territory by the Empress Anne. Here they remained until they provoked the Empress Catharine by their turbulence, who ordered their setcha to be destroyed, the inhabitants to be scattered, and the Cossacks of the Ukraine to be formed into regiments of hussars. The Zaporoghes were banished to the peninsula of Taman, and from these exiles sprang the present Cossacks of the Euxine. In later times the Cossacks have been allowed the tranquil enjoyment of their settlements, and have been exempted from taxation on condition of furnishing certain military contingents to their Russian masters. They are now distinguished by various names, according to the locality which they inhabit, their most important divisions being Cossacks of the Don, of the Azof, of the Caucasus, of the Euxine, and of Siberia. Every Cossack between the ages of eighteen and forty is liable to perform military duty. Each regiment is drawn from one or more stanitzas or districts, and every Cossack is required to supply himself with a horse, arms, and equipments. The young are called out first, and men of advanced age are retained as the reserve, unless they volunteer for field duty. The recruits are more favoured than any others in the Russian service. In time of war the period of service is unlimited; in time of peace it is confined to three years. The Cossacks of the Euxine, who are attached to the corps stationed in the regions of the Caucasus and Georgia, are almost invariably in active service. The nominal dignity of Ataman is vested in the heir-apparent to the Russian crown. Their dress is a short vest in the Polish style, large trousers of deep blue, and a black sheepskin cap. Their arms consist of a long spear, sabre, rifle, pair of pistols, and a whip with a leather thong, called a natraika, which they apply to their enemies' as well as their chargers' backs. They are mostly members of the Russo-Greek Church, enjoy their own independent constitution, and are a purely military people. The Cossacks are proverbially hospitable and cheerful, but violent when excited; and although they consider the plunder of their enemy lawful in war theft is almost unknown among them. Their mode of life is in general very simple and frugal, and the enjoyment of civil freedom has given them an independence of mind which places them higher in the social scale than the abject Russian. Their nobles are in general well educated.

COS'TA RICA, REPUBLIC OF, the most southern of the states of Central America. It is bounded N. by Nicaragua, S. by Panama and the United States of Colombia, and E. and W. by the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The area is about 21,500 square miles, and the population is estimated at 200,000. In the N. a great volcanic range of mountains extends from N.W. to S.E., of which the highest peaks reach nearly 11,000 feet. In the S. there is another great range, the Montaña Dota, running nearly across the country from W. to E. Between these two ranges lie broad table-lands and plateaus, of which the central, 3000 to 4000 feet above the level of the sea, is the most cultivated portion of the republic. The chief rivers on the N.E. side are tributaries of the San Juan (the outlet of the Lake of Nicaragua), and empty themselves into the Atlantic. On the Pacific side, the Tempisque, the Las Pedras, and the Rio Grande are the principal rivers.

Owing to the density of the forests on the Atlantic slope, the Indians are still found living in their savage state. From the differences in height of the plateaus, the climate permits the growth of the most varied vegetation, rising from the lowland, where the cocoa, vanilla, and banana flourish, through a region favourable to the sugar-cane, orange, and coffee, up to the higher levels, where pines and oaks abound. Its animal life is as varied as its vegetation. Gold, silver, and copper mines are alone as yet worked, but the country is known to be rich in iron, nickel, zinc, lead, and marble. The present form of government arranges for the election of a president,

every four years, a first and second vice-president, assisted by four ministers, and a congress. The republic is divided into six provinces-San José, Cartago, Heredia, Alajuela, Guanacaste, and Punta Arenas. It has been less subject to political changes, and more prosperous than any of the others. It became independent in 1823. The town of San José is the capital. Columbus touched on the shores of Costa Rica in his third voyage. There is an external debt of about £3,500,000 sterling, chiefly held in England. Indians amount to about one-third of the whole population.

COS'TER, LAURENS JANSZOON, a native of Haarlem in Holland, whom the Dutch consider as the true inventor of the art of printing. He is believed to have been born at Haarlem about the year 1370, and during his life filled successively several minor offices in his native town, as sacristan, churchwarden, and treasurer of the Church of St. Bavon. His name appears in the registers of that church in the years 1423, 1426, 1432, and 1433. The time of his death is not mentioned.

It is mainly upon the testimony of Hadrian Junius, who gave an account of the discovery of printing by Coster in his "Batavia," published in 1588, that the writers of Holland found what they consider the undoubted pretensions of Haarlem to the invention of printing. Junius is the earliest writer at present known who makes express mention of Coster as the inventor of typography; but he certainly was not the first who asserted that the art was invented at Haarlem. Other writers, among whom are Scriverius (on the authority of John van Zuyren), T. V. Coornhert, and Guicciardini, ascribe the invention to Haarlem. In 1856 a monument to Coster's memory was erected in his native town.

COSTRO'MA, the capital of the province of Costroma, in European Russia, is situated at the confluence of the Volga and the Costroma, about 217 miles N.E. from Moscow, and has 24,000 inhabitants. The upper part of the town covers a height, on the summit of which stands the cathedral. In this quarter are the government buildings and the flower and fruit market, which is held under a canvas-covered roof. Below the upper town, on the slope of the hill, is another quarter, built entirely of stone; and along the high banks of the Volga runs a third quarter, consisting of a long line of neat houses of wood and stone. There is a Tartar suburb and mosque outside the walls. Costroma is an affluent and thriving town; it has eight asylums for the indigent, an ecclesiastical seminary, a high school, and a district school. The inhabitants are employed partly in trade and partly in the manufacture of linens, Berlin blue, sealing-wax, soap, leather, bells, &c.

COTA'RIUS, in the feudal ages, a sort of tenant who paid a stated rent in provisions or money, and thus held free socage tenure; whereas the coterellus or cotsethus appears to have held in mere villanage, and in a state of complete serfdom. They are both mentioned in Domesday. Probably the villani, including the bordarii and the cotarii, were all depressed CEORLS.

COTE D'OR, a department in France formed out of the eastern part of the old province of Burgundy, and a small portion of Champagne, is bounded N. by the department of Aube, N.E. and E. by those of Haute Marne and Haute Saône, S.E. and S. by those of Jura and Saône-etLoire, and W. by those of Nièvre and Yonne. Its length from N. to S. is 77 miles, from E. to W. 68. The area is 3382 square miles, and the population in 1882 was 382,819.

The department is crossed by a chain of hills which forms the connecting link between the Cevennes and the Vosges Mountains, and separates the basin of the Seine from that of the Saône. Leaving the Cevennes at the sources of the river Dheune, which forms part of the southern boundary, the chain runs N.E. to within a short

throughout the department, to the neglect of all other trees. Among the Armoric Hills there are some good forests, but in general the range presents large tracts overgrown with broom, gorse, holly, evergreens, and other unproductive shrubs.

Iron mines are worked, and a good deal of pig and bar iron is manufactured. Lead also is found; slates and granite are quarried. Salt is made at several places on the coast.

The linen manufacture, introduced in the fifteenth century by the Baroness de Quintin, a Flemish lady, has since continued the staple trade of the department, and, though it has declined of late years, it is still considerable. Linen forms the clothing of the poorer classes of the population both winter and summer, and it is largely exported. Other articles of export are cattle, horses, tallow, salt butter, honey, wax, &c. Druidical remains and old feudal castles are numerous in this department and in all parts of Bretagne.

The principal river is the Rance, which, rising in the south-east of the Armoric Hills, sweeps round to northeast through a gap in the range, and passing St. Jouan-del'Isle, Evran, and Dinan (where it begins to be navigable), enters the sea at St. Malo. By means of the Rance, the Vilaine, and the Canal de l'Ille et Rance, which, running from Dinan to near Rennes, unites these rivers, the inland communication between the English Channel and the Bay of Biscay is completed. The Aulne and the Blavet, which flow through the department of Morbihan, and the Meu, a feeder of the Vilaine, rise in the southern slopes of the same range. The rivers that flow into the English Channel are famous for lovely scenery; they are short and unimportant, except that at their mouths they generally form commodious harbours for small craft, and are navigable at high water a few miles inland. The chief of them, besides the Rance, are the Guer, the Trieux, the Leff, the Gouet, the Evron, the Guessan, and the Arguenon.

The department is divided into five arrondissements, viz. St. Brieuc, Dinan, Loudéac, Lannion, and Guingamp. COTHUR'NUS, the buskin of ancient Greece and Rome. It reached to the middle of the leg, or in some cases to the knee, and when not used merely for protection in hunting was a badge of rank. The heroes in tragedy always made their appearance on the stage in large cothurni, with soles of great thickness, to increase the apparent height of the wearer.

COTIN'GA (Ampelis) is the typical genus of the family Ampelida (CHATTERERS) belonging to the division MAGNIROSTRES of the order PASSERES. These birds are all inhabitants of the tropical parts of South America, of which they are among the most brilliant denizens. They live in the forests, generally on the shores of the small rivers and in marshy places, and feed principally upon insects. The Blue-ribbon Cotinga (Ampelis cotinga) is of a fine azure-blue colour, with the throat, breast, and upper part of the belly of a beautiful purple; an azure band separates the purple of the breast from that of the belly, and from this the name of the bird is derived. The female of this, as of the other species, is far more sober in her colouring.

COTONEAST ER, a genus of plants belonging to the order ROSACEA, and to the tribe Pomeæ. The calyx-tube becomes thick and fleshy, adhering to the carpels in fruit, and forming what is technically called

COTOPAXI. See ANDES.

COTTAGES. That a large proportion of the agricultural labourers of Great Britain are as yet unprovided with cottages in which they and their families may enjoy a moderate degree of comfort, and in which the decencies of life are possible, cannot be doubted. During the last twenty or thirty years vigorous efforts have been made by many landowners to remedy this state of things upon their respective estates, but the great obstacle to the success of these efforts has hitherto been the question of expense. In exceptional cases cottages satisfying all the demands of health, decency, and comfort have been built for about £100. This, however, has only been accomplished in places where there was an ample supply of local materials, and in most instances the cost has been £120, £130, and even £140. It will readily be perceived that the amount of rent which an ordinary agricultural labourer can afford to pay will only yield a small percentage upon outlays like these. It is estimated that the proportion of rent which a cottager can manage to pay is one-seventh of his weekly income; consequently, with an income of 98. a week he might succeed in paying a rent of 1s. 6d. per week; with 14s. a week, 28.; and so on. It is, however, generally conceded, that the highest rent which the ordinary agricultural labourer can afford to pay is from 28. 6d. to 28. 9d. per week-the mean being 28. a week. As £6 per cent. is regarded as a fair return on cottage building, £7 108, a year would be a proper rent to secure such a return upon an outlay in building a cottage of £125; but 2s. a week gives only £5 4s. a year. It is evident, therefore, that although many generous landlords have erected admirable cottages at a large cost, and have let them to their labourers at prices which barely return 24 per cent. upon the cost, yet such examples cannot be very widely followed.

COTTESWOLD, COTESWOLD, or COTSWOLD HILLS, a chain of hills stretching from the middle of Gloucestershire, in the north-east, to near Bath, in the south-west. They separate the lower Severn from the sources of the Thames. The highest point is Cleave Hill, 1134 feet, and the average height of the range from 500 to 600 feet.

COTTIAN ALPS. See ALPS.

COTTON is a vegetable product consisting of the fibres surrounding the seeds of the cotton plants, natives chiefly of tropical climates. The cotton plant is a member of the order MALVACEA, and belongs to the genus Gossypium. Cotton plants have been cultivated for such a long period that it is now extremely difficult to determine which of the cultivated varieties are true species. In Italy, for instance, where cotton is cultivated, Parlatore admits only seven species and two doubtful ones, whereas Todaro, in his Monograph, published in 1877-78, gives as many as fiftytwo species and two doubtful ones. A few of the more important species will be here enumerated.

Gossypium herbaceum, a short-stapled cotton, is an

Masters unites as Gossypium barbadense, the seed of which is characterized by having only long hairs, while the Old World species have, besides, a short down.

A variety (acuminatum) of the above (Gossypium perunianum), a native of Brazil, forms the basis of all the varieties of South American cotton. It grows to from 10 to 15 feet in height, and produces a large yellow flower. This species is at once known by its seeds adhering together in kidney-shaped masses of eight or ten; the seeds are bright black.

Gossypium arboreum (religiosum) is of no commercial importance. It is the sacred tree cotton of India, distin

guished by its dark-green leaves and red flowers, and is planted by the Hindus in groves round their temples. It furnishes a long silky fibre, which, however, is only used for purposes considered sacred, such as making the Brahmans' holy thread. This species is said to be wild in tropical Africa. Gossypium anomalum, according to Dr. Welwitsch, is the only one truly wild in Africa. As natives of the Polynesian Islands, Parlatore mentions Gossypium sandwichense and Gossypium tahitense.

When a fibre of cotton is examined under the microscope it is seen to consist of a series of cells placed end to end, forming a narrow flat tape. The dried fibre always

Fibres of Cotton and Flax contrasted (magnified 400 diameters). A, Cotton; B, Raw Flax; c, Manufactured.

appears twisted, by which character the adulteration of silk or linen with cotton can be easily detected. In this way mummy-cloth was shown to consist of linen, and not of cotton. The fibres of different kinds of cotton differ much from each other in fineness, delicacy, and flexibility, and, what is of very great importance, also in staple or length of fibre.

COTTON CULTIVATION AND TRADE. The distinctive names by which cotton is known in commerce are mostly derived from the countries of their production. The exceptions are Sea Island Cotton and Upland Cotton, described in the preceding article.

In America cotton is planted in rows about 4 feet apart, and the stalks are cut away from the first stand or sprouting till they are about 2 feet apart in the row. Thus planted, the boughs of the plants by the month of July touch each other across the middles, and the entire field is covered, so that in good land not a spot of earth can be seen, except as the thick branches and leaves are pushed aside. Early in the month of August the pods which contain the seed and the enveloping wool begin to burst. Then picking commences. As the season advances other pods expand, and the snowy wool pushing out from the crisp segments of the pod gives a white and beautiful appearance to the whole field. A good yield is a bale of 400 lbs. for each acre, and as one man can easily plough, plant, and cultivate 10 acres of cotton, the labour of one man and a mule thus produces in a good season, and on good soil, 4000 lbs. of material for cloth.

In India, and many of the islands of the Indian Ocean, the cotton plant has been cultivated and its filaments spun and woven from time immemorial. The Hindus and Chinese, in fact, are known to have used cotton with silk as a national staple for clothing 1000 years B.C., and the East

Cotton Fibres.

Indian spinners and weavers became renowned for the fineness and beauty of their lawns many hundred years ago. With the rudest and most clumsy looking machines a woman sitting under a palm-tree on the edge of an oblong pit, with threads tied to her toes, could produce a gauze so uniform and delicate, that when wet and laid upon the grass the eye could barely detect a film spread over the green blades. In Mexico the Spaniards found cotton in common use at the time of their conquest of that country. The Egyptians in the time of Pliny were acquainted with the use of cotton. The Saracens cultivated cotton in Spain and Sicily in the tenth century. The manufacture of cotton did not rise in other countries till a much later period. It was not until the seventeenth century that cotton goods were made in England, and even of these the warp was composed of linen and only the weft of cotton, until the invention of Arkwright (1769) afforded the means of producing good fabrics of cotton alone. From that date the trade in cotton in this country has gone on increasing with astonishing rapidity. The quantity of cotton brought to Great Britain in 1764 was about 4,000,000 lbs; in 1780, about 7,000,000 lbs.; in 1790, about 30,000,000 lbs.; and in 1800, about 43,000,000 lbs. The imports did not increase very rapidly during the Napoleonic war, but in the year 1816 the growth of cotton received a permanent stimulus. The demand, which under a state of war of nearly twenty years' duration had continued depressed, assisted by the opening up of the foreign trade of the country consequent on the peace of 1815, exhibited a great tendency to increase, but became firmly established; and as a result, in the year 1817, we received a greatly augmented supply. In the next three years there was a still larger import and a corresponding decline in prices. From 1820 to 1825 the demand continued in excess of the sup