and the hook baited with a sufficient quantity of salmon’s
roe (boiled a little) to fill up the bend properly; this rightly done is
a tempting bait. The large ones are to be caught by dibbing, very early
in the morning, with the brown beetle or cockchafer: by day-break the
angler should be at the river, and after baiting his hook, let him move
it two or three times near the surface, as in the act of flying; then
let it softly drop on the water, shaking the rod gently, which will
cause the appearance of its struggling to escape: this attracts the
chub, who are so fond of this bait that they will rise two or three at a
time to seize it; the landing-net in this fishing should never be
forgotten, as the places most likely for success in taking chub, are
those where the angler cannot get to the water-side to land them with
his hands.
Another way of dibbing is in a hot summer day with a grasshopper. In any
hole where they haunt, many of them will be seen basking themselves near
the surface; the rod must be both long and of considerable strength; the
line strong, and in length about a yard. Bait the hook with a
grasshopper, and the angler must conceal himself behind some bush or
tree, and remain as motionless as possible, for the chub is so fearful,
that the smallest shadow of a bird flying over, or of the rod, makes him
sink to the bottom, but he will soon rise again. Having selected the
largest chub, let him move the rod with great slowness and caution, and
drop the bait gently upon the water, three or four inches before it, and
he will infallibly take it: there is no danger of securing the chub, if
allowed play enough before it is attempted to be taken out, being one of
the leather-mouthed fishes, wherein a hook seldom loses its hold.
The chub will take gentles, wasps, maggots (which must be baked in an
oven before used). Paste of fine new white bread (without being made
wet), worked up in the hand, and tinged with vermilion as near as
possible to the colour of salmon’s roe; from the hook this paste will
not easily wash off, and is a most killing bait; but the best baits for
bottom or float-fishing for this fish, are old Cheshire cheese, (such
as, without crumbling, will mould in the hand), and the pith from the
back bone of an ox, with the outward so carefully taken off as not to
bruise the inward skin.
At every season of the year, the former of these is good; but the latter
end of summer, and all the winter, are the preferable times for both. In
baiting with the cheese, put a round lump, the size of a cherry, on a
large hook, so as to cover the bend, and some way up the shank; fish six
inches from the bottom, or in cold raw weather the bait may lie on the
ground; but if the hole has not been ground-baited, the depth is
immaterial; when there is a bite, the float will very swiftly be drawn
under water, strike immediately and give him play, holding a tolerable
tight line, to keep the fish clear of weeds and stumps, which at sight
of the angler he will endeavour to get at for shelter, and if not
properly managed, he will break the tackle. In the spring of the year
the chub will take a marsh, or small red-worm; in May, June, and July,
flies, beetles, snails (the black ones with the belly slit to shew the
white;) in August, pastes: the large chub will also take minnows, small
dace, and gudgeons, angled with in the same manner as for perch; and the
latter bait used likewise in trolling for pike, the hook not so heavily
loaded upon the shank. They gorge immediately upon taking the bait.
Their biting times are chiefly from before sunrise until nine in the
morning, and from four until after sunset in the summer, (some will, by
chance, take at any time of the day when mild and cloudy); and in the
winter the middle of the day is best; remembering that in hot weather,
they are to be fished for at or near the top, and not deeper than
mid-water, and in cold, close to or upon the bottom; and that the main
point in taking this fish is, the angler’s keeping himself out of
sight.—_Daniel._
CHUBBED, _a._ Big-headed, like a chub.
CHUCK, _v._ To make a noise like a hen.
CHYLE, _s._ The white juice formed in the stomach by digestion of
the aliment.
CICATRICE, or CICATRIX, _s._ The scar remaining after a wound; a
mark, an impressure.
CICATRIZE, _v._ To apply such medicines to wounds, or ulcers, as
skin them.
CIDER, _s._ The juice of apples expressed and fermented.
CILIARY, _a._ Belonging to the eyelids.
CILIATED (_Lingua Ciliata_, LINN.), _a._ In ornithology, a term used
when the tongue is edged with fine bristles, as in ducks.
CINGLE, _s._ A girth for a horse.
CINNABAR, _s._ Vermilion, a mineral consisting of mercury and
sulphur.
CINNAMON, _s._ The fragrant bark of a low tree in the island of
Ceylon.
_To dye cinnamon colour._—Take about three pints of _right stone
crottle_, (common lichen) about four or six chips of young fustic, and a
good flake of walnut-bark; put them down in eight quarts of water; when
your time of boiling is half done, add a pint of crottle and eight or
ten fustic chips; make four very thick canvass bags, ten inches broad
and fourteen or fifteen inches long—wash them when made, lest they
should hurt your colour. Divide one pound of fur into four parts, and
put a part into each bag; tie a leaden weight to each bag, at both ends,
allowing two inches of string, to admit the bags to rise that height
from the bottom, lest they should burn; place them in the pot so that
they may not entangle with each other, put in your frame without the
lid, and fill the pot with water. It will take from twelve to eighteen
hours boiling; divide that time as to the drawing each shade; look at
them every hour by lifting out a bag, and if you see a shade to your
eye, draw a part and put down your bag again: in this case you should
put half a pound of fur in your bags. There are many shades of cinnamon
wanting in fishing. Thus you have your colour nice and clean. The reason
of using the bags is the difficulty of carding the crottle out of the
fur; and the reason of boiling so long, is, that the bag in some degree
prevents the dye.
You may get a more flaming cinnamon by using the following dye-stuff:—A
quarter of a pound of turmeric, half a table-spoonful of brasil, and a
flake of walnut-bark; follow the process of the other, as to the
addition of more dye-stuff, the bags, leads, &c.—_Old Receipt._
CINQUE, _s._ A five.
CIRCLE, _v._ To move round any thing; to enclose, to surround; to
confine.
CIRCUMVOLATION, _s._ The act of flying round.
CIRRUS, _s._ A description of cloud.
_Cirrus_ or _Curlcloud._—When, after much fine weather, this cloud
appears like a white line pencilled along on the azure sky, we may
generally reckon on a change; and if the cloud increases, and others are
added to it latterly, or if it change to the wane-cloud, rain will
probably follow before long.
The tufts of cirrus, called mares’ tails, are known to be a sign of
wind, which has frequently been found to blow from the quarter to which
these curlclouds have previously pointed.—_Foster._
CIST, _s._ A case, a tegument, commonly the enclosure of a tumour.
CISTERN, _s._ A receptacle of water for domestic uses; a reservoir;
an enclosed fountain; any watery receptacle.
CITRON, _s._ A large kind of lemon.
CITRON-WATER, _s._ Aqua vitæ, distilled with the rind of citrons.
CLARET, _s._ A species of French wine.
_To dye claret colour._—Take any quantity of stuff, put it down with
some young fustic chips, bring it up to as bright a shade as it will
give, and then put in some black grain; bring it up high with this, add
some brasil dust, and you will have a _deep red_. Have a small quantity
of boiling water and a little stale urine in another vessel, dip a small
bit of wool in, and if you like the change dip more; have some archil
liquor boiled and strained, add this to the rest of your liquor
sparingly, as, if you darken too much at first, you ruin all: thus you
may draw two shades between the different additions of the archil and
liquor; and if you wish it to be still darker, take out your fur, and
throw into the pot a quarter of a tea-spoonful of salt of tartar, and
that will darken it sufficiently.
_To dye good dark clarets, blood, and fiery reds._—Get some bunches of
the clearest red hackles, ground them well in cochineal, then add some
brasil dust, and when they have boiled a few minutes draw a bunch or
two; add more brasil dust, boil and draw again. If they are changed
enough, then add in some archil and boil them again. Never attempt to
ground in yellow for this process, as at best the hackles will appear
but a dull mahogany colour when placed between you and the light. Never
use young fustic in hackle-dyeing, as it spoils the feathers.—_Old
Receipt._
CLASS, _s._ A rank or order of persons or animals.
CLASS, _v._ To range according to some stated method of
distribution.
CLAW, _s._ The foot of a beast or bird armed with sharp nails.
Puppies are frequently born with _dew_ claws; sometimes they are double.
Whether there is any bony attachment or not, it is always prudent to cut
them off in a few days after birth, otherwise they become very
troublesome as the dog grows up; for the claw or nail attached to the
end of each, frequently turns in and wounds the flesh; or, by its
hook-like shape, it catches into every thing the dog treads on.
The _horny claws_ or _nails_ of the true toes are also subject, when
dogs have not sufficient exercise, to become preternaturally long, and,
by turning in, to wound these toes likewise, and lame the dog. It is
better to saw them off with a very fine and hard cockspur saw, and then
to file them smooth; avoiding to cut them too close, or the vascular
part may be entered on, and much unnecessary pain given to the animal.
Some dogs require their nails to be cut every two or three months, or
even oftener; otherwise they become very lame.—_Blaine._
CLEANLINESS, _s._ Freedom from dirt, being clean.
The following curious fact is mentioned in a communication on the
cleanliness of animals.—(_Jour. Roy. Institution_, No. II.) “Walking one
day along the shore of Holy Island, off the coast of Northumberland, I
disturbed an ash-coloured sanderling (_Calidris islandica_, STEPH.),
which flew heedlessly, and as if injured. On shooting the bird, I found
that it was covered with vermin, more especially about the head; so much
so, that the poor thing must have fallen a victim to their tormenting
ravages. On further examination, I found that it had lost one of its
legs, so that it was from its incapability to rid itself of these
insects that their extraordinary increase was to be attributed. Poultry
(the same naturalist remarks) which run about in stony or paved yards,
wear away the points of their claws by friction and digging, which
renders them unfit to penetrate their coating of feathers; they are,
therefore, more covered with vermin, and, in consequence, more sickly
than fowls from the country.”—_Ainsworth._
CLERGY, _s._ A man in holy orders, not a laic.
The propensity of the clergy to follow the secular pastimes, and
especially those of hunting and hawking, is frequently reprobated by the
poets and moralists of the former times. Chaucer, in his Canterbury
Tales, makes the monk much better skilled in riding and hunting, than in
divinity. The same poet, afterwards, in the Ploughman’s Tale, takes
occasion to accuse the monks of pride, because they rode on coursers
like knights, having their hawks and hounds with them. In the same tale
he severely reproaches the priests for their dissolute manners, saying,
that many of them thought more upon hunting with their dogs, and blowing
the horn, than of the service they owed to God.
The bishops and abbots of the middle ages hunted with great state,
having a large train of retainers and servants; and some of them are
recorded for their skill in this fashionable pursuit. Walter, bishop of
Rochester, who lived in the thirteenth century, was an excellent hunter,
and so fond of the sport, that at the age of fourscore he made hunting
his sole employment, to the total neglect of the duties of his office.
In the succeeding century an abbot of Leicester surpassed all the
sportsmen of the time in the art of hare-hunting; and even when these
dignitaries were travelling from place to place, upon affairs of
business, they usually had both hounds and hawks in their train.
Fitzstephen assures us, that Thomas à Becket, being sent as ambassador
from Henry II. to the court of France, assumed the state of a secular
potentate; and took with him dogs and hawks of various sorts, such as
were used by kings and princes.
At the time of the Reformation, the see of Norwich, only, was in the
possession of no less than thirteen parks, well stocked with deer and
other animals for the chase. At the end of a book of Homilies in MS., in
the Cotton Library, written about the reign of Henry VI., is a poem
containing instructions to priests in general, and requiring them, among
other things, not to engage in “hawkynge, huntynge, and
dawnsynge.”—_Strutt._
CLEW, _s._ Thread wound upon a button; a guide.
CLICK, _v._ To make a sharp, successive noise.
CLIFF, or CLIFT, _s._ A steep rock, a rock.
CLIP, _v._ To cut with shears; to curtail, to cut short.
CLIPPING, _s._ The part cut or clipped off; an operation performed
on rough or long-coated horses. Of its benefits and
disadvantages very contrary opinions have been given.
I should certainly prefer seeing a horse of mine with a fine short coat
without the aid of clipping; but if that were not to be accomplished, I
would certainly have him clipped.
* * * * *
“A very dangerous effect of debility, or being out of condition,” says
Mr. Smith, p. 18, “is, that the subject has a long rough coat, which
retains the perspiration excited by exercise; and even in cold weather,
when the exercise is not such as to excite sweat, the insensible
perspiration which is constantly issuing from the extremities of the
cutaneous vessels is condensed among the hair, and appears on the
surface like dew; whereby cold is produced on the surface of the body,
occasioning too great a determination of blood to the lungs, and other
important viscus, which is always in proportion to the diminution of the
cutaneous perspiration.”
* * * * *
“I must own myself a very decided advocate for the clipping of hunters,
having observed such horses to have had a most decided advantage, during
the last season, with the Cheshire, Sir Richard Puleston’s and Sir
Thomas Stanley’s fox-hounds, as well as with the Chester harriers, now
under the very superior management of Captain Puleston. Experience and
observation are, in this matter, worth a bushel of _à priori_ reasoning;
but scientific argument and rational explanation are not wanting to aid
and enforce the practice of clipping. In the first place and to begin
with the most trifling reason—the horse is a pound lighter; and the coat
affording little resistance to the brush, your groom is not half so soon
fatigued in dressing, and lays double strength upon the surface. This
causes a greater determination to the extreme vessels, and the
insensible perspiration is proportionably increased. We invariably find
a connexion between the action of the skin and that of the intestines;
and this is sufficiently evident in a well-groomed horse; the lacteals
of the bowels seem to have a corresponding action communicated to
them—they absorb and select the pabulum of the blood with increased
vigour—the secreting vessels of the stomach furnish the gastric solvent
more abundantly—the liver more readily acts, and separates those
vitiated parts which have fulfilled their duties in the circulation, and
require to be thrown out of the system, but in their transit, in the
form of bile, perform other important uses, in stimulating the
intestines to that regular peristaltic motion which secures a change of
particles to the vessels which absorb the nourishment for the blood. But
the abdominal viscera do not alone benefit by the more intimate friction
which is admitted to the skin of a clipped horse. The lungs are
wonderfully assisted the more the insensible perspiration is increased:
the less work for them to accomplish, the less will be the determination
to the internal vessels; and consequently the less risk of congestion in
the minute bronchial ramifications of the lungs.”
* * * * *
Were I to give a good price for a promising young horse for the
purpose of making him a hunter, and keeping him for my own use,
and a man were to come into my stable and tell me he would give me
one-third of his value if I would have him clipped, I would refuse
his offer. I look upon clipping as nothing but a bad substitute
for good grooming, and an operation attended with several
disadvantages. In the first place, when once performed it must
always be repeated; and in the second, it is a constant eye-sore
to a person who is fond of seeing his horses looking well, as it
effectually destroys that bloom on the skin which is not only so
beautiful, but also so confirmatory of the sound health of the
animal; and lastly, by depriving him of the protection which a
short thick coat, lying close to the body, affords him against the
scratching of thorns and briars, it very frequently causes a horse
to refuse rough places in a fence which he would not have refused
before. It is a remedy to be sure, or at least a palliative; but I
had rather a horse of mine should endure the disease it is
intended to relieve, until I could bring a better medicine to his
aid; and were I to become possessed of a hunter which required
clipping, I would put up with his long coat and evening sweats,
until, by strengthening his general system, I got rid of the
latter, to which the former is by no means a certain contributor.
It is quite possible—and I have an instance at this moment in my
own stable—for a horse to have a long coat (and some horses at
certain periods will not wear a short coat), but still to look
very blooming to the eye, _and dry immediately after a sweat_, as
is the case with the horse I speak of. I am not weak enough to
suppose that clipping will not continue to be practised because
one individual disapproves of it; but I may be allowed to say, I
will never after this year practise it again. The horse I had
clipped last winter must now, I fear, be clipped again, for I
abhor the sight of him in his present state—his coat somewhat
resembling a poodle dog; but his evening sweats are got rid of by
the method I pursued with him in the summer. Clipping may be all
very well for those who cannot, or will not, get their horses into
condition by other means; and to such only do I recommend
it.—_Nimrod_—_Smith_—_Equestris._
CLOSE, _s._ A small field enclosed; the period when it is illegal to
shoot or fish; the time of shutting up; a grapple in wrestling.
CLOTHE, _v._ To invest with garments, to cover with dress.
CLOVE, _s._ A valuable spice brought from Ternate; the fruit or seed
of a very large tree; some of the parts into which garlick
separates.
CLOVEN-FOOTED, or CLOVEN-HOOFED, _a._ Having the foot divided into
two parts.
CLOVER, _s._ A species of trefoil.
CLOUT, _s._ Anciently the mark of white cloth at which archers shot;
an iron plate to an axletree.
CLOY, _v._ To satiate, to sate, to surfeit.
CLUB, _s._ A heavy stick; the name of one of the suits of cards; the
shot or dividend of a reckoning; an assembly of good fellows.
CLUSTER, _s._ A bunch, a number of things of the same kind growing
or joined together; a number of animals gathered together.
CLUTCH, _s._ The gripe, grasp, seizure; the paws, the talons.
CLYSTER, _s._ An injection into the anus.
Clysters of broth, gravy, or gruel, will afford a very considerable
quantity of nourishment: a small proportion of opium, as twenty drops of
laudanum, may be given in each, to assist in retaining it within the
bowels. _Astringent_ clysters, as starch, rice-water, alumine whey,
infusion of red roses, or of oak-bark, are useful in violent
loosenesses. _Purging_ clysters may be made of veal or mutton broth,
with a portion of salt or moist sugar added: the effect may be still
further quickened by adding castor oil or Epsom salts.
Clysters are very easily administered to dogs, and no apparatus is so
convenient for the purpose as the patent syringe of Reid: a good
domestic apparatus is found in the common pipe and bladder also. The
liquid used should be warm, but not hot; the quantity from three ounces,
to six or eight, according to the size of the dog, &c.: the pipe should
be greased previously to its introduction, and the tail held down a
minute or two after its removal.
* * * * *
In flatulent colic it is essentially useful, and it is from this
circumstance being too little known, or not attended to, that flatulent
colic sometimes terminates in inflammation, and death. (_See_
CARMINATIVES.) In suppression or retention of urine, or in difficulty of
staling, a clyster is the best remedy that can be employed. In short
there is scarcely a disease to which horses are liable, in which
clysters may not be advantageously employed, either as a principal
remedy, or as an auxiliary to others. The clyster syringes commonly
employed are worse than useless, because they sometimes prevent a
clyster being given when it is absolutely necessary, especially in
flatulent colic. The clyster-pipe and bladder is the only effectual
apparatus I have seen. The pipe should be one inch in bore, and fifteen
inches in length. The quantity of liquid employed should be five or six
quarts, and consist only of warm water, with half a pound of salt
dissolved in it. There is sometimes difficulty found in introducing the
pipe, generally from hard excrement in the straight gut; sometimes,
however, from the bladder being distended with urine. In such cases
patience and care are necessary to exhibit the clyster effectually, and
it may almost always be accomplished without raking or drawing out the
hard excrement with the hand; there is no objection, however, to this
operation, and when a clyster-pipe is not at hand, it must be employed
as a substitute for a clyster. (_See_ RAKING.) The simple emollient
clyster should be thin gruel, or warm water only. The anodyne or opiate
clyster should be composed of three or four ounces of tincture of opium
in two quarts of gruel, or warm water. Gibson gave half an ounce of
solid opium dissolved in water, as a clyster to a horse in locked jaw,
with success. Nourishing clysters are composed of arrow-root, or
wheat-flour gruel with sugar, or broth thickened with flour. Tincture of
opium is an useful addition to such clysters, especially in locked
jaw.—_Blaine._—_White._
COAL, _s._ The common fossil fuel; the cinder of burnt wood,
charcoal.
COAL-BLACK, _a._ Black in the highest degree.
COAT, _s._ The upper garment; the covering of any animal; any
tegument.
COAT, _v._ To cover; to change the hair.
COAT-CARD, _s._ A card having a coat on it; as the king, queen, or
knave; now corrupted into _Court-card_.
COB, _s._ A sort of sea-fowl; a low but powerful horse; a hack.
[Illustration]
Perfection is seldom found in any living being; but certain it is, that
of all animals in which perfection, or as near to it as their nature
will admit, is required, it is in a horse to carry a man or a woman on
the road: and were I requested by a friend to purchase a good hack for
him, I should consider him to have given me a commission ten times more
difficult than if he had requested me to purchase half a dozen hunters.
The qualifications of a good hack are so numerous as to be almost
disheartening to look for them: he must have good fore legs as well as
good hinder ones: he must have perfect feet, a good mouth, not given to
start, safe on his legs, gentle in his temper, and quiet to ride on all
occasions. A fidgetty hack, however good in his nature, is very
unpleasant, and in hot weather insupportable. He is fit for nothing but
to ride to covert at the rate of twenty miles in the hour.—_Nimrod._
COBBLE, _v._ To mend any thing coarsely; to do or make any thing
clumsily.
COBBLE, _s._ A punt used for wild-fowl shooting, fishing, &c.
COCHINEAL, _s._ An insect, from which a red colour is extracted.
COCK, _s._ The male to the hen; the male of any small bird; the
weather-cock that shows the direction of the wind; a spout to
let out water or any other liquor at will; the notch of an
arrow; the part of a lock of a gun that strikes with the flint;
cock-boat, a small boat; a small heap of hay; the form of a hat.
_Cock-fighting_ is a sport of great antiquity. It is supposed to have
first originated with the Greeks; and that at one period it became so
prevalent amongst them, that families of extensive property were reduced
thereby to the lowest ebb of fortune.
As the Romans were so fond of imitating the Greeks, in their bad as well
as good customs, it came to them as a mere gambling sport. According to
Herodian, the first cause of contention between the two brothers,
Bassianus and Geta, sons of the Emperor Septimus Severus, happened in
their youth, about cock-fighting, which they had probably seen in
Greece, whither they had often accompanied their father.
It is not known when this custom was first introduced into England, but
undoubtedly by the Romans. The bird was here before the landing of
Julius Cæsar; but no notice of cock-fighting occurs earlier than the
time of William Fitz Stephen, who wrote the life of the Archbishop
Becket in the reign of Henry II., and describes it as a sport of
school-boys on Shrove Tuesday. From this time it continued in a
fluctuating state; sometimes in vogue, at others, disapproved; and
prohibited, 39 Edward III.; also in the reign of Henry VIII., and in
1569. It has been termed a royal diversion; and the cock-pit at
Whitehall was erected by a crowned head for the more magnificent
celebration of it. There were other pits in Drury Lane and Jewin Street.
It was prohibited by Oliver Cromwell, March 31, 1654.
With respect to the breed of game fowls, the criterion of blood in these
animals, before trial, is “fineness of feathers,” richness of plumage,
“cleanness of feet,” and keenness of aspect. But there have been
introduced of late years some varieties quite distinctly marked from the
game fowls of old times; viz., “top knots” and “muffy heads,” which were
quite unknown to our ancestors.
The cock is in his prime at two years old, and retains his vigour to his
fifth year: the hen somewhat longer. Cockers breed in-and-in without
scruple. The following is Mr. Sketchley’s description of a brood cock,
in full health and vigour:—“A ruddy complexion, feathers close and
short, not cold or dry: flesh firm and compact, full breasted, yet taper
and thin behind; full in the girth, well coupled, lofty and spiring,
with a good thigh; the beam of his leg very strong, a quick large eye,
strong beak, crooked, and big at setting on.” Such a one, not more than
two years old, to be put to early pullets, or a blooming stag with
two-year old hens; and when a cock, with pullets of his own getting.
Uniformity of colours is generally sought for, and the hens selected of
similar plumage to that of the cock; the same of shape, which is a
greater object in the hen, than size; only she should be lofty crested,
short and close feathered, with clean, sinewy, blood-like legs.
Shropshire and Cheshire have long been famous for their breed of game
cocks; and the Shropshire reds are in particular high estimation. There
was formerly in Staffordshire a famous breed of cocks, of a perfect jet
black, gipsey faced, black legs, and rather elegant than muscular; lofty
in fighting, close in feather, and well shaped. This breed soon
degenerated; and, I presume, is now extinct. The following procreative
comparison of Mr. Sketchley speaks volumes:—
YEARS. YEARS. YEARS. YEARS.
Stags 1 with hens 2 man 18 woman 22
Cock 2 with pullets 0 man 25 woman 22
Cock 2 with hens 2 man 25 woman 22
Cock 3 with hens 3 man 40 to 50 woman 45
Cock 4 with hens 3 man 50 to 60 woman 45
It is said that a game cock that happened to be on board Rodney’s ship
on the memorable 12th of April, during that glorious action, exhibited
the most undaunted courage, by crowing and clapping his wings.—_Vide_
_Hoyle_, _article_ GAME COCK.
Cocks, when they crow at unwonted hours, often foretel a change of
weather. We have often noticed this before rain. During the calm, still,
dry, dark, and warm weather, sometimes occurring in the winter months,
and which may be called the halcyon days of our climate, cocks keep a
constant crowing all night and day. There appear to be three principal
cock-crowings in ordinary weather, namely, about midnight or soon after,
about three in the morning, and at daybreak; the latter is never
omitted. We have noticed, however, that when cocks crow all day, in
summer particularly, a change to rain has frequently followed.
* * * * *
_Cocks and hammers._—If the sportsman has no objection to its clumsy
appearance, I should be inclined to recommend the solid cock which falls
on its end, instead of being stopped in the middle by the lock plate. It
will therefore admit of main springs as strong as you please: and, by
this means, add considerably to quickness in firing. But if you have
very strong main springs, with the common cock, the resistance from the
hammer spring, to prevent its breaking, must be so great, that you would
soon wear out hammers, by being obliged to use an immoderate quantity of
flints. With this another part of the lock also is safer, because the
solid cock is received on a firm support annexed to the pan; while the
one on the other construction suddenly catches the lock-plate, and is
therefore liable to jar, and break either the tumbler itself, or the pin
of the tumbler. A solid cock has many other advantages, from its
durability and strength: it is proof against all awkward hands, and
particularly desirable on guns which are liable to meet with rough usage
in a boat.—_Sporting Repository_—_Hawker_—_Foster._
COCK, _v._ To set erect, to hold upright; to fix the cock of a gun
for a discharge; to raise hay in small heaps.
COCKER, _s._ One who follows the sport of cock-fighting: a small
spaniel.
_The Cocker_—(_Canis extrarius, Var. B._ LINN.)—This dog is much smaller
than the springing spaniel, and is generally used for woodcock and snipe
shooting. His diminutive size peculiarly fits him for ranging in low and
thick coverts, for which purpose nature seems peculiarly to have adapted
him.
The cocker differs from the springer in having a shorter and more
compact form, a rounder head, and a shorter muzzle; the ears are very
long, the limbs are short and strong; the tail is generally truncated
and more bushy; and the hair of the cocker, over his whole body, is more
curled than that of the springer. He varies in colour from liver and
white, red, red and white, black and white, all liver-coloured, and not
unfrequently black, with tanned legs and muzzle.
This beautiful and lively dog seems to have been produced, originally,
by a cross between the small water spaniel and the springer, for he not
only resembles the figure of the latter, but also has many of his
habits, combined with the lively and active disposition of both. From
the beauty and temper of the cocker, the breed has become very generally
diffused throughout the kingdom, and he is more frequently a companion
in the parlour than used in the sports of the field. He is extremely
common in many parts of Sussex, from which, in the south, he has
obtained the name of the Sussex Spaniel. There has long been a beautiful
breed of this dog in the possession of the Duke of Marlborough and his
friends, which is preserved in great purity; these are invariably red
and white, with very long ears, short noses, and black and sparkling
eyes; they are active and indefatigable in the chase, and are
consequently held in great estimation among sportsmen.
General Maxwell, of Edinburgh, has long had an extremely beautiful breed
of cockers; most of them have been black, with tanned cheeks and legs,
and ears nearly seven inches in length; they are of a small size, but
they are lively and handsome little creatures.
In his general qualifications the cocker differs but little from the
springer, except that he is decidedly more active: he appears also to
have a more acute sense of smelling, and pursues game with an enthusiasm
amounting to ecstacy. From his lively temperament, he does not tire so
soon as the springer, however long the labour of the day may be.
From an innate principle of this industrious little animal, he gives the
loudest proofs of his ecstatic delight upon finding, or even coming upon
the scent, foot, or haunt of game; it is also his determined resolution
to persevere until he has fairly driven them from covert. Consequently
all sportsmen who take the field with cockers, are compelled to be on
the alert, and to keep pace with the progress which the dogs make in the
wood, otherwise they are sure to lose the greater part of the game. They
may even travel many a weary mile without obtaining a successful shot,
as it is the unalterable nature of these dogs to spring, flush, or start
all the game before them; and they pursue, without distinction, hare,
pheasant, partridge, woodcock, snipe, quail, and plover. It thus becomes
necessary to hunt them within gun-shot of covert, and bells or gingles
should be placed inside the collars, if the wood is extensive, to
prevent them from beating too wide, and to keep them within call of the
whistle.
The springer and cocker are more particularly appropriated to pheasant
and woodcock shooting. The former may be considered the most laborious,
and the least entertaining of all field sports, if we except the mode in
which it is practised in the extensive preserves of Norfolk and Suffolk,
and some few districts in other counties, where the large tracts of
lofty wood-lands with thick and low underwood, contribute so materially
to the safety and increase of the game.
Spaniels of both descriptions are brought into general use and domestic
estimation, from their handsome shape, their beautiful sleek coats,
their cleanly habits, insinuating manner, incessant attendance, and
faithful obedience to their masters, qualities in which they surpass all
the other members of the canine race.
Cockers are said to be more subject to certain diseases than other dogs,
as loss of smell, and swelling of the glands in the neck, which
sometimes prevents their taking any assistance till they die; a disease
of the ears, like the mange, called formicæ; and lastly to the mange
itself, which is most destructive of all to their beauty, health, and
quiet.—_Thornhill._
COCKEREL, _s._ A young cock.
COCKFIGHT, _s._ A match of cocks.
COCKPIT, _s._ The area where cocks fight.
COD, or CODFISH, _s._ A sea-fish.
The fishermen take the cod from the depth of fifteen to sixty fathoms,
according to the inequality of the bank, which is represented as a
mountain under water, above five hundred miles long, and near three
hundred broad, and that the approach to it is known by the great swell
of the sea, and the thick mists that impend over it.
The largest cod ever taken on our coasts was at Scarborough, in 1755,
and weighed seventy-eight pounds; the length was five feet eight inches;
and the girth, round the shoulders, five feet. It was sold for one
shilling. The general weight of these fish in the Yorkshire seas, is
from fourteen to forty pounds.
* * * * *
A cod will not only live, but thrive well, in fresh water, if properly
fed. A respectable fishmonger assured me that he had tried the
experiment and succeeded, and offered to send me some live cod in a
well-boat, for my _piscatorium_ in Bushy Park.—_Daniel_—_Jesse._
CODLING, _s._ An apple; a small codfish.
COFFEE, _s._ The berries of the coffee-tree; a drink made by the
infusion of those berries in hot water.
COFFIN, _s._ Coffin of a horse, is the whole hoof of the foot above
the coronet, including the coffin-bone.
A sprain of the coffin joint is not an unusual occurrence; and, like the
former, consists of violence applied to the tendinous and ligamentous
connexion of this joint. When a horse becomes suddenly lame, and
attentive examination can discover no injury above, the feet should be
closely examined, when it is very probable there will be found in one of
them some tenderness, and perhaps swelling, particularly at the back
part, towards the upper portions of the heels, and in the neighbourhood
of the navicular bone, where the part will be more hot than the others,
and the horse will express pain when the foot is bent or extended, and
he will generally also, though not always, point the foot when in the
stable, or, as it is expressed, will stand favouring. The treatment, if
the heat be considerable, would be to put the whole foot into a Goulard
poultice for three or four days: in very bad cases I have thinned the
whole crust of the hoof, and have drawn blood from the toe with
advantage. After the heat has in some degree subsided, blister, as a
milder treatment will seldom avail here: frequently it must be repeated
also.—_Blaine._
COG, _v._ To flatter; to cog a die, to secure it, so as to direct
its fall.
COHESION, _s._ The act of sticking together; the state of union.
COIL, _v._ To gather into a narrow compass; to collect a rope.
COIN, _s._ Money stamped with a legal impression; payment of any
kind.
COISTREL, _s. obs._ A coward hawk.
COLIC, _s._ Is strictly a disorder of the colon; but loosely, any
disorder of the stomach or bowels that is attended with pain.
The causes are various: the sudden application of cold either to the
surface of the skin when hot, or to the intestines under similar
circumstances, in the shape of cold water drunk hastily, and when the
horse has been warm; in which latter case, the attack often soon
follows. Costiveness will bring it on. Tumours in the mesentery, and
strictures in the bowels are also the sources of occasional colic; and
when a horse is found to be subject to repeated attacks, something of
this kind, or otherwise calculous concretions, may be suspected: and I
have known many instances where habitual colic was present, dependent on
these causes. Horses long confined to dry food will sometime get it by
suddenly gorging themselves with green meat; and with others, a
constitutional tendency from some occult cause, gives them a
predisposition to it.
The symptoms of spasmodic colic are usually sudden in their appearance,
and not marked, as in inflammation of the bowels, by previous
indisposition; but the horse is observed to be at once attacked with
considerable uneasiness, shifting his position from side to side, pawing
his litter, and stamping with his feet impatiently. After a few minutes
thus passed, the pain remits, and leaves the horse tolerably easy; while
in enteritis no perfect remission occurs, but all is one scene of nearly
equable pain and distress. As the colic advances, the remissions are
less perfect, and less frequent: the horse now lies down frequently, and
on rising shakes himself, looking round to his sides, which
occasionally, in desperate cases, he snaps at with his teeth; but more
frequently he is seen to strike with his hind feet at his belly, as
though determined to remove by force the cause of his pain. In enteritis
this acuteness of sensation or violence of temper is seldom seen. When
on the ground, it is not uncommon for the horse to roll on his back;
sometimes he will remain in this situation a few seconds, or he will
roll over; neither of which are usually done in simple inflammation. In
colic the pulse is seldom much altered from its natural state, unless
the colic have existed some time, when it occasionally presents marks of
general irritation, and is not only quickened, but also somewhat
hardened. If felt also during the intensity of the paroxysms, it will
likewise be often found to be disturbed even in the early stage, but
this is momentary only, and ceases on the remission of the pain. The
extremities, as the legs and ears, in colic are not often much affected,
and they never remain intensely cold for a considerable period, as in
enteritis; but the coat stares, and the horse breaks out frequently into
cold sweats. In colic, also, relief is obtained by friction and motion,
but both aggravate the distress in enteritis. Sometimes he is seen to
attempt to stale without effect, at others he stales frequently, with
momentary relief.
_Treatment._—Having reason to believe that the patient is labouring
under simple spasm of the intestines, unmixed with inflammatory
tendency, derived from idiopathic enteritis; or symptomatic irritation
from inversion, involution, invagination, or intussusception of the
intestinal track; proceed at once to administer such one or more of the
numberless antispasmodic remedies as custom and experience have
warranted the use of. Numerous as these are, there is not one that has
not its advocate, and perhaps not one that does not deserve it, so
simple are the means sometimes required; and so much is the constitution
prone, in some cases, to assist itself or our efforts. While, at the
same time, other cases occur, sufficiently obstinate, and sufficiently
fatal, to require all our energies, and all our discrimination in the
choice of our remedies, I can confidently speak to the antispasmodic
qualities of the following, which should one or either of them be given
as soon as possible, and repeated in one, two, three, or four hours,
according to the violence of the symptoms, if no benefit be apparent
from the first dose: for it must be remembered, that what we do we must
do quickly, to prevent inflammation, for, of the fatal cases,
four-fifths show evident marks of enteritic attack on a post-mortem
examination.
1. Ground pepper ½ oz.
Spirit of turpentine 2 oz.
Tincture of opium 1 oz.
Sound ale 4 oz. Mix.
2. Spirit of vitriolic æther 1 oz.
Tincture of opium (laudanum) 2 oz.
Oil of peppermint 1 drachm.
Common gin, and sound ale, of each ¼ of a pint.
3. Spirit of turpentine 2 oz.
Oil of peppermint 1 drachm.
Castor oil, and watery tincture of
aloes (Mat. Med.) each 6 oz.
As a domestic remedy, and one which has relieved at the moment, when
other medicines were not at hand, I would recommend the following:—
Ground pepper 1 tea-spoonful.
The juice of two or three large onions
Common gin, and sound ale, of each ¼ of a pint.
The antispasmodic having been given, the necessity of bleeding should be
next taken into consideration: if the case be one of very acute
features, I would recommend that it be proceeded with without delay,
and, according to the degree of intensity, or duration of the complaint,
do it more or less liberally. Extensive bleeding, it should be
remembered, is one of the most powerful relaxers of spasmodic
constriction with which we are acquainted, and instead of its being an
antagonist to the antispasmodic treatment usually adopted, by internal
remedies, its relaxant qualities are found to be infinitely increased in
efficacy when conjoined with large doses of opium. I have had so many
opportunities of witnessing the effect of this combination, that I
cannot too strongly recommend it: and although most of the ordinary
cases of spasmodic colic will yield to the common stimulant treatment,
and many would even go off without any treatment at all, yet bleeding,
in mild cases even, is always safe and precautionary against
inflammation; and in the more aggravated, it is essentially necessary,
both to combat the inflammatory tendency, and to promote the relaxation
of the spasmodic irritation on the muscular fibre. It is likewise
particularly indicated in these violent or protracted cases, to
counteract the irritative qualities of the antispasmodics used, which,
though in other instances of simple spasm are innocuous, however large,
yet may not prove so when reaction is at hand, or already begun. It
should, however, be remembered, that though I advocate bleeding, it is
not that useless and non-medical practice of bleeding by the palate or
sublingual vessels; and though, with Mr. Peal, I would most strongly
condemn violent, and particularly long-continued exercise, yet I have so
often experienced the good effects of a brisk trot for ten minutes, that
I cannot but recommend its adoption. Friction to the belly is also to be
employed, by means of a brush, or if with a heated coarse woollen cloth
it will be better; but the practice of rubbing with a stick is, I
apprehend, worse than useless, and often hurtful. Fomentations of very
hot water are also sometimes singularly efficacious; and in every case
we should, by means of the patent syringe, throw up considerable
quantities of relaxant clysters; and where costiveness is present, until
the bowels are relieved of their fæcal matter, the clysters should be of
a mild watery solution of aloes, or, by preference, of a solution of
sulphate of magnesia (Epsom salts) in broth, gruel, &c. Afterwards the
clysters may be made media of applying antispasmodics to the bowels, as
decoction of poppy heads, or even tinct. opii, largely diluted with warm
water, &c.—_Vide_ _Outlines of Vet. Art_.
* * * * *
Dogs are subject to two kinds of colic; one arising from constipation of
the bowels; the other is of a kind peculiar to dogs, apparently
partaking of the nature of rheumatism, and also of spasm. From a sudden
or violent exposure to cold, dogs become sometimes suddenly paralytic,
particularly in the hinder parts, having great tenderness and pain, and
every appearance of lumbago. In every instance of this kind, there is
considerable affection of the bowels, generally costiveness, always
great pain. A warm bath, external stimulants, but more particularly
active aperients, remove the colic. Colic, arising from costiveness, is
not in general violently acute from the pain it produces; sometimes it
appears accompanied with more spasm than is immediately dependent on the
confinement of the bowels. In the former give active aperients, as
calomel with pil. cochiæ, i. e. aloetic pill, and clysters; in the
latter, castor-oil, with laudanum and ether.—_Blaine._
COLLAR, _s._ A ring of metal put round the neck; the harness
fastened about the horse’s neck. A collar of brawn is the
quantity bound up in one parcel.
COLLAR-BONE, _s._ The clavicle; the bones on each side of the neck.
COLOUR, _s._ The appearance of bodies to the eye; hue, dye; the
appearance of blood in the face; in the plural, a standard, an
ensign of war.
A general name given to the dyed wools and mohairs, which are used in
forming the bodies of artificial flies. Mixing the wools, or producing,
by a union of different colours, the exact shade of the body of the
insect to be imitated, is justly reckoned the greatest difficulty of the
art; and I have known many persons tie a fly with neatness and elegance,
who never could turn out a killing one. Hence practical acquaintance
with the ephemeræ, which are imitated, is absolutely requisite for
tying, as without it, the handsomest fly is inefficient.
To this may be ascribed the inferiority of the flies usually purchased
in extensive fishing shops. Though, possibly, an elegant similitude of
the intended insect in size and shape, they are, in tint and colouring,
untrue to nature; and, as such, are easily discovered by the keen eye of
the invited victim, and as certainly rejected. Without the precise
colour of the fly is obtained, the handsomest production will be
unsuccessful; and the neophyte will marvel that the basket of the rustic
fisherman is filled, while his own showy imitations fail to rise a fish.
In choosing colours the brightness of the tint is to be less regarded
than the permanency of the dye. To produce, at the same time, a
brilliant and lasting colour, requires time, trouble, and experience.
But for all the disciple of Walton will be well repaid; for nothing can
be more mortifying to an angler, than to see the tints of his fly fade
after a few immersions in the water, and a short exposure to the
sunshine.
The receipts for dying wools and feathers, recommended in the FIELD
BOOK, were given the compiler by Major Patrickson, an angler, who, in
scientific and practical knowledge is, probably, second to none in
Britain. They may, perhaps, be undervalued by modern philosophers; but
from these simple and antiquated recipes, my accomplished friend
produced the most beautiful and permanent colours; and I have, at this
moment, in my possession, flies bodied with his wools, which have stood
the test of water and weather, and are still as brilliant in their hue,
as when they were first attached to the hook. _Vide_ FLY FISHING.
COLOUR, _v._ To mark with some hue or dye; to palliate.
COLT, _s._ A young horse.
COLT’S-TOOTH, _s._ An imperfect tooth in young horses.
COLUMBA, (LINN.) _s._ A dove or pigeon. _Vide_ WOOD-PIGEON.
Bill (save at the point, which is bent down) compressed and straight,
the base of the upper mandible being covered with a soft gristly
substance, in which the nostrils are placed towards the middle of the
bill, forming a cleft lengthwise. The feet having three toes before
entirely separated, with one hind toe articulated on the heel. Wings of
middle size, the first quill rather shorter than the second, which is
the longest in the wing.
COLUMBARY, _s. obs._ A dove-cote.