[1] The term "custard," now given to a dish made with eggs beaten up
with milk, &c., and either served in liquid form or baked to a stiff
consistency, originally denoted a kind of open pie. It represents the
older form "crustade," Fr. _croustade_, Ital. _crostata_, from
_crostare_, to encrust.
CUSTER, GEORGE ARMSTRONG (1839-1876), American cavalry soldier, was born
in New Rumley, Harrison county, Ohio, on the 5th of December 1839. He
graduated from West Point in 1861, and was at once sent to the theatre
of war in Virginia, joining his regiment on the battlefield of Bull Run.
Afterwards he served on the staff of General Kearny, and on that of
General W. F. Smith in the Peninsular Campaign. His daring and energy,
and in particular a spirited reconnaissance on the Chickahominy river,
brought him to the notice of General McClellan, who made him an
aide-de-camp on his own staff, with the rank of captain. A few hours
afterwards Custer attacked a Confederate picket post and drove back the
enemy. He continued to serve with McClellan until the general was
relieved of his command, when Custer returned to duty with his regiment
as a lieutenant. Early in 1863 General Pleasonton selected him as his
aide-de-camp, and in June 1863 Custer was promoted to the rank of
brigadier-general of volunteers. He distinguished himself at the head of
the Michigan cavalry brigade in the battle of Gettysburg, and frequently
did good service in the remaining operations of the campaign of 1863.
When the cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac was reorganized under
Sheridan in 1864, Custer retained his command, and took part in the
various actions of the cavalry in the Wilderness and Shenandoah
campaigns. At the end of September 1864, he was appointed to command a
division, and on the 9th of October fought, along with General Merritt,
the brilliant cavalry action called the battle of Woodstock. Soon
afterwards he was made brevet-major-general, U.S.V., having already won
the brevets of major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel U.S.A., for his
services at Gettysburg, Yellow Tavern and Winchester. His part in the
decisive battle of Cedar Creek (q.v.) was most conspicuous. He served
with Sheridan in the last great cavalry raid, won the action of
Waynesboro, and in the final campaign added to his laurels by his
conduct at Dinwiddie and Five Forks, and in other operations. At the
close of the war he received the brevets of brigadier and major-general
in the regular army, and was promoted major-general of volunteers. In
1866 Custer was made lieutenant-colonel of the 7th U.S. Cavalry, and
took part under General Hancock in the expedition against the Cheyenne
Indians, upon whom he inflicted a crushing defeat at Washita river on
the 27th of November 1868. In 1873 he was sent to Dakota Territory to
serve against the Sioux.
In 1876 an expedition, of which Custer and his regiment formed part, was
made against the Sioux and their allies. As the advanced guard of the
troops under General Terry, Custer's force arrived at the junction of
Big Horn and Little Big Horn rivers, in what is now the state of
Montana, on the night of June 24; the main body was due to join him on
the 26th. Unfortunately, the presence of what was judged to be a small
isolated force of Indians was reported to the general. On the 25th,
dividing his regiment into three parties, he moved forward to surround
this force. But instead of meeting only a small force of Indians, the
7th were promptly attacked by the full forces of the enemy. The flanking
columns maintained themselves with difficulty until Terry came up.
Custer and 264 men of the centre column rode into the midst of the enemy
and were slaughtered to a man.
The general's wife, ELIZABETH BACON CUSTER, who accompanied him in many
of his frontier expeditions, wrote _Boots and Saddles, Life with General
Custer in Dakota_ (1885), _Tenting on the Plains_ (1887) and _Following
the Guidon_ (1891). General Custer himself wrote _My Life on the Plains_
(1874).
See F. Whittaker, _Life of General George A. Custer_ (1876).
His brother THOMAS WARD CUSTER (1845-1876), in spite of his youth,
fought in the early campaigns of the Civil War. Becoming aide-de-camp to
General Custer, he accompanied him throughout the latter part of the
war, distinguishing himself by his daring on all occasions, and winning
successively the brevets of captain, major and lieutenant-colonel,
though he was barely twenty years of age when the war ended. He was
first lieutenant in the 7th cavalry when he fell with his brother at the
Little Big Horn.
CUSTINE, ADAM PHILIPPE, COMTE DE (1740-1793), French general, began his
military career in the Seven Years' War. He next served with distinction
against the English in the War of American Independence. In 1789 he was
elected to the states-general by the _bailliage_ of Metz. In October
1791 he again joined the army, with the rank of lieutenant-general and
became popular with the soldiers, amongst whom he was known as "_general
moustache_." General-in-chief of the army of the Vosges, he took Spires,
Worms, Mainz and Frankfort in September and October 1792. He carried on
the revolutionary propaganda by proclamations, and levied heavy taxes on
the nobility and clergy. During the winter a Prussian army forced him to
evacuate Frankfort, re-cross the Rhine and fall back upon Landau. He was
accused of treason, defended by Robespierre, and sent back to the army
of the north. But he dared not take the offensive, and did nothing to
save Conde, which the Austrians were besieging. Sent to Paris to justify
himself, he was found guilty by the Revolutionary Tribunal of having
intrigued with the enemies of the republic, and guillotined on the 28th
of August 1793. (See FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY WARS.)
See A. Rambaud, _Les Francais sur le Rhin_ (Paris, 1880); A. Chuquet,
_Les Guerres de la Revolution_ (1886-1895; vol. vi. "L'Expedition de
Custine").
CUSTOM (from O. Fr. _custume_, _costume_ or _coustume_; Low Lat.
_costuma_, a shortened form of _consuetudo_), in general, a habit or
practice. Thus a tradesman calls those who deal with him his
"customers," and the trade resulting as their "custom." The word is also
used for a toll or tax levied upon goods; there was at one time a
distinction between the tax on goods exported or imported, termed _magna
custuma_ (the great custom), and that on goods taken to market within
the realm, termed _parva custuma_ (the little custom), but the word is
now used in this sense only in the plural, to signify the duties levied
upon imported goods. It is also used as a name for that department of
the public service which is employed in levying the duty.
In law, such long-continued usage as has by common consent become a rule
of conduct is termed custom. Jessel, M. R. (_Hammerton_ v. _Honey_, 24
W. R. 603), has defined it as "local common law. It is common law
because it is not statute law; it is local law because it is the law of
a particular place, as distinguished from the general common law. Local
common law is the law of the country (i.e. particular place) as it
existed before the time of legal memory." There has been much discussion
among jurists as to whether custom can properly be reckoned a source of
law (see JURISPRUDENCE). As to the distinction between prescription
(which is a personal claim) and custom, see PRESCRIPTION. The adoption
of local customs by the judiciary has undoubtedly been the origin of a
great portion of the English common law. Blackstone divides custom into
(1) general, which is the common law properly so called, and (2)
particular, which affects only the inhabitants of particular districts.
The requisites necessary to make a particular custom good are: (1) it
must have been used so long that the memory of man runneth not to the
contrary; (2) it must have been continued, and (3) enjoyed peaceably;
(4) it must be reasonable, and (5) certain; (6) it must be compulsory,
and not left to the option of every man whether he will use it or no;
(7) it must be consistent with other customs, for one custom cannot be
set up in opposition to another. Customs may be of various kinds, for
example, customs of merchants, customs of a certain district (such as
gavelkind and borough English), customs of a particular manor, &c. The
word custom is also generally employed for the _usage_ of a particular
trade or market; for a trade custom to be established to the
satisfaction of the law it must be a uniform and universal practice so
well defined and recognized that contracting parties must be assumed to
have had it in their minds when they contracted (Russell, C. J.,
_Fox-Bourne_ v. _Vernon_, 10 _Times_ Rep. 649).
In the history of France the term "custom" was given to those special
usages of different districts which had grown up into a body of local
law, as the "custom of Paris," the "custom of Normandy" (see FRANCE:
_Law and Institutions_).
CUSTOMARY FREEHOLD, in English law, a species of tenure which may be
described as a variety of copyhold. It is also termed privileged
copyhold or copyhold of frank tenure. It is a tenure by copy of court
roll, but not expressed to be at the will of the lord. It is, in fact,
only a superior kind of copyhold, and the freehold is in the lord. It is
subject to the general law of copyholds, except where the law may be
varied by the custom of the particular manor. (See COPYHOLD.)
CUSTOM-HOUSE, the house or office appointed by a government where the
taxes or duties (if any) are collected upon the importation and
exportation of commodities; where duties, bounties or drawbacks payable
or receivable upon exportation or importation are paid or received, and
where vessels are entered and cleared. In the United Kingdom there is
usually a custom-house established at every port or harbour to which any
considerable amount of shipping resorts, the officer in charge being
called "collector of customs"; in the minor ports the officer is usually
termed "superintendent of customs" or "principal coast officer."
CUSTOM DUTIES, the name given to taxes on the import and export of
commodities. They rank among the most ancient, as they continue to
prevail as one of the most common modes, in all countries, of levying
revenue for public purposes. In an insular country like the United
Kingdom customs duties came in process of time to be levied only or
chiefly in the seaports, and thus applied only to the foreign commerce,
where they may be brought under the control of fair and reasonable
principles of taxation. But this simplification of customs duties was
only reached by degrees; and during a long period special customs were
levied on goods passing between England and Scotland; and the trade of
Ireland with Great Britain and with foreign countries was subjected to
fiscal regulations which could not now stand in the light of public
reason. The taxes levied, on warrant of some ancient grant or privilege,
upon cattle or goods at a bridge or a ferry or other point of passage
from one county or province to another, of which there are some
lingering remains even in the United Kingdom, and those levied at the
gates of cities on the produce of the immediate country--a not uncommon
form of municipal taxation on the European continent--are all of the
nature of customs dues. It is from the universality of this practice
that the English term "customs" appears to have been derived.
See TAXATION; PROTECTION; TARIFF.
CUSTOS ROTULORUM, the keeper of the English county records, and by
virtue of that office the highest civil officer in the county. The
appointment until 1545 lay with the lord chancellor, but is now
exercised by the crown under the royal sign-manual, and is usually held
by a person of rank, most frequently the lord-lieutenant of the county.
He is one of the justices of the peace. In practice the records are in
the custody of the clerk of the peace. This latter official was, until
1888, appointed by the _custos rotulorum_, but since the passing of the
Local Government Act of that year, the appointment is made by the
standing joint-committee of the county council. Lambarde described the
_custos rotulorum_ as a "man for the most part especially picked out
either for wisdom, countenance or credit."
CUSTOZZA, a village of Italy, in the province of Verona, 11 m. S.W. of
Verona, famous as the scene of two battles between the Austrians and the
Italians in the struggle for Italian unity. The first battle of Custozza
was fought on the 23rd-25th of July 1848, the Austrians commanded by
Field-Marshal Radetzky being victorious over the Piedmontese army under
King Charles Albert. The second battle was fought on the 24th of June
1866, and resulted in the complete victory of the Austrians under the
archduke Albert, over the Italian army of King Victor Emmanuel I. (See
ITALIAN WARS, 1848-1870.)
CUSTRIN, or KUSTRIN, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Prussia, a
fortress of the first rank, at the confluence of the Oder and Warthe, 18
m. N.E. from Frankfort-on-Oder and 51 m. N.E. of Berlin by rail. Pop.
(1900) 16,473 (including the garrison). It consists of the town proper
within the strong fortifications, a suburb on the left bank of the Oder,
and one on the right bank of the Warthe. There are three Evangelical
churches and one Roman Catholic, and a handsome town hall. There are
bridges over both rivers. Custrin has some manufactories of potato-meal,
machinery, pianos, furniture, cigars, &c., and there is a considerable
river trade.
About 1250 a town was erected on the site of Custrin, where a fishing
village originally stood. From 1535 till 1571 it was the residence of
John, margrave of Brandenburg-Custrin, who died without male heirs in
1571. Custrin was the prison of Frederick the Great when crown-prince,
and the scene of the execution of his friend Hans Hermann von Katte on
the 6th of November 1730.
CUTCH, or KACH, a native state of India within the Gujarat division of
Bombay, with an area of 7616 sq. m. It is a peninsular tract of land,
enclosed towards the W. by the eastern branch of the Indus, on the S. by
the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Cutch, and on the N. and E. towards the
interior, by the great northern Runn, a salt morass or lake. The
interior of Cutch is studded with hills of considerable elevation, and a
range of mountains runs through it from east to west, many of them of
the most fantastic shapes, with large isolated masses of rock scattered
in all directions. The general appearance of Cutch is barren and
uninteresting. The greater part is a rock destitute of soil, and
presenting the wildest aspect; the ground is cold, poor and sterile; and
the whole face of the country bears marks of volcanic action. From the
violence of tyranny, and the rapine of a disorderly banditti, by which
this district long suffered, as well as from shocks of earthquakes, the
villages have a ruinous and dilapidated appearance; and, with the
exception of a few fields in their neighbourhood, the country presents a
rocky and sandy waste, with in many places scarcely a show of
vegetation. Water is scarce and brackish, and is chiefly found at the
bottom of low ranges of hills, which abound in some parts; and the
inhabitants of the extensive sandy tracts suffer greatly from the want
of it. Owing to the uncertainty of the periodical rains in Cutch, the
country is liable to severe famines, and it has suffered greatly from
plague.
The temperature of Cutch during the hot season is high, the thermometer
frequently rising to 100 deg. or 105 deg. F.; and in the months of April
and May clouds of dust and sand, blown about by hurricanes, envelop the
houses, the glass windows scarcely affording any protection. The
influence of the monsoon is greatly moderated before it reaches this
region, and the rains sometimes fail altogether. Bhuj, the capital of
the state, is situated inland, and is surrounded by an amphitheatre of
hills, some of which approach within 3 or 4 m. of the city. The hill of
Bhuja, on which the fort is situated, rises to the height of 500 ft. in
the middle of the plain, and is detached from other high ground. The
residency is 4 m. distant in a westerly direction. There are many
mountain streams, but no navigable rivers. They contain scarcely any
water except in the rainy season, when they are very full and rapid, and
discharge themselves into the Runn, all along the coast of which the
wells and springs are more or less impregnated with common salt and
other saline ingredients.
Various causes have contributed to thin the population of this country.
In 1813 it was ravaged by a famine and pestilence, which destroyed a
great proportion of its inhabitants,--according to some accounts, nearly
one-half. This, joined to the tyranny and violence of the government
until the year 1819, and subsequently to a succession of unfavourable
seasons, forced many of the cultivators to remove to Sind and other
countries. The inhabitants numbered 488,022 in 1901, being a decrease of
13% during the decade, due to the famines of 1899-1900. One-third are
Mahommedans and the remainder Hindus of various castes. The Jareja
Rajputs form a particular class, being the aristocracy of the country;
and all are more or less connected with the family of the rao or prince.
There are in Cutch about 200 of these Jareja chiefs, who all claim their
descent from a prince who reigned in Sind about 1000 years ago. From him
also the reigning sovereign is lineally descended, and he is the liege
lord of whom all the chiefs or nobles hold their lands in feu, for
services which they or their ancestors had performed, or in virtue of
their relationship to the family. They are all termed the brotherhood of
the rao or Bhayad, and supposed to be his hereditary advisers, and their
possessions are divided among their male children. To prevent the
breaking down of their properties, the necessary consequence of this law
of inheritance, there is no doubt that infanticide was common among
them, and that it extended to the male as well as the female progeny,
but it has been put down by the Infanticide Rules, which provide for the
registration of Jareja children. The Jarejas have a tradition that when
they entered Cutch they were Mahommedans, but that they afterward
adopted the customs and religion of the Hindus. It is certain, indeed,
that they still retain many Mahommedan customs. They take oaths equally
on the Koran or on the Shastras; they employ Mussulman books; they eat
from their hands; the rao, when he appears in public, alternately
worships God in a Hindu pagoda and a Mahommedan mosque; and he fits out
annually at Mandvi a ship for the conveyance of pilgrims to Mecca, who
are maintained during the voyage chiefly by the liberality of the
prince. The Mahommedans in Cutch are of the same degenerate class as
those usually found in the western parts of India. The natives are in
general of a stronger and stouter make, and even handsomer, than those
of western India; and the women of the higher classes are also handsome.
The peasants are described as intelligent, and the artizans are justly
celebrated for their ingenuity and mechanical skill. The palace at
Mandvi, and a tomb of one of their princes at Bhuj, are fair specimens
of their architectural skill. The estimated gross revenue is L126,322.
There are special manufactures of silver filigree-work and embroidery.
The maritime population supplies the best sailors in India. There are
cotton presses and ginning factories.
The country of Cutch was invaded about the 13th century by a body of
Mahommedans of the Summa tribe, who under the guidance of five brothers
emigrated from Sind, and who gradually subdued or expelled the original
inhabitants, consisting of three distinct races. Cutch continued
tranquil under their sway for many years, until some family quarrel
arose, in which the chief of an elder branch of the tribe was murdered
by a rival brother. His son Khengayi fled to Ahmedabad to seek the
assistance of the viceroy, who reinstated him in the sovereignty of
Cutch, and Morvi in Kathiawar, and in the title of rao, about the year
1540. The succession continued in the same line from the time of this
prince until 1697, when a younger brother, Pragji, murdered his elder
brother and usurped the sovereignty. This line of princes continued till
1760 without any remarkable event, when, in the reign of Rao Ghodji, the
country was invaded four times by the Sinds, who wasted it with fire and
sword. The reign of this prince, as well as that of his son Rao Rayadan,
by whom he was succeeded in 1778, was marked by cruelty and blood. The
latter prince was dethroned, and, being in a state of mental
derangement, was during his lifetime confined by Fateh Mahommed, a
native of Sind, who continued, with a short interval (in which the party
of the legal heir, Bhaiji Bawa, gained the ascendancy), to rule the
country until his death in 1813. It was in the reign of Fateh Mahommed
that a communication first took place with the British government.
During the contests for the sovereignty between the usurper and the
legal heir, the leader of the royal party, Hansraj, the governor of
Mandvi, sought the aid of the British. But no closer connexion followed
at that time than an agreement for the suppression of piracy, or of
inroads of troops to the eastward of the Runn or Gulf of Cutch. But the
gulf continued notwithstanding to swarm with pirates, who were openly
encouraged or connived at by the son of Hansraj, who had succeeded his
father, as well as by Fateh Mahommed. The latter left several sons by
different wives, who were competitors for the vacant throne. Husain
Miyan succeeded to a considerable portion of his father's property and
power. Jugjevan, a Brahman, the late minister of Fateh Mahommed, also
received a considerable share of influence; and the hatred of these two
factions was embittered by religious animosities, the one being Hindu
and the other Mahommedan. The deceased rao had declared himself a
Mahommedan, and his adherents were preparing to inter his body in a
magnificent tomb, when the Jarejas and other Hindus seized the corpse
and consigned it to the flames, according to Hindu custom.
The administration of affairs was nominally in the hands of Husain Miyan
and his brother Ibrahim Miyan. Many sanguinary broils now ensued, in the
course of which Jugjevan was murdered, and the executive authority was
much weakened by the usurpations of the Arabs and other chiefs. In the
meantime Ibrahim Miyan was assassinated; and after various other scenes
of anarchy, the rao Bharmulji, son of Rao Rayadan, by general consent,
assumed the chief power. But his reign was one continued series of the
grossest enormities; his hostility to the British became evident, and
accordingly a force of 10,500 men crossed the Runn in November 1815, and
were within five miles of Bhuj, the capital of the country, when a
treaty was concluded, by which the rao Bharmulji was confirmed in his
title to the throne, on agreeing, among other stipulations, to cede
Anjar and its dependencies in perpetuity to the British. He was,
however, so far from fulfilling the terms of this treaty that it was
determined to depose him; and an army being sent against him, he
surrendered to the British, who made a provision for his maintenance,
and elevated his infant son Desalji II. to the throne (1819).
In 1822 the relations subsisting between the ruler of Cutch and the
British were modified by a new treaty, under which the territorial
cessions made by the rao in 1816 were restored in consideration of an
annual payment. The sum fixed was subsequently thought too large, and in
1832 the arrears, amounting to a considerable sum, were remitted, and
all future payments on this account relinquished. From that time the rao
has paid a subsidy of L13,000 per annum to the British for the
maintenance of the military force stationed within his dominions.
Rao Desalji II. did much to suppress infanticide, suttee and the slave
trade in his state. His successor Maharao Pragmalji in recognition of
his excellent administration was in 1871 honoured with the title of
knight grand commander of the Star of India. During his rule harbour
works were built at Mandvi, an immense reservoir for rain water in the
Chadwa hills was constructed, and many schools and colleges were
endowed. In 1876 he was succeeded by Maharaja Rao Khengarji III., who
was also a keen advocate for education and especially the education of
women. He founded museums, libraries and schools, and inaugurated
scholarships and a fund from which deserving scholars desirous of
studying in England and America could obtain their expenses.
CUTCH, GULF OF, an inlet of the sea on the coast of western India. It
lies between the peninsula of Kathiawar and that of Cutch, leading into
the Runn of Cutch.
CUTCH, RUNN OF, or RANN OF KACH, a salt morass on the western coast of
India in the native state of Cutch. From May to October it is flooded
with salt water and communicates, at its greatest extent, with the Gulf
of Cutch on the west and the Gulf of Cambay on the east, these two gulfs
being united during the monsoon. It varies in breadth from five to
eighty miles across, and during the rains is nearly impassable for
horsemen. The total area of this immense morass is estimated at about
8000 sq. m., without including any portion of the Gulf of Cutch, which
is in parts so shallow as to resemble a marshy fen rather than an arm of
the sea. The Runn is said to be formed by the overflow of the rivers
Pharan, Luni, Banas and others, during the monsoon; but in December it
is quite dry, and in most places hard, but in some moist and muddy. The
soil is impregnated with salt, and the Runn is an important source for
the supply of salt. The present condition of the Runn is probably the
result of some natural convulsion, but the exact method of its formation
is disputed. The wild ass is very common on the borders of this lake,
being seen in herds of 60 or 70 together.
CUTHBERT, SAINT (d. 687), bishop of Lindisfarne, was probably a
Northumbrian by birth. According to the extant _Lives_ he was led to
take the monastic vows by a vision at the death of bishop Aidan, and the
date of his entry at Melrose would be 651. At this time Eata was abbot
there, and Boisel, who is mentioned as his instructor, prior, in which
office Cuthbert succeeded him about 661, having previously spent some
time at the monastery of Ripon with Eata. Bede gives a glowing picture
of his missionary zeal at Melrose, but in 664 he was transferred to act
as prior at Lindisfarne. In 676 he became an anchorite on the island of
Farne, and it is said that he performed miracles there. In 684 at the
council of Twyford in Northumberland, Ecgfrith, king of Northumbria,
prevailed upon him to give up his solitary life and become a bishop. He
was consecrated at York in the following year as bishop of Hexham, but
afterwards he exchanged his see with Eata for that of Lindisfarne. In
687 he retired to Farne, and died on the island on the 20th of March
687, the same day as his friend Hereberht, the anchorite of
Derwentwater. He was buried in the island of Lindisfarne, but his
remains were afterwards deposited at Chester-le-Street, and then at
Durham.
Another Cuthbert was bishop of Hereford from 736 to about 740, and
archbishop of Canterbury from the latter date until his death in October
758.
There are several lives of St Cuthbert, the best of which is the prose
life by Bede, which is published in Bede's _Opera_, edited by J.
Stevenson (1841). See also C. Eyre, _The History of St Cuthbert_
(1887); and J. Raine, _St Cuthbert_ (1828).
CUTLASS, the naval side-arm, a short cutting sword with a slightly
curved blade, and a solid basket-shaped guard (see SWORD). The word is
derived from the Fr. _coutelas_, or _coutelace_, a form of _coutel_,
modern _couteau_, a knife, from Lat. _cultellus_, diminutive of
_culter_, a ploughshare, or cutting instrument. Two variations appear in
English: "curtelace," where the _r_ represents probably the _l_ of the
original Latin word, or is a further variant of the second variation;
and "curtelaxe," often spelled as two words, "curtal axe," where the
prefix _curtal_ is confused with various English words such as "curtan,"
"curtal" and "curtail," which all mean "shortened," and are derived from
the Lat. _curtus_; the word thus wrongly derived has been supposed to
refer to some non-existent form of battle-axe. In every case the weapon
to which these various forms apply is a broad cutting or slashing sword.
CUTLER, MANASSEH (1742-1823), American clergyman, was born in Killingly,
Connecticut, on the 13th of May 1742. He graduated at Yale College in
1765, and after being a school teacher and a merchant, and occasionally
appearing in the courts as a lawyer, he decided to enter the ministry,
and from 1771 until his death was pastor of the Congregational church at
what is now Hamilton, but until 1793 was a parish of Ipswich,
Massachusetts. During the War of Independence he was for several months
in 1776 chaplain to the regiment of Colonel Ebenezer Francis, raised for
the defence of Boston; and in 1778, as chaplain to the brigade of
General Jonathan Titcomb (1728-1817), he took part in General John
Sullivan's expedition to Rhode Island. Soon after his return from this
expedition he fitted himself for the practice of medicine, in order to
supplement the scanty income of a minister, and in 1782 he established a
private boarding school, which he conducted for about a quarter of a
century. In 1786 he became interested in the settlement of western
lands, and in the following year, as agent of the Ohio Company (q.v.),
which he had taken a prominent part in organizing, he made a contract
with Congress, whereby his associates, former soldiers in the War of
Independence, might purchase, with the certificates of indebtedness
issued to them by the government for their services, 1,500,000 acres of
land in the region north of the Ohio at the mouth of the Muskingum
river. He also took a leading part in drafting the famous Ordinance of
1787 for the government of the Northwest Territory, the instrument as it
was finally presented to Congress by Nathan Dane (1752-1835), a
Massachusetts delegate, probably being largely Cutler's work. From 1801
to 1805 he was a Federalist representative in Congress. He died at
Hamilton, Massachusetts, on the 28th of July 1823. A versatile man,
Cutler was one of the early members of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, and besides being proficient in the theology, law and medicine
of his day, conducted painstaking astronomical and meteorological
investigations, and was one of the first Americans to make researches of
a real scientific value in botany. In 1789 the degree of doctor of laws
was conferred upon him by Yale.
See William P. and Julia P. Cutler, _The Life, Journals, and
Correspondence of Manasseh Cutler_ (2 vols., Cincinnati, 1888); and an
article, "The Ordinance of 1787 and Dr Manasseh Cutler," by W. F.
Poole, in vol. 122 of the _North American Review_.
CUTLERY (Fr. _coutellerie_, from the Lat. _cultellus_, a little knife),
a branch of industry which originally embraced the manufacture of all
cutting instruments of whatever form or material. The progress of
manufacturing industry has, however, detached from it the fabrication of
several kinds of edge-tools, saws and similar implements, the
manufacture of which is now regarded as forming distinct branches of
trade. On the other hand modern cutlery includes a great number of
articles which are not strictly cutting instruments, but which, owing to
their more or less intimate relation to table or pocket cutlery, are
classed with such articles for convenience' sake. A steel table or
carving fork, for example, is an important article of cutlery, although
it is not a cutting tool.
The original cutting instruments used by the human race consisted of
fragments of flint, obsidian, or similar stones, rudely flaked or
chipped to a cutting edge; and of these tools numerous remains yet
exist. Stone knives and other tools must have been employed for a long
period by the prehistoric races of mankind, as their later productions
show great perfection of form and finish. In the Bronze period, which
succeeded the Stone Age, the cutlery of our ancestors was fabricated of
that alloy. The use of iron was introduced at a later but still remote
period; and it now, in the form of steel, is the staple article from
which cutlery is manufactured.
From the earliest period in English history the manufacture of cutlery
has been peculiarly associated with the town of Sheffield, the
prominence of which in this manufacture in his own age is attested by
Chaucer, who says of the miller of Trumpington--
"A Sheffeld thwitel baar he in his hose."
That town still retains a practical monopoly of the ordinary cutlery
trade of Great Britain, and remains the chief centre of the industry for
the whole world. Its influence on methods of production has also been
widely extended; for instance, many Sheffield workmen emigrated to the
United States of America to take part in the manufacture of
pocket-knives when it was started in Connecticut towards the middle of
the 19th century.
The thwitel or whittle of Chaucer's time was a very poor rude implement,
consisting of a blade of bar steel fastened into a wooden or horn
handle. It was used for cutting food as well as for the numerous
miscellaneous duties which now fall to the pocket-knife. To the whittle
succeeded the Jack knife,--the Jacques-de-Liege, or Jock-te-leg of the
Scottish James VI.,--which formed the prototype of the modern
clasp-knife, inasmuch as the blade closed into a groove in the handle.
About the beginning of the 17th century, the pocket-knife with spring
back was introduced, and no marked improvement thereafter took place
till the early part of the 19th century. In 1624, two centuries after
the incorporation of the Cutlers' Company of London, the cutlers of
Hallamshire--the name of the district of which Sheffield is the
centre--were formed into a body corporate for the protection of the
"industry, labour, and reputation" of the trade, which was being
disgraced by the "deceitful and unworkmanlike wares of various persons."
The act of incorporation specifies the manufacture of "knives, scissors,
shears, sickles and other cutlery," and provides that all persons
engaged in the business shall "make the edge of all steel implements
manufactured by them of steel, and steel only, and shall strike on their
wares such mark, and such only, as should be assigned to them by the
officers of the said company." Notwithstanding these regulations, and
the pains and penalties attached to their infringement, the corporation
was not very successful in maintaining the high character of Sheffield
wares. Most manufacturers made cutlery to the order of their customers,
on which the name of the retailer was stamped, and very inferior
malleable or cast iron blades went forth to the public with "London
made," "best steel," and other falsehoods stamped on them to order. The
corporate mark and name of a few firms, among which Joseph Rodgers &
Sons stand foremost, are a guarantee of the very highest excellence of
material and finish; and such firms decline to stamp any name or mark
other than their own on their manufactures. In foreign markets, however,
the reputation of such firms is much injured by impudent forgeries; and
so far was this system of fraud carried that inferior foreign work was
forwarded to London to be transhipped and sent abroad ostensibly as
English cutlery. To protect the trade against frauds of this class the
Trades Mark Act of 1862 was passed chiefly at the instigation of the
Sheffield chamber of commerce.
The variety of materials which go to complete any single article of
cutlery is very considerable; and as the stock list of a cutler embraces
a vast number of articles different in form, properties and uses, the
cutlery manufacturer must have a practical knowledge of a wide range of
substances. The leading articles of the trade include carving and table
knives and forks, pocket or clasp knives, razors, scissors, daggers,
hunting knives and similar articles, surgical knives and lancets,
butchers' and shoemakers' knives, gardeners' pruning-knives, &c. The
blades or cutting portions of a certain number of these articles are
made of shear steel, and for others crucible cast steel is employed.
Sometimes the cutting edge alone is of steel, backed or strengthened
with iron, to which it is welded. The tang, or part of the blade by
which it is fastened to the handles, and other non-cutting portions, are
also very often of iron. Brass, German silver, silver, horn,
tortoise-shell, ivory, bone, mother-of-pearl, and numerous fancy woods
are all brought into requisition for handles and other parts of cutlery,
each demanding special treatment according to its nature. The essential
processes in making a piece of steel cutlery are (1) forging, (2)
hardening and tempering, (3) grinding, (4) polishing, and (5) putting
together the various pieces and finishing the knife, the workmen who
perform these last operations being the only ones known in the trade as
"cutlers."
The following outline of the stages in the manufacture of a razor will
serve to indicate the sequence of operations in making an article which,
though simple in form, demands the highest care and skill. The first
essential of a good razor is that it be made of the finest quality of
cast steel. The steel for razors is obtained in bars the thickness of
the back of the instrument. Taking such a bar, the forger heats one end
of it to the proper forging temperature, and then dexterously fashions
it upon his anvil, giving it roughly the required form, edge and
concavity. It is then separated from the remainder of the bar, leaving
only sufficient metal to form the tang, if that is to be made of steel.
The tang of the "mould," as the blade in this condition is termed, is
next drawn out, and the whole "smithed" or beaten on the anvil to
compact the metal and improve the form and edge of the razor. At this
stage the razor is said to be "forged in the rough," and so neatly can
some workmen finish off this operation that a shaving edge may be given
to the blade by simple whetting. The forged blade is next "shaped" by
grinding on the dry stone; this operation considerably reduces its
weight, and removes the oxidized scale, thereby allowing the hardening
and tempering to be done with certainty and proper effect. The shaped
razor is now returned to the forge, where the tang is file-cut and
pierced with the joint-hole, and into the blade is stamped either the
name and corporate mark of the maker, or any mark and name ordered by
the tradesman for whom the goods are being manufactured. The hardening
is accomplished by heating the blade to a cherry-red heat and suddenly
quenching it in cold water, which leaves the metal excessively hard and
brittle. To bring it to the proper temper for a razor, it is again
heated till the metallic surface assumes a straw colour, and after being
plunged into water, it is ready for the process of wet grinding. The wet
grinding is done on stones which vary in diameter from 1(1/2) to 12 in.
according to the concavity of surface desired ("hollow-ground," "half
hollow-ground," &c.). "Lapping," which is the first stage in polishing,
is performed on a wheel of the same diameter as the wet-grinding stone.
The lap is built up of segments of wood having the fibres towards the
periphery, and covered with a metallic alloy of tin and lead. The lap is
fed with a mixture of emery powder and oil. "Glazing" and "polishing,"
which follow, are for perfecting the polish on the surface of the razor,
leather-covered wheels with fine emery being used; and the work is
finished off with crocus. The finished blade is then riveted into the
scales or handle, which may be of ivory, bone, horn or other material;
and when thereafter the razor is set on a hone it is ready for use.
The processes employed in making a table-knife do not differ essentially
from those required for a razor. Table-knife blades are forged from
shear and other steels, and, if they are not in one piece, a bit of
malleable iron sufficient for the bolster or shoulder and tang is welded
to each, often by machinery, especially in the case of the cheaper
qualities. The bolster is formed with the aid of a die and swage called
"prints," and the tang is drawn out. The tang is variously formed,
according to the method by which it is to be secured in the haft, and
the various processes of tempering, wet grinding and polishing are
pursued as described above. Steel forks of an inferior quality are cast
and subsequently cleaned and polished; but the best quality are forged
from bar steel, and the prongs are cut or stamped out of an extended
flattened extremity called the mould or "mood." In the United States of
America machinery has been extensively adopted for performing the
various mechanical operations in forging and fitting table cutlery, and
in Sheffield it is employed to a great extent in the manufacture of
table and pocket knife blades, scissors and razors. The cutler of the
18th century was an artisan who forged and ground the blades and fitted
them in the hafts ready for sale; to-day the division of labour is
carried to an extreme degree. In the making of a common pocket-knife
with three blades not fewer than one hundred separate operations are
involved, and these may be performed by as many workmen composed of five
distinct classes--the scale and spring makers (the scale being the metal
lining which is covered by the handle proper), the blade forgers, the
grinders, the cutters of the coverings of ivory, horn, &c., that form
the handles, and the hafters or cutlers proper. Grinders are divided
into three classes--dry, wet and mixed grinders, according as they work
at dry or wet stones. This branch of trade is, in Sheffield, conducted
in distinct establishments called "wheels," which are divided up into
separate apartments or "hulls," the dry grinding being as much as
possible separated from the wet grinding. Dry grinding, such as is
practised in the shaping of razors described above, the "humping" or
rounding of scissors, and other operations, used to be a process
especially dangerous to health, lung diseases being induced by the fine
dust of silica and steel with which the atmosphere was loaded; but a
great improvement has been effected by resorting to wet grinding as much
as possible, by arranging fans to remove the dust by suction, and by
general attention to sanitary conditions.
CUTTACK, a city and district of British India in the Orissa division of
Bengal. The city is situated at the head of the delta of the Mahanadi.
Pop. (1901) 51,364. It is the centre of the Orissa canal system, and an
important station on the East Coast railway from Madras to Calcutta. It
contains the government college, named after Mr Ravenshaw, a former
commissioner; a high school, a training school, a survey school, a
medical school and a law school. The city formed one of the five royal
strongholds of ancient Orissa and was founded by a warlike Hindu prince,
Makar Kesari, who reigned from 953 to 961. Native kings protected it
from the rivers by a masonry embankment several miles long, built of
enormous blocks of hewn stone, and in some places 25 ft. high. A
fortress defended the north-west corner of the town, and was captured by
the English from the Mahrattas in October 1803. It is now abandoned as a
place of defence.
The DISTRICT OF CUTTACK lies in the centre of Orissa, occupying the
deltas of the Mahanadi and Brahmani, together with a hilly tract inland.
Its area is 3654 sq. m. It consists of three physical divisions: first,
a marshy woodland strip along the coast, from 3 to 30 m. in breadth;
second, an intermediate stretch of rice plains; third, a broken hilly
region, which forms the western boundary of the district. The marshy
strip along the coast is covered with swamps and malaria-breeding
jungles. Towards the sea the solid land gives place to a vast network of
streams and creeks, whose sluggish waters are constantly depositing
silt, and forming morasses or quicksands. Cultivation does not begin
till the limits of this dismal region are passed. The intermediate rice
plains stretch inland for about 40 m. and occupy the older part of the
delta between the sea-coast strip and the hilly frontier. They are
intersected by three large rivers, the Baitarani, Brahmani and Mahanadi.
These issue in magnificent streams through three gorges in the frontier
hills. The Cuttack delta is divided into two great valleys, one of them
lying between the Baitarani and the Brahmani, the other between the
Brahmani and the Mahanadi. The rivers having, by the silt of ages,
gradually raised their beds, now run along high levels. During floods
they pour over their banks upon the surrounding valleys, by a thousand
channels which interlace and establish communication between the main
streams. After numerous bifurcations they find their way into the sea by
three principal mouths. Silt-banks and surf-washed bars render the
entrance to these rivers perilous. The best harbour in Cuttack district
is at False Point, on the north of the Mahanadi estuary. It consists of
an anchorage, land-locked by islands or sand-banks, and with two fair
channels navigable towards the land. The famine commissioners in 1867
reported it to be the best harbour on the coast of India from the Hugli
to Bombay.
The intermediate tract is a region of rich cultivation, dotted with
great banyan trees, thickets of bamboos, exquisite palm foliage and
mango groves. The hilly frontier separates the delta of British Orissa
from the semi-independent tributary states. It consists of a series of
ranges, 10 to 15 m. in length, running nearly due east and west, with
densely-wooded slopes and lovely valleys between. The timber, however,
is small, and is of little value except as fuel. The political character
of these three tracts is as distinct as are their natural features. The
first and third are still occupied by feudal chiefs, and have never been
subjected to a regular land-settlement, by either the Mussulman or the
British government. They pay a light fixed tribute. The intermediate
rice plains, known as the Mogholbandi, from their having been regularly
settled by the Mahommedans, have yielded to the successive dynasties and
conquerors of Orissa almost the whole of the revenues derived from the
province. The deltaic portions are of course a dead level; and the
highest hills within the district in the western or frontier tract do
not exceed 2500 ft. They are steep, and covered with jungle, but can be
climbed by men. The most interesting of them are the Assa range, with
its sandal trees and Buddhist remains; Udayagiri (Sunrise-hill), with
its colossal image of Buddha, sacred reservoir, and ruins; and Assagiri,
with its mosque of 1719. The Mahavinayaka peak, visible from Cuttack,
has been consecrated for ages to Siva-worship by ascetics and pilgrims.
The population of the district in 1901 was 2,062,758, showing an
increase of 6% in the preceding decade. The aboriginal tribes here, as
elsewhere, cling to their mountains and jungles. They chiefly consist of
the Bhumij, Tala, Kol and Savara peoples, the Savaras being by far the
most numerous, numbering 14,775. They are regarded by the orthodox
Hindus as little better than the beasts of the wildernesses which they
inhabit. Miserably poor, they subsist for the most part by selling
firewood or other products of their jungle; but a few of them have
patches of cultivated land, and many earn wages as day labourers to the
Hindus. They occupy, in fact, an intermediate stage of degradation
between the comparatively well-to-do tribes in the tributary states
(the stronghold and home of the race), and the Pans, Bauris, Kandras and
other semi-aboriginal peoples on the lowlands, who rank as the basest
castes of the Hindu community. The great bulk of the Indo-Aryan or Hindu
population consists of Uriyas, with a residue of immigrant Bengalis,
Lala Kayets from Behar and northern India, Telingas from the Madras
coast, Mahrattas from central and western India, a few Sikhs from the
Punjab and Marwaris from Rajputana. The Mahommedans are chiefly the
descendants of the Pathans who took refuge in Orissa after the
subversion of their kingdom in Bengal by the Moguls in the 16th century.
Rice forms the staple product of the district; its three chief varieties
are _biali_ or early rice, _sarad_ or winter rice, and _dalua_ or spring
rice. The other cereal crops consist of _mandua_ (a grass-like plant
producing a coarse grain resembling rice), wheat, barley, and _china_, a
rice-like cereal. _Suan_, another rice-like cereal, not cultivated,
grows spontaneously in the paddy fields. Pulses of different sorts,
oilseeds, fibres, sugar-cane, tobacco, spices and vegetables also form
crops of the district. The cultivators consist of two classes--the
resident husbandmen (_thani_) and the non-resident or migratory
husbandmen (_pahe_).
The Orissa canal system, which lies mainly within Cuttack district, is
used both for irrigation and transport purposes. The railway across the
district towards Calcutta, a branch of the Bengal-Nagpur system, was
opened in 1899. Considerable trade is carried on at the mouth of the
rivers along the coast.
CUTTLE-FISH. The more familiar and conspicuous types of the molluscan
class Cephalopoda (q.v.) are popularly known in English as cuttle-fish,
squid, octopus and nautilus. The first of these names (from the A.S.
_cudele_) is applied more particularly to the common _Sepia_ (fig. 1),
characterized by its internal calcareous shell, sometimes known as
cuttle-bone, and its ink-sac, the contents of which have been long in
use as a pigment (sepia). The term squid is employed among fishermen for
the ten-armed Cephalopods in which the shell is represented by an
uncalcified flexible structure somewhat resembling a pen. Hence in
Italian a squid is called _calamaio_, from _calamus_ a reed or pen, and
in English the similar term calamary is sometimes used. Like the
_Sepia_, squids also possess the ink-sac, whence they have sometimes
been called pen and ink fish, and in German both _Sepia_ and squid and
their allies are known as _Tinten-fische_. The squids have generally
softer and more watery tissues than the _Sepia_, but the former term is
not in general use, and the distinction not generally understood. The
term cuttle-fishes is sometimes extended to include all the Cephalopoda,
but as the peculiarities of the remarkable shell of the true nautilus,
and those of the shell-less Octopoda are widely known, we shall consider
the name here as applying only to those forms which have ten arms, an
ink-sac, an internal shell-rudiment, and only one pair of gills in the
mantle cavity. Technically these form the sub-order Decapoda, of the
order Dibranchia.
The cuttle-fishes are characteristically swimming animals, in contrast
with the octopods, which creep about by means of their suckers among the
rocks, and lurk in holes. In _Sepia_ the integument is produced
laterally into two muscular fins, rather narrow and of uniform breadth
running the whole length of the body, but separated by a notch behind.
There are four pairs of short non-retractile arms surrounding the mouth,
and furnished with suckers on their oral surface, and between the third
and fourth of these arms on each side is a much longer tentacular arm,
which is usually kept entirely withdrawn into a pocket of the skin. The
mantle cavity is on the posterior side of the body, which is the lower
side in the swimming position, and the funnel is a tube open at both
ends and connected with the body within the mouth of the mantle cavity.
The mantle during life performs regular respiratory movements by which
water is drawn into the cavity, passing between mantle and funnel, and
is expelled through the funnel. In swimming the short arms are directed
forwards, the fins undulate, and the motion is slow and deliberate; but
if the animal is threatened or alarmed it swims suddenly and rapidly
backwards by expelling water forcibly from the mantle cavity through
the funnel, at the same time expelling a cloud of ink from its ink-sac.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--_Sepia officinalis_, L., about 1/2 natural size,
as seen when dead, the long prehensile arms being withdrawn from the
pouches at the side of the head, in which they are carried during life
when not actually in use. a, Neck; b, lateral fin of the mantle-sac; c,
the eight shorter arms of the fore-foot; d, the two long prehensile
arms; e, the eyes.]
The _Sepia_ feeds principally on Crustacea, and in aquaria has been
observed to pursue and capture prawns. The method in which it secures
its prey has been carefully observed and described by the present
writer, who studied the living animal in the aquarium of the biological
laboratory at Plymouth. The prawns support themselves on their long
slender legs on convenient points of the rockwork, and the _Sepia_
stalks them with great caution and determination, the rapid play of its
chromatophores giving evidence of its excitement. When it has arrived
within striking distance, the two tentacular arms are shot out with
great rapidity, and the prawn is seized between the two expanded ends,
drawn within the circle of short arms, and devoured; unless, as
sometimes happens, the prawn springs away and the _Sepia_ misses its
aim.
Two species of _Sepia_ occur in British and European waters, including
the Mediterranean, namely, _S. elegans_ and _S. officinalis_. The usual
length of the body is about 9 or 10 in. They live mostly between ten and
forty fathoms, coming into shallower water in July and August to deposit
their eggs, which are about as large as black currants and of somewhat
similar colour, and are connected by elongated stalks into a cluster
attached to the sea-bottom. Other species occur in various parts of the
world, e.g. _S. cultrata_, which is common on the coasts of Australia.
The _Sepiidae_ form the only family of cuttle-fishes in which the shell
is calcified. They belong to the tribe Myopsida, characterized by the
complete closure of the external corneal covering of the eye outside the
iris and the lens.
_Sepiola_ and _Rossia_ belong to another family of the Myopsida. Both
are British genera living in shallow water, and entering estuaries. The
animals of both genera are small, not more than 2 or 3 in. in length,
with the body rounded at the aboral end, and the fins short and rounded,
inserted in the middle of the body length, instead of extending from end
to end. _Sepiola_, although it swims by means of its fins and funnel
when active, spends much of its time buried in the sand for concealment.
_Rossia_ has similar habits. The shell is chitinous and shorter than the
body. In other genera of the _Sepiolidae_ the shell is entirely absent.
_Idiosepius_ is the smallest of the Cephalopoda, only 1.5 in. in length.
It inhabits the Indian Ocean. The body is elongated and the fins
rudimentary. In the _Sepiadariidae_ also the shell is absent. The body
is short and the mantle united with the head dorsally. The two genera
_Sepiadarium_ and _Sepioloidea_ occur in the Pacific Ocean. The common
squid _Loligo_ is the type of the only remaining family of the Myopsida.
In this species the shell is a well-developed chitinous pen or gladius
with a thickened axis narrowing to a point behind, but bearing
posteriorly a wide thin plate on each side. The shape closely resembles
that of a quill pen with the quill in front. The fins are large and
triangular, extending over rather more than half of the length of the
body aborally. The tentacular arms are only partly retractile. The body
is elongated and conical, and reaches about a foot in length. The squid
is gregarious, and forms a favourite food of the larger fishes,
especially of conger. All the Myopsida are more or less littoral in
habit, and the British forms are familiar in consequence of their
frequent capture in the nets of fishermen. The shell, or "bone" as it is
commonly called, of the common _Sepia_ frequently occurs in abundance on
the shore among the sea-weed and other refuse left by the tide.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--A, _Loligo vulgaris_; a, arms; t, tentacles. B,
Pen of the same reduced in size. C, Side-view of one of the suckers,
showing the horny hooks surrounding the margin. D, View of the head from
in front, showing the arms (a), the tentacles (t), the mouth (m), and
the funnel (f).]
The Oigopsida, or cuttle-fishes in which the corneal covering of the eye
is perforated, are on the whole more oceanic than littoral, and many of
the species are abyssal. _Ommatostrephes sagittatus_ is one of the forms
that occurs off the British coasts, especially the more northern, e.g.
in the Firth of Forth. In general appearance it resembles the common
squid, but the fins are broader and shorter, not extending to the middle
of the body. The shell is similar to that of _Loligo_, but ends
aborally in a little hollow cone. The suckers bear chitinous rings which
are toothed along the outer edge. The tentacular arms are rather short
and thick. Two specimens of allied species have been taken on British
coasts, one of which, captured off Salcombe in Devonshire in 1892, had a
body 66 cm. (22 in.) long, and tentacular arms 64 cm. long, or nearly
the same length as the body. Most of the species of _Ommatostrephes_ are
naturally gregarious and oceanic, and occur in the open seas in all
latitudes, swimming near the surface and often leaping out of the water.
They are largely devoured by albatrosses and other marine birds, and by
Cetacea. They are used as bait in the Newfoundland cod fishery.
Some of the oceanic cuttle-fishes reach a very large size, and the
stories of these ocean monsters which are narrated by the older writers,
though to some extent exaggerated, are now known to be founded on fact.
The figure given by one author of a gigantic Cephalopod rising from the
surface of the ocean and embracing with its arms a full-rigged ship does
not accurately represent an actual occurrence, but on the other hand
there are authentic instances on record of fishermen in small boats on
the banks of Newfoundland being in great peril in consequence of large
squids throwing their arms across their boats. In November 1874 a
specimen was brought ashore at St John's, Newfoundland, which had been
caught in herring nets. Its body was 7 ft. long, its fins 22 in. broad,
and its tentacular arms 24 ft. long. Several others have been recorded,
taken in the same region, which were as large or larger, the total
length of the body and tentacles together varying from 30 to 52 ft., and
the estimated weight of one of them being 1000 lb.
In April 1875 one of these large squids occurred off Boffin's Island on
the Irish coast. The crew of a curragh rowed out to it and attacked it,
cutting off two of its arms and its head. The shorter arms measured 8
ft. in length and 15 in. in circumference; the tentacular arms are said
to have been 30 ft. long. In the Natural History Museum in London there
is one of the shorter arms of a specimen; this arm is 9 ft. in length
and 11 in. in circumference, and the total length of the specimen,
including body and tentacles, is stated to have been 40 ft. The maximum
known length of these giant squids is stated to be 18 metres or about
58(1/2) ft. All these gigantic specimens belong, so far as at present
known, to one genus called _Architeuthis_, referred to the same family
as _Ommatostrephes_. They are the largest known invertebrates.
These huge cuttle-fishes as well as those of various other oceanic
species form the food of the cachalot or sperm whale, and F. T. Bullen,
in his _Cruise of the Cachalot_ and other writings, has graphically
described contests which came under his own observation between the
cachalot and its prey. The prince of Monaco in his yacht the "Princess
Alice" was fortunate enough to be able to make a very complete
scientific investigation in the case of one specimen of the cachalot,
which not only confirmed the most important of Mr Bullen's statements,
but added considerably to our knowledge of oceanic cuttle-fishes. Off
the Azores in July 1895 the prince in his yacht witnessed the killing of
a cachalot 13.70 metres long (about 45 ft. 8 in.) by the crew of a
whaler. The animal in its death-agony vomited the contents of its
stomach, most of which were carefully collected and preserved, and
afterwards examined by Professor Joubin. On the lips of the whale were
found impressions several centimetres wide which corresponded exactly to
the toothed suckers of the largest cuttle-fish arms obtained from its
stomach. The contents of the stomach consisted entirely of cuttle-fish
or parts of cuttle-fish, including the giant _Architeuthis_, and among
them was the body, without the head, of a form new to science,
distinguished by a condition of the external surface which occurs in no
other species of the group. The surface of the skin was divided into
small angular flat projections like scales, arranged in a regular spiral
like the scales of a pine cone. From this character the new genus was
called _Lepidoteuthis_. The body, without the head, of the specimen
obtained was 86 cm. (nearly 3 ft.) in length.
The family _Onychoteuthidae_ is remarkable for the formidable chitinous
hooks borne on the arms. These hooks are special modifications of the
toothed chitinous ring which covers the sucker-rim in the Decapoda
generally. The teeth of the ring are often unequal in size, and in the
_Onychoteuthidae_ one tooth is enormously developed. The maximum
development occurs in _Veranya_, found in the Mediterranean, where the
suckers have lost their function and are merely fleshy projections
bearing the hooks at their extremities. _Onychoteuthis_ reaches a large
size, the length of the body without the arms being in one specimen from
the Pacific coast of America 8 ft. Figures of this and several of the
following genera are given in the article CEPHALOPODA.