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CITIES OF THE PLAIN CIVET through the ordinary cycle of such mo- nastic institutions, i. e., at first its mem- bers were poor and really holy; then the fame of their sanctity, spreading through Europe, branches of the order were established in many places. To aid men so deserving, large contributions were given by pious men and women, and be- fore the 12th century had run its course, the Cistercian communities were wealthy. With the growth of this wealth, the grad- ual relaxation of the strict Benedictine rules took place, till finally the Cister- cians lost their high reputation and sank to the level of the order against which their secession had been a protest, and to that of the monastic orders generally. During the time that the order was rising in importance, it enjoyed the advo- cacy of the celebrated St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who is regarded as its second parent and founder, so that it is some- times called the Bernardine order, or the order of St. Bernard. Between them and the Cluniacensians there was considerable animosity, and even public controversy. The majority of Cistercian houses have ceased to exist. There are still a few in Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, and Austria, two in Ireland, and one in England. CITIES OF THE PLAIN, Sodom and Gomorrah, chief of those five cities which, according to the commonly re- ceived account, were destroyed by fire from heaven, and their sites overwhelmed by the waters of the Dead Sea. CITRIC ACID (CHsO,), the acid of lemons, limes, and other fruits. It is generally prepared from lemon-juice, and when pure is white, inodorous, and ex- tremely sharp in its taste. In combina- It is a native of Asia. The tree has short and stiff branches, oblong-toothed leaves, flowers purple externally, and fruit generally large, warted, and fui»- rowed, having a protuberance at the apex, with a very thick, spongy adherent rind and a subacid pulp. The Romans brought it from Media, where, however, it is not now, if it ever was, indigenous. It is at present cultivated in gardens in the warmer parts of both hemispheres. It furnishes oil of citron and oil of cedra. CITRUS, a genus of Aurantiacex, trees and shrubs of tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate Asia, but many of them now cultivated in all similar cli- mates for their fruit. To it belong the orange, citron, lemon, lime, bergamot, shaddock, forbidden fruit, etc. CITY (Latin, eiritas), in a general sense, a town holding, from extent of population, favorable situation, or other causes, a leading place in the community in which it is situated. Popularly, also, it is used, both in Great Britain and France, to designate the old and central nucleus as distinguished from the subur- ban growths of large towns. The eccle- siastical sense of the term city is a town which is, or has been, the see of a bishop. This seems to be the historical use of the term in England, and still possesses some authority there, but to a consider- able esJtent it has been superseded by the wider one. In the United States the ap- plication of the term is dependent upon the nature and extent of the municipal privileges possessed by corporations, and a town is raised to the dignity of a city by special charter. See Municipal Gov- ernment. CIVET CAT tion with metals it forms crystalline salts known as citrates. The acid is used as a discharge in calico-printing and as a substitute for lemon in making bever- ages. CITRON, the fruit of the citron-tree, resembling a lemon, but less acid in taste. CIITDAD (the-o-dad'), the Spanish word for city, appearing in many names of Spanish Latin-American places. CIVET, in zoology, the same as Civet- cat; found in north Africa; climbs trees with facility. Its food consists of small mammals, reptiles, and birds, as well as