Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/175

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CEFALU CELEBES though the seeds only are used. Its action on the system appears to be that of a pure bitter. (See BITTER PRINCIPLES.) Antiperiodic virtues are claimed for it when given in larger doses than the ordinary ones of one or two grains. For nearly two centuries it has had a great reputation in its native country as a remedy for the bite of serpents and for the prevention of hydrophobia. It is applied both internally and locally. CEFALU (anc. Cephalcedis), a fortified sea- port town of Sicily, on tlie N. coast, in the province and 39 m. E. S. E. of Palermo ; pop. about 12,000. It is the seat of a bishopric, and contains a fine cathedral and several other churches. The remains of a Phoenician edifice, a castle built by the Saracens, and several mar- ble quarries are in the vicinity. Sea fishing is prosecuted with great activity. The port is capable of receiving only a small number of vessels. CEIIEJI1V, a town of Spain, on the Caravaca, in the province and 35 m. W. by N. of Murcia ; pop. about 6,200. It contains numerous handsome houses built of marble from the neighboring quarries, and has manufactories of paper, cloth, soap, and pottery, oil and brandy distilleries, and commerce in wine, fruits, grain, wool, hemp, flax, and cotton. CEILLIER, Dom Remi, a French theologian, born at Bar-le-Duc in 1688, died at Flavigny, Burgundy, Nov. 17, 1761. He was a member of the Benedictine order, president of the con- gregations of St. Vannes and St. Hydulphe, and prior of the abbey of Flavigny. His prin- cipal work, Histoire generale des auteurs sacres et ecclesiastiques (24 vols., Paris, 1729-'82 ; new ed., 8 vols., 1858), is celebrated for accuracy and good judgment. CELAKOVSKY, or Czelakowsky, Frantisek Ladis- la?, a Bohemian poet and philologist, born at Strakonitz, March 7, 1799, died in Prague, Aug. 5, 1852. He studied at Pisek, Linz, and subse- quently at Prague, where he became interested in the Czech language. In 1821 he became instructor in the family of Count Chotck, which left him time for literary pursuits, and he published " Poems " (Prague, 1822 ; new ed., 1830), "Slavic National Songs" (3 vols., 1822- '7), and a metrical translation of Scott's "Lady of the Lake " (1828). In 1828 he became as- sociate editor of the " Quarterly Review for the Catholic Clergy," and in 1829 published a translation of Russian national songs, which occupies a high place in Bohemian literature. When the Polish insurrection broke out in 1830 he sympathized with Russia ; but after the in- surrection was suppressed he Avrote an article in the "Bohemian Gazette," of which he had be- come editor, in which he denounced the sever- ity of the Russian government against Poland. In consequence of this article he was deprived of his post as editor of the " Gazette," and also of that of professor of Bohemian literature in the university of Prague, to which he had been appointed. He then became librarian of Prince and afterward of Princess Kinsky, and in 1842 professor of Slavic languages and litera- ture at the university of Breslau. In 1848 he returned to Prague, where in the following year, as an act of concession toward the Czech nationality, he was appointed by the Austrian government professor of Slavic philology. One of his latest works was the " Popular Philoso- phy of the Slavic Nations in their Proverbs " (Prague, 1851). He was engaged from the year 1835 in a comparative study of all the Slavic dialects, and parts of its results were published in the form of additions to Jung- mann's Czech dictionary. CELANDINE (chelidonium majm), a plant of the order papaveracece, indigenous in Europe, but never wild in this country. It is one or two feet high, bears pinnate leaves and small peduncled umbels of yellow flowers, and when wounded emits a yellow, opaque juice. It contains several peculiar acid and alkaline prin- ciples, one of which, chelerethrine, is probably Celandine (Chelidonium majus). identical with the active principle of bloodroot, a plant to which celandine is botanically al- lied. Chelerethrine, which receives its name from the intensely red color of its salts, ap- pears to be an acrid narcotic poison. The whole plant is an acrid purgative. The juice is exceedingly irritant, and when applied to the skin produces inflammation and even vesica- tion. It was formerly esteemed in jaundice, in which affection it may have been useful on ac- count of its purgative properties, although it is not improbable that its reputation was largely founded upon the color of its juice. This is applied locally in some skin diseases, and the whole plant is used externally in the south of Europe as a vulnerary. Its real value is prob- ably not greater than that of many other vio- lent purgatives and irritants. CELEBES, an island of the Malay or East In- dian archipelago, under the control of the Dutch, situated E. of Borneo, and like that