CEKTIORARI. 440 CERVANTES SAAVEDRA. c-hiefly used in tiir laltiT division, and is the iis^ual mode of correcting excesses of juslices of the peace in miscellaneous matters. Consult: Spelling, Treatise on ExIninntiiKirtj Jfelicf in Equity and at Law (Boston, 1901); Wood, Treatise on the Legal h'emediex of Mandamus and I'rohiUiion, etc. (3d ed., Albany, 189G). CERTOSA, cher-tO'sii (It.). A monastery of llic order of Carthusians (q.v.), whence the Italian name is derived. The most famous is the Certosa di Pavia in l.onibardy. one of the most complete and beautiful iminunicnls of Italian art, erected with the coiipcration of several gen- erations of the greatest Lond)ard artists. It was founded in 139G by (Jian (ialeazzo V'isconti, and begun in the same late (Jot hie style as the cathedral of Milan, but before the nave had been completed in this style, the iniluence of the early Renaissance had become .supreme, and the choir and transept, as well as the beautiful cloisters, were executed in the new style, with rich and artistic details in terracotta, as was also the facade, begun in its present form in 1491. This is the masterpiece among Renaissance facades, not only for the richness and ])erfectinn of its sculptures, but for the harmony of its design. The interior of the church is a Latin cross (249 X 173 feet), with eight heavy piers, four- teen chapels, apsidal transepts, and a dome over the intersection. It is a museum of Renaissance sciil])turc and painting, most of the latter the work of Borgognone. including the designs for the choir-stalls. The sepuli-liral monument of the feunder is mainly by Crisloforo Romano. 'Ihe most famous sculptors who worked on the cloisters and facade were the brothers Monte-
- azza. Amadro, Fusina (Fifteenth Century),
Kriosco, Giacomo delhi Porta, Busti, and Solari (Sixteenth Century). This monument was the practical school at which the Lombard school of sculiiturc' <lcvcloped throughout its golden age. CERU'MEN (NeoLat., from Lat. eern, wax). Far-wax, a yellow, oily secretion from certain glands lying in the external auditory canal, or the passage that leads from the external opening of the ear to the membrane of the tym- panum. Its nse is to render the skin of this part pliable, as it is a variety of sebaceoiis mat- ter, and also to entangle dust, etc., which may enter the canal, and thus secure its removal. Its bitter taste prevents insects from entering the auditory canal. The motion of the jaw in eating and talking should loosen the wax, and, by winking it outward, prevent its accumula- tion. When it does accunuilate, it causes par- tial deafness, and also a buzzing noise in the head, from adhering to the ear-drum. It must be removed by syringing in such cases. CE'RTJSE (Fr. ceruse, Lat. ecrusxa, white lead, from cera, wax), Flake-White, Kremnitz White, and NorTiXGUAM White. Xames some- times applied to white lead (q.v.). The name ceruse is also applied to cerusite (q.v.). CE'RTJSITE (from ceruxe, from Lat. cerussa, vhite lead). Natural lead carbonate (PbCOj). It crystallizes in the orthorhonibic system and has a vitreous or pearly lustre, and is of si gray or grayish-black color, sometimes tinged with blue or green, owing to the presence of salts of copper. It is formed by the alteration of galena or lead sulphide, which, as it oxidizes to sulphate, may be changed to a carbonate by means of solution-^ of calcium bicarbonate. The most famous localities are the lead -mines of Siberia, and the Altai region; al-o various places in Swedi'U and (lermaiiy, wliilc line crystals are found in Cornwall. England. In the Inited States it occurs at I'henixville, Pa., and at lead deposits in Virginia, North Carolina, Missouri, Wiscon- sin, Colorado, LHah, and .rizona. Dana reports its observation as a recent formation at Pom])eii, Italy, and at Laurium, Creece; also in stalactical crusts near Kommern, Rhenish Prussia. CERVANTES SAAVEDRA, ser van'tez, Sp. pron. lli.'r-viin'tas sii'ii-va'dra, MlOfEI. I>E (1547- IGUi). The most famous of all Spanish writers, and author of the world-renowned Don Quixote. His early years are involved in uuich obscurity. It is known that he was of piire Castilian stock, being the second son of Rodrigo de Cen'antes and l.eonor de Cortinas; that his birthplace was AlcalS de Henares, although for 200 years this was a matter of dispute, seven cities claiming the honor; and that he was baptized OctolxT 9, 1547, whence it is plausibly conjectured, in view of his name, that he was born on the Michaelmas Day preceding. There is a tradition, now gen- erally discredited, that Cervantes s])ent two years at the L'niversity of Salamanca. What is definitely known is that he studied under Lope de Iloyos, a teacher of some celebrity in .Madrid; and when, on the occasion of the death of Isabel of Valois, Philip II. 's third wife, Hoyos edited a memorial volume of verse, six of the poems were contributed by Cervantes, his earliest known essay in literature. But his practical edtication in the knowledge of life — the education which conu>s from action and hardship and disap- pointnu'ut — still lay before him. At 21 he left Spain in the suite of the special nuncio. Oiulio Acquaviva, who was leturning to Pome. Here a new crusade was being oi-ganized against the Turks, and Cervantes soon caught the prevail- ing contagion. He enlisted in a regiment of Spanish infantry, and played a gallant part at the battle of Le])anto, receiving wounds one of which crippled his left hand for life, "for the greater glory of his right," as he phrased it. He also took part in engagements before Na- varino, Corfu, Tunis — after which he was for a time again in Italy, and there |iresunutbly ac- quired that knowledge of the langimge which later bore fruit in the slight coloring of Italian idioms that are to be found iu even his best pages. In 1.575 he set sail for Spain, but the vessel was seized by Algerine pirates and all on hoard car- ried into Algiers as jirisoners. Cervantes's captivity lasted for five ywirs, during which he showed noteworthy fortitude and intrepidity, offering himself as leader in all attempts of the Christians to escape, attempts always frustrated at the last moment; forced to witness the alnuist daily atrocities which his owner, Hassan Pasha, practiced upon his fellow- jiriscmcrs, and often himself tlire;itened with inhuman tortures, although. Ihrcuigh some un- expl.nined influence, the threats were never car- ried out. Finally the sini demanded for his ransom, painfully raised by his widowed mother and sister, and eked out by the efforts of a pious friar. .Tuan Oil, and some Christian merduints in Algiers, was paid, and Cerv;intes was free to return to Spain. This period of his career de- serves to be dwelt upon, for it was here that his
