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M. Temminck, who appears to be the first among the moderns who applied the term Edicnemus to the genus, places it at the head of his Grallatores; and M. Lesson, in his Manuel,' places it among the Charadriada (Leach), between Burhinus, Ill., and Himantopus, Briss.

Mr. Gould, who considers the genus as connecting the Bustards and Plovers, observes that he has often had occasion to remark, that while the normal or typical groups are abundant in species, the aberrant forms, which appear to be created for the purpose of filling up the intervening chasms, are restricted for the most part to a limited number of species: thus while the Bustards and Plovers comprise a vast multitude of species, the genus Edicnemus contains at most but five or six, and these confined entirely to the regions of the Old World. (Birds of Europe.)

Generic Character.-Bill strong, nearly straight, rather depressed towards the tip, culmen elevated, lower mandible angulated; nostrils longitudinal, pierced through and through the horny part of the middle of the bill, and most open anteriorly. Tarsi long. Three toes, all before, united as far as the second joint by a membrane which skirts their edges. Wings moderate; first quill shorter than the second, which is longest.

Example, dicnemus crepitans, Temm. Charadrius Edicnemus, Linn.

Description.-All the upper parts of a reddish ashybrown, with a longitudinal dasli on the middle of each feather; space between the eye and the bill, throat, belly, and thighs, pure white; neck and breast slightly coloured with reddish and speckled with longitudinal brown streaks; a longitudinal white band on the wing; towards the middle of the first quill a great white dash, and a very small one on the interior barb of the second; lower tail-coverts ruddy; quill-feathers, except those of the middle, terminated with black; base of the bill bright-yellowish, the rest black; naked skin round the eyes, iris, and feet, pure yellow. Length from the bill to the feet 16 inches 2 lines. Male and Female.

Such is Temminck's description of the adult bird; but the plumage varies in some individuals. For instance, in the specimen figured and described by Gould, in his 'Birds of Europe,' there is an obscure bar of white above and below the eye, and the ground-colour of the flanks and under surface is stated to be yellowish-white; whilst the yellow toes and feet are noticed as having a tinge of

green.

Young Birds.-These have the colours less distinct, and are detected at the first glance by the highly dilated form of the upper part of the tarsus and by the size of the kneejoint. Temminck, who gives this description, adds that this form of the tarsus exists in the young of the year of all species of birds with long slender legs, but is particularly remarkable in the young dicnemi.

This is the Ostardeau of Belon; Le Grand Pluvier, ou Courlis de Terre of the French; Gran Pivieri, Curlotte, Ciurlui, and Ciurlovi of the Italians; Lerchengraue Regenpfeifer, Grosser Brachvogel, and Grosse Bragvogel oder Gluth of the Germans, among whom it is also called Triel, or Griel, according to Gesner, who thinks that it is the Charadrius of Aristotle; y Glin-braff of the ancient British; Thick-knee, Thick-kneed Bustard, Stone Curlew, and Norfolk Plover of the modern British.

Hubits, Food, Reproduction, &c.-Rapid on foot, powerful in flight, which it executes in wide circles, and haunting downs and open places, this species is in general approached with difficulty by the sportsman, though it will often squat in places favourable to its colour, till it is almost trod on. Their shrill evening cry pierces the ear, and may be heard nearly a mile in a still night. Slugs, worms, reptiles, and, some say, mice, are eaten by them; but the two former seem to be their favourite food. White, in a letter to Pennant, dated 30th March, 1768, says, 'I wonder that the Stone Curlew, Charadrius Edicnemus, should be mentioned by writers as a rare kind: it abounds in all the campaign parts of Hampshire and Sussex, and breeds, I think, all the summer, having young ones, I know, very late in the autumn. Already they begin clamouring in the evening. They cannot, I think, with any propriety, be called, as they are by Mr. Ray, " circa aquas versantes;" for with us, by day at least, they haunt only the most dry, en, upland fields, and sheep-walks, far removed from

what they may do in the night I cannot say. s are their usual food, but they also eat toads and

frogs.' No nest receives the eggs, which are two or three in number, of a light brown or dirty white, with dusty blood-coloured blotches and streaks. It lays,' says the author of the charming history of Selborne, its ea usually two, never more than three, on the bare grouse, without any nest, in the field; so that the countryman, is stirring his fallows, often destroys them. The young rus immediately from the egg, like partridges, &c., and a withdrawn to some flinty field by the dam, where the sculk among the stones, which are their best security: their feathers are so exactly of the colour of our grey. spotted flints, that the most exact observer, unless t catches the eye of the young bird, may be eluded. . . . Edicnemus is a most apt and expressive name for them. since their legs seem swollen like those of a goaty man. After harvest I have shot them before the pointers turnip-fields.' In his MS. the same author remarks that they seem to descend in the night to streams and meadows, perhaps for water, which their upland haunts do not afford them.

Geographical Distribution.-Europe generally, where r seems to be migratory in many parts, in Britain and Gemany for instance. Temminck notes it as abundant in the south of France (in which country Belon found young unes that could not fly at the end of October), Italy, Sardo: 1 the Greek Archipelago, and Turkey. It is also found i Asia and Africa. It occurred among the Trebizond coinestion of birds presented to the Zoological Society of Lond a by Mr. Keith Abbott; and the localities attributed to it. Mr. Gould are Europe and Africa, but not Indra. (Z Proc., 1834.) Col. Sykes however had previously recorded it among the birds of the Deccan: at least he says ther is no visible difference between the Dukhun and Britis species. (Zool. Proc., 1832.) If it be the CharadricKervari of Hasselquist, which Linnæus and most authers suppose it to be, that traveller describes it as inl biting Lower Egypt, near the sepulchres, and in th deserts. In Britain it arrives early in the spring. Th following is the earliest period recorded by White:-(. the 27th of February, 1788, Stone Curlews were heard: pipe; and on March 1st, after it was dark, some were pass.rg over the village, as might be perceived by their quick shr note, which they use in their nocturnal excursions by w: of watch-word, that they may not stray and lose their com panions. Thus we see that retire whithersoever they in the winter, they return again early in the spring, . are, as it now appears, the first summer birds that back. Perhaps the mildness of the season may h quickened the emigration of the curlews this year." Thi are seldom seen after the beginning of October; but Mars wick states that he received on the 31st January, 17. bird of this species which had been recently killed b. neighbouring farmer, who said that he had frequently it in his fields (Sussex) during the former part ef t winter. This, perhaps, adds Markwick, was an occas straggler, which, by some accident, was prevented tra accompanying its companions in their migration. As autumn advances, these birds collect into flocks, soon afv

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which they leave this country. Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent, and Hampshire seem to be the favourite counties of the Stone Curlew; but it occurs, though rarely, in the Yorkshire Wolds, higher than which it does not seem to go in these islands. Mr. Selby says that he never met with it or heard of it in the more northern English counties, nor in Scotland. It does not occur in Mr. Thompson's Irish list in the Zoological Proceedings.'

Utility to Man.-In the hands of a good cook this species is a delicate bird for the table.

In the Portraits d'Oyseaux, the following quatrain well describes the bird and the reason for the name given to it by Belon:

'Lon peut nommer cestuy-cy, Ostardeau,

Parcequ'il est approchant de l'Ostarde,
Qui sous le ply des genoux l'os regarde,
Le trouve gros plus qu'à nul autre oyseau.'

OELAND. [ALAND.]

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OELS is a lordship, with the title of a principality, in Lower Silesia, and in the Prussian government of Breslau. Together with the principality of Oels Bernstadt, which has been united with it ever since 1745, it has an area of 780 square miles, above 90,000 inhabitants, and a revenue of 18,000l. per annum, burdened however with debts of long standing. The soil is in general fertile, and produces much corn, flax, fruit, and also timber, the forests being very extensive. Game and fish are in abundance. The chief town, OELS, situated in 51° 25' N. lat. and 22° 30' E. long, in a plain on the river Oelsa, has a population of 6100 inhabitants, who carry on considerable manufactures of woollen cloths; there are likewise extensive breweries. The palace or castle, in which there is a good library, with collections of works of art and natural history, is surrounded with walls and a moat, and has a beautiful park, There are in the lown one Roman Catholic and 5 Lutheran churches, 3 hospitals, a Lutheran gymnasium, admirable establishments or the poor, an institution founded in 1821 for the promoion of morality among poor country girls, a theatre, &c. The principality of Oels, after the death of the last duke, Charles Frederic of Münsterberg and Oels, in 1647, came o his son-in-law Duke Silvius Nimrod of Würtemberg, Founder of the line of Würtemberg-Oels. This line becomng extinct in 1792, the principality came, through his only aughter and heiress Sophia Frederica Charlotte, to her ushand Duke Frederick Augustus of Würtemberg; and fter his death, in 1805, to his nephew Duke Frederick Villiam of Brunswick, who fell in the battle of Quatre Bras 1815, the succession having been secured to him by Freerick the Great in 1785. After his death it devolved to his dest son and successor Charles, who in 1825 made it over 6 his brother William, who still possesses it, since he sumed the government of Brunswick in 1830. CENANTHE, a poisonous genus of apiaceous or umbelTerous plants, one of which, the E. pimpinelloides, appears have been the oiváven of Theophrastus and Dioscorides. he species are readily known, independently of other chaeters, by their fruits being, by the contraction of the rigid dicels, strongly compacted into heads, the upper side of hich is muricated by the stiff straight long styles. The aits have on each face five convex obtuse ridges, of which e marginal ones are a little the largest.

Enanthe crocata.

CENANTHE. [WHEATEAR.]

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OESEL, an island in the Baltic, situated between 58° and 58° 40' N. lat. and between 21° 40' and 23° 20' E. long., stretches across the entrance of the Guif of Livonia, or Bay of Riga. It extends from south by west to north by east about 45 miles, with an average width of about 25 miles; a narrow peninsula extends from its south-western corner about 20 miles southwards. The area of the island falls short of 1200 square miles: in extent it may be compared with the county of Stafford. The surface is uneven and rocky, but it is covered with a good layer of vegetable mould, and accordingly the island is rather fertile. The highest hills do not appear to exceed 200 feet in elevation. The winters are much less severe than on the adjacent continent. The island produces grain, of which a part is exported, flax, hemp, and a little tobacco. A considerable portion of the island is used as pasture-grounds. The inhabitants, who are Esthonians, amount to more than 30,000. The island belongs to the government of Livonia, or Riga, of which it constitutes the circle of Arensburg, so called from the principal town, which is situated on the southern coast of the island, has a harbour for small vessels, and carries on some trade with Riga in the produce of the island. The population is about 1500. Oesel was early taken possession of by the Danes, who ceded it to Sweden, in 1645, by the peace of Bromsebrö; it remained in the possession of the Swedes till the beginning of the last century, when it was taken by Russia, to which power it was finally ceded, in 1721, by the peace of Nystädt, together with Livonia. The position of this island across the en

The species are all inhabitants of damp meadows or tery places, and are common in Europe. The most imrtant is E. crocata, an inhabitant of ditches, banks of ers, and similar situations. This plant, which Dr. Christireckons the most energetic of the narcotico-acrid poisonous ants of its class, has a root of many fleshy fingers, looking actly like a dahlia-root in miniature, but abounding in orange-coloured fetid juice, which is also plentiful in her parts of the plant, and in which the deleterious quaes reside. The stem grows from two to five feet high, much branched, round, and hollow. The leaves are a dark shining green, doubly pinnate, with wedge-trance of the Gulf of Livonia renders the navigation of that aped leaflets variously and deeply cut. The umbels e large and convex, of many general and a still greater mber of partial rays. The bracts of the involucre are iable in number and size. The flowers are white, tinged th purple. Cases of accidental poisoning with this plant, consequence of its roots having been mistaken for groundts, parsnips, &c., by ignorant people, are common. In heral death takes place within three hours and a half of poison having been administered, and often within the st hour.

gulf dangerous in the early part of the spring. When western or north-western winds prevail, the ice which is brought down by the Düna river, being prevented from dispersing in the sea, is accumulated within the gulf, a circumstance which causes loss of life and property.

CESOPHAGUS, or gullet, is the canal leading from the pharynx, the short cavity at the back of the mouth, to the stomach. In man, it is composed of two layers of muscular fibres, an external longitudinal layer, and an in ternal, composed of circular fibres, by which the food is pro

pelled towards the stomach, and which are lined by a layer of soft mucous membrane and a moderately thick cuticle continued from that of the lips and mouth. In many animals its interior is beset with numerous firm pointed processes directed towards the stomach to prevent any food that has passed through it from returning into the mouth; in the ruminants, on the other hand, it is one of the chief means by which the partially digested food is brought again to the mouth for the chewing of the cud.

CE'STRIDÆ, a family of Dipterous insects of the section Athericera, distinguished by the proboscis being either in a rudimentary state or wanting; the palpi are sometimes distinct and occasionally wanting; the antennæ are short, enclosed in a cavity in the fore part of the head; the third joint is usually globular, and the stylet is usually dorsal; the abdomen is generally large; the wings have generally three posterior cells, of which the first is often closed.

It will be seen from the above definition that the Estri of the moderns cannot be the same as the Estrus (olorpoc) of the antient Greeks, a fly, which, we learn from Aristotle (Hist. Anim., iv. 4, &c.), Virgil (Georgics, iii. 148), Elian, and others, is armed with a strong tongue (proboscis), pierces the hides and sucks the blood of quadrupeds, and makes a peculiar kind of harsh humming noise. Mr. Bracy Clark states that the Estrus bovis makes no noise whilst flying, and Mr. W. S. M'Leay says, the Estrus equi is also silent in flying, as I have repeatedly myself observed.' The absence in some and the rudimentary state of the proboscis in others of the modern Estri proves that they are not blood-suckers; and this fact is otherwise at variance with the description given by the antients, their Estri having a strong proboscis, a circumstance which, connected with the blood-sucking habits of the Tabanida, another family of Dipterous insects, induces Mr. M'Leay to imagine that the Estrus of the antients belongs to that group. An ingenious paper on this subject, by the gentleman last mentioned, will be found in the 14th volume of the Linnæan Transactions.'

The modern Estride are certain flies (whose larvæ are well known by the name of bots) which deposit their eggs on the body of various herbivorous quadrupeds, so that the larva when hatched shall find itself in the neighbourhood of its appropriate food, either in the hide of the animal, in its stomach, or elsewhere. Each species of Estrus, almost invariably confines its attacks to a certain species of quadruped, and finds its nutriment in the same part or nearly the same part of that quadruped; from this circumstance the species are often named after the animal of which each is a parasite.

The larvæ of the Estri are usually of a conical form, and the segments of the body are generally furnished with spines; the organs of respiration are situated at the posterior extremity of the body, which is the largest; the mouth, which is situated at the opposite extremity, in some consists of soft mamille, whilst in those species which derive their nutriment in the stomach of an animal or in such a situation that they would be liable to be dislodged, the mouth is furnished with two hooks for prehension; these hooks are curved outwards, so that when once inserted they retain their hold without any exertion on the part of the insect.

These larvæ are divided by Latreille, according to the situations which they inhabit, into cutaneous, cervical, and gastric, as some live in the tumours formed on the skin, others in some part of the interior of the head of the animal attacked by them, and the last in the stomach. The eggs of the first, says Latreille, are deposited by the parent under the skin, by means of a squamous ovipositor, composed of four tubes fitting one within the other, and armed at the end with hooks and two other appendages. This instrument is formed by the last annuli of the abdomen. These larvæ are not compelled to change their domicile, finding themselves, when hatched, in the midst of the purulent matter on which they feed. The ova of the others are simply deposited, and glued to various parts of the skin, either in the vicinity of the natural cavities into which the larvæ afterwards penetrate and take up their abode, or on those spots which the animal is in the habit of licking, by which means the larvae are conveyed by the tongue into the mouth, whence they are carried with the food into the stomach, to the coats of which they attach themselves.' Mr. Bracy Clark thinks the food of these is most probably the chyle, which, being nearly pure aliment, may go wholly to

the composition of their bodies, without any excrementi tious residue. When full grown, they pass with the digestel food, and falling to the ground, they seek some convenient retreat, in which they assume the pupa state and under their final transformation. A detailed account of the haba of several of the species of Estri will be found in the article Bors.

In the most modern work on dipterous insects the fo lowing seven genera are enumerated as belonging to the family Estrida.

Genus 1. Cuterebra (Clark). Distinguishing characters: head somewhat swollen in front; buccal cavity triangula proboscis very small and retractile; third joint of the tenna ovate; stylet plumose; joints of the tarsi provided with tolerably large pads. Two species of this genus are found in North America, the Cuterebra cuniculi and ". buccata; their larvæ are parasites on the hares and rabbits. A third species is found in Cayenne, the C. ephippium. 2. Hypoderma (Clark) has the proboscis indistinct a small Y-shaped buccal opening; no distinct palpi; the third joint of the antenna is very short and transverse. To this genus belongs the Estrus which attacks the ox (H derma bovis), the larva of which lives in the hide of that animal.

3. Edemagena. This genus has the buccal opening linear, and enlarged above; it has no proboscis; the tw palpi are placed near together and are two-jointed, ta second joint is large, orbicular, and compressed; the cha and pads of the tarsi are large. Only one species of the genus is known, the Edemagena tarandi, and this a found in Lapland. The female fly deposits her eggs on ta: back of the rein-deer, and the larvae live in the hide of to: animal.

4. Cephenemyia has a very small rounded probosz above which the palpi are inserted close together; they two-jointed, and the second joint is globular; the ti. joint of the antennæ is compressed, and the stylet is 2 serted at its base. The body is broad and rounded. C phenemyia trompe is found in Lapland; its larva lives the frontal sinus of the rein-deer. Since the same 1. however is found in Saxony, where there are no rein-dee: the larva must find its nutriment likewise in some KAL animal.

5. Cephalemyia. In this genus the body is but sparny clothed with hair, the head is very large and rounded: front; there are no cheek cavities; the palpi are waste. or at least are only represented by two small tubercles; t stylet of the antenna is apical; the wings have two poster:

cellules.

But one species of this genus is recorded, the Ca lomyia ovis. The female fly deposits her eggs in the nost the sheep, and the larvæ live in the frontal sinus.

6. Colax. Here there are likewise no buccal cavit the antennæ are distant from each other and inserted n the eyes, the stylet is terminal; the wings have four p terior cellules; the first posterior cellule is short . open, the third is closed, and the anal is long.

The only species hitherto discovered belonging to th genus is found in Brazil; its habits are unknown. I the Colax macula of Wiedemann.

7. Estrus. This generic name is now confined to s species of the Estride as have no buccal cavity; the p wanting, or represented only by minute tubercles: wings are decumbent, and have the first posterior ∞.. entirely open.

To this genus belongs the Estrus whose larva or b found in the stomach of the horse, the Estrus eque. T larvae of two other species (Estrus hæmorrhoidate =Estrus salutaris) are also found in the stomach of horse.

The Estrus pecorum (a species found in Sweden), ? in the larva state, is found in the intestines of the ox. The larva of another species, the Estrus nasalis, s s to live in the esophagus of the horse, the ass, the m.. the stag, and the goat.

CETA, MOUNT. [GREECE; THESSALY.]

CETHRA, Dr. Leach's name for a genus of Brachve Crustaceans, placed by M. Milne Edwards as the repere tative of his first division (Canceriens Cryptopodes) a = tribe Cancerians; and indeed his Cryptopod Canceraes & composed of this genus solely. Latreille made rere a volumes, forming part of the 'Suites à Buffon,' Histoire Naturelle des Insectes Diptères,' by M. Macquart,

Calappa [CALAPPA] form the family Cryptopoda; but M.
Milne Edwards is of opinion that the only character which
they have in common with the latter is the existence of
lamellar prolongations on the sides of the carapace, disposi-
tions which are also found in certain Leucosians, whilst all
the rest of their organization approaches that of the
Crabs.
Ethra.

The whole surface of the body rugged and appearing as if eroded. Carapace a third wider than it is long, oval, strongly knobbed above, and with the lateral borders strongly dentilated and a little curved upwards. Front entire and a little more projecting in the middle than on the sides. Eyes very small, the orbits nearly circular, their upper border with two small fissures, and the lower border separated from the front by a very large gap. Antennary fossets nearly square, and the basilary joint of the internal antennæ filling them almost entirely; the moveable stem "of these appendages very small, and bent longitudinally forwards. Basilary joint of the external antennæ very large, and advancing up to the lower border of the front, so as to fill the gap which would otherwise make the orbit communicate with the antennary fosset; its anterior extremity very narrow and upon the edge of the inferior orbital border; second joint of the external antennæ very small, occupying the internal canthus of the eyes, and supporting a stemlet which is rudimentary and very difficult to distinguish. External jaw-feet completely closing the buccal frame; the internal border of their second and third joints straight: this last portion is strongly truncated at its terior and internal angle, and hides almost entirely the palpiform stemlet which has its origin under its anterior and internal angle. Sternal plastron much longer than it is wide. Anterior feet about once and a quarter as long as the post-frontal portion of the carapace, and of nearly the same form as in Parthenope, excepting that their upper and internal surface is slightly concave, so as exactly to fit the lower and anterior portion of the trunk; second pair of feet much shorter than the post-frontal portion of the carapace; the other pairs successively diminishing in length, and all surmounted with a sharp and unequal crest. Tarsus short and styliform. Abdomen with seven segments in the female and five only in the male.

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north part of Swabia, now belongs partly to Bavaria and partly to Würtemberg. Its area is 372 square miles, and the population above 61,000. It is a very fertile country, watered by the rivers Wernitz and Eger, and produces corn, hemp, flax, and timber. It has a good breed of horned cattle and horses, and is particularly famous for its geese. It abounds in fact in all the necessaries of life except salt. It has likewise iron, saltpetre, and remarkably fine stone for building. The county is now divided between two princes, whose common ancestor, Lewis XV., lived at the time of the Reformation; of his two sons, Lewis XVI. founded the Protestant and Ferdinand the Roman Catholic branch: the former, which obtained in 1674 the rank of prince of the empire, became extinct in 1731; the latter was divided by the three sons of William the Elder into three branches-Oettingen-Spielberg, which obtained the princely dignity in 1734; Oettingen-Wallerstein, which succeeded by will to the possessions of the extinct Protestant line, and obtained the princely dignity in 1774; and Oettingen-Baldern, which is now likewise extinct.

Oettingen-Oettingen, or Spielberg, in the circle of the Rezat in Bavaria, is 84 square miles in extent, and contains about 15,000 inhabitants. The prince resides in the town of Oettingen on the Wernitz, in 48° 57' N. lat. and 10° 38' E. long. The inhabitants, 3280 in number, are half Protestants, half Roman Catholics; there are 250 Jews. It is a well built town, has two palaces, a gymnasium, an elegant Lutheran church, a Roman Catholic church, a literary society, an orphan asylum, and manufactories of cotton, linen, and worsted.

The prince of Oettingen-Wallerstein has a territory of 252 square miles, partly in Würtemberg, partly in Bavaria, with 46,000 inhabitants. Wallerstein, the capital and residence of the prince, is a well built market-town, with 1500 inhabitants. The prince's palace is a handsome building, and contains a good library and a collection of paintings. OFEN. [BUDA.]

OFFENBACH is the capital of a circle in the province of Starkenburg, in the grand-duchy of Hesse, and belongs to the mediatised princes of Isenberg-Berstein. It is situated in a very pleasant and fertile country, about a league from Frankfort, on the bank of the Maine, over which there is a bridge of boats: it is surrounded on one side with a wall, on the other by a navigable canal which joins the Maine. It consists of the old and the new town, the latter of which is well built. The public buildings are a fine palace, a Lutheran, a French Calvinist, and 2 Calvinist churches, and a gymnasium. The population is 8000. Offenbach is the only considerable commercial and manufacturing town in the grand-duchy. The manufactures are, very various: the principal are leather, hats, silks, hosiery, earthenCo-ware, all kinds of lacquered goods, gold and silver wire, jewellery, snuff and tobacco, wax candles, white-lead, chocolate, and carriages, which are much esteemed all over Germany for lightness and durability.

Place in the System.-M. Milne Edwards is of opinion that this form has great affinity with the genus Cryptopodia belonging to the family of Oxyrhynchs, and that it establishes the passage between those crustaceans and the other Cancerians, at the same time that it approaches Calappa, whose natural place is in the family of Oxystomes.

Geographical Distribution of the Genus.-East Indian and African Seas.

Example, Ethra scruposa. Length 2 to 3 inches. lour greyish.

Locality.-Isle of France and Indian Archipelago.

Ethra scruposa.

a, the right pincer, external view.

OFFICE FOUND. By the common law of England, where the king is entitled, upon the occurrence of certain events, to take possession of real or personal property previously belonging to a subject, the facts upon which the king's title accrues must be first ascertained by an inquisition or inquest of office. This inquiry is executed by some officer of the crown, such as the escheator, coroner, or sheriff, or by persons specially commissioned for the purpose, and the facts are ascertained by a jury of an indeterminate number, but consisting usually, though not necessarily, of twelve men. Such inquests were much more frequent before the abolition of military tenures, when inquisitions post mortem were instituted upon the death of any of the king's tenants, to inquire of what lands he died possessed, and of other matters tending to establish the king's rights respecting the property of the deceased. [JURY.] When an inquisition of this kind has been executed and returned, it is said to be an office found. Thus where treasure has been discovered under circumstances which do not give it to the owner of the land, an inquest is held, and the king, upon office found, takes it; and where a person of illegitimate birth dies intestate, the king (if he is the immediate lord of the fee), upon office found, is entitled to all his land: in the latter case however the land is generally granted again to some person or persons who can make out the most reasonable claim to it. So also the verdict of a jury upon a coroner's inquest, declaring a person

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OETTINGEN, formerly an independent county in the to have died ut felo de se, is an office found, upon which

OFFICE, HOLY (Sanctum Officium), is the name of an ecclesiastical tribunal established in the thirteenth century by popes Honorius III., Gregory IX., and Innocent IV., to try heretics, blasphemers, apostates, relapsed Jews or Mohammedans, witches and wizards, polygamists, and other persons charged with infractions of the canons of the Church. The judges of this court were called inquisitors, whence the tribunal itself has been commonly styled the 'Holy Inquisition.' The name of inquisitors, or inquirers after heretics, appears as early as the reign of Theodosius I., who, by his constitution against the Manichæans and other heretics, A.D. 382, after adjudging the punishment of death for several aggravated cases of heresy, directs that Inquisitores ad conquirendos et eruendos hereticos' be appointed by the prefect of the Prætorium. (Codex Theodosianus, Gothofredi, xvi., tit. 5, lex 9.) This is the first law under the Christian emperors by which the punishment of death is awarded for heresy. Constantine had only sentenced the Arians to banishment, though he threatened to punish with death those who should retain and make use of the books of Arius. The subsequent law of Honorius, A.D. 398, expels from the towns the Clerici' or priests of the Montanists and Eunomians, and if they persist in bringing people together, it banishes them for life. It further orders their books to be burnt, and condemns all persons who are found to conceal them to be beheaded. (Cod. Theod., xvi., tit. 5, 1. 34.) Two more constitutions or laws of Honorius (31 and 56 of the same book and title in the Theodosian Code) threaten with proscription and death those who publicly profess certain heresies. These are the oldest laws on record which make heresy a capital crime; but it ought to be observed, that there is no law in the whole Theodosian Code which subjects heretics in general to the pain of death, that punishment being reserved for the leaders, those who collected assemblages of people, made proselytes, and preached or spread certain heterodox doctrines specified and condemned by the laws. The trial and punishment in all such cases were left to the civil magistrate.

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the king becomes entitled to take possession of the property | sus, and Calchedon, forbids public disputations upon d.g of the deceased. mas, and enacts several penalties against hereties, Jesa, and apostates. In the 131st Novel, the same emperor says: We receive the doctrines of the four Holy Synods as in Divine Scriptures, and their Canons we observe as lar Thus the orthodox creed, as expounded in the four count became the law of the empire, an empire which was th.. administered despotically, and dissent from that creed an offence against the law. From this principle the wh penal code against heretics was derived. But for sever.. centuries after, cases of heresy were tried and penaltir. awarded by the ordinary courts, as the bishops had n then any temporal jurisdiction. In course of time how councils interfered, and after condemning particular tene's as heretical, specified in some instances the punishments t be inflicted upon heretics, Jews, and apostates. [Jews, It became the practice for the bishops to examine the as cused, and decide whether there were sufficient grou for the charge of heresy against them; if the charge was proved, they were to admonish them, and convince the a of their errors, after which, if the accused remained e durate, the bishop handed them over to the secular ecurt Heretici perseverantes in errore relinquantur Curia sec laris judicio.' (Council of Tarracona, A.D. 1242.) And .. law of Las Partidas, which is still the fundamental eric i Spain, promulgated in 1258, says: Heretics may be cused by any one of the people before the respective bis p or his vicar, who must examine and interrogate them up i the various articles of the faith, and if they find that t err in them or in any other thing which the church d Rome commands to be believed and observed, he must deavour to convert them and make them forsake their erna by means of good arguments and mild words And we the penitents have acknowledged their belief, they are to be reconciled to the church and be forgiven. But if it so y pens that they will not forsake their errors, the bishop m convict them as heretics, and then hand them over to u secular or Jay judges.' The lay judges however were t mere executors of the episcopal verdict: they examined the proceedings, and having convinced themselves of their rege larity, they awarded the penalty. By a clause of the s law of Las Partidas, the property of those who are con demned as heretics, or who die in the heretical belief, be longs to their children or other descendants. The principle of confiscation is here not recognised. This was in t kingdom of Castile; but in Aragon, France, and Italy, a different process was introduced by means of the In sition.

Previous to the time of Theodosius I. there had been persecutions of Arians by the Orthodox, and vice versa, carried on through the violence of individuals; but there was no specific law making heresy a capital offence. Towards the heathens the case was different. Constantius (A.D. 353) had forbidden heathen sacrifices under pain of death. Theodosius I. confirmed that law, and Theodosius II., after remitting the capital penalty (A.D. 423), put it in force again in 426. (Gothofredus, De Statu Paganorum.) Most of the earlier fathers, Tertullian, Cyprian, Lactantius, Hilarius, Ambrose, and Gregory Nazianzenus, and even Athanasius, openly disclaim violence as a means of enforcing unity and obedience to the Church. Chrysostom and Augustin however think that heretics ought to be prevented from holding assemblies, and ought to be confined or banished, but not put to death. But it ought to be remembered that the heretics of those times, the Arians and Donatists in particular, constituted political factions which rebelled against the authority of the state, murdered their antagonists, demolished their houses, and committed all sorts of violence, as may be seen by the letters of Augustin.

The first person on record who was juridically condemned and put to death for heresy is Priscillianus, the leader of a sect in Spain, in the latter part of the fourth century. Two Spanish bishops, one of whom was called Idacius, accused Priscillianus, with two other priests or bishops, before a council held at Bordeaux, A.D. 385. Priscillianus appealed to the emperor Maximus, who had assumed the imperial purple in Gaul, and who was then residing at Treves, whither Priscillianus and his friends were taken, being followed by their prosecutor Idacius. Martin, bishop of Tours, interceded in their behalf; but after his departure from Treves, Maximus entrusted Evodius, the prefect of the Prætorium, with the trial of the accused, and upon his report Maximus condemned them to be beheaded. This novelty was generally censured, and Ambrose and Martin of Tours strongly reprobated the part which Idacius had acted, and which they characterised as unbecoming the episcopal character. The consequence was, that Idacius was excommunicated, and died in exile.

Justinian, in the first book of his Code, in which he treats of the Catholic faith, and defines its creed according to the fist four general councils, of Nicæa, Constantinople, Ephe

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In the council of the Lateran, convoked at Rome in 1213 by Innocent III., new and severe enactments were mai against heretics, but the cognizance of matters of herca was left to the ordinaries or bishops. But some years lef this time, Innocent himself, of his own authority, had se a commission consisting of two legates, who were Cistern monks, accompanied by subordinate priests and officers, L the south of France, in order to extirpate the heresy of it. Albigenses. These legates acted independently of the lo bishops; they held their own court, before which they s moned, by the authority of the pope, individuals accused heresy, and condemned, and inflicted penalties, and et capital punishments. Dominic de Guzman, the founder f the order of Dominicans, was one of the most zealous agents of this commission, the members of which were Inquisitors. This however was only a temporary and h commission.

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In 1208, Peter de Castelnau, one of the legates, why 'a. become obnoxious for his severity, was murdered near I louse, and Innocent was so exasperated, that he presel a crusade against the Albigenses, which, after a long strug gle, ended in their extermination. [ALBIGENSES] norius III., the successor of Innocent, issued new provis against heretics, which were enforced by the empr Frederic II. in three constitutions, or laws, dated Pava 1224, by which he condemned impenitent heretics to de and those who repented to perpetual imprisonment. In year 1228 a severe penal law against heretics was er in the city of Milan by Cardinal Godfrey of St. Mai, pa legate, with the consent of the archbishop and the p it was to the effect that no heretic should be allowed to main in the state of Milan; that any person migh lay b on a heretic and bring him before the mag's ta.cs. those who were convicted as heretics by the Eelerach Court should be executed by the prætor within ten La

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