CUPID 223 CURFEW principal on Chalmers's death in 1847. His D. D. degree was ^ven him by Princeton in 1842. He was moderator of the Free Assembly in 1859, when he re- ceived a testimonial amounting to over $35,000. He died in Edinburgh in 1861. CUPID, the god of Love, generally rep- resented as a beautiful naked boy, winged, blind, and armed with a bow and a quiver full of arrows, with which he transfixed the hearts of lovers, kindling desire in them. He was equivalent to, but not perfectly identical with, the Er5s of the Greeks. He was supposed to be the son of Mercury and Venus. CUPPING, a surgical operation con- sisting in the application of the cupping- glass in cases where it is desirable to ab- stract blood from, or draw it to, a par- ticular part. When blood is removed the operation is simply termed cupping; when no blood is abstracted, it is dry- cupping. The cupping-glass, a cup- shaped glass vessel, is first held over the flame of a spirit-lamp, by which means the included air is rarefied. In this state it is applied to the skin, and as the heated air cools it contracts and produces a par- tial vacuum, so that the skin and integu- ments are drawn up slightly into the glass and become swollen. If blood is to be dra-wn, a scarificator or spring-lancet is generally used. CUPRITE, CUPROUS OXIDE, Cu^O, found either as a red earth, or as bril- liant, transparent crystals of a ruby-red color, specific gravity, 6.0. It contains 88.8 per cent, coppei', and is widely dis- tributed, occurring in many parts of the United States. A crystalline variety is known as chalcotrichite, while tile-ore is the name given to one of the earthy varieties. CUPULIFER.ffi, diclinous exogens, so called from possessing a cupule which takes the form of a bony or coriaceous one-celled nut, more or less inclosed in an involucre. CURA, or CIUDAD DE CURA. a city of Venezuela, formerly capital of the state of Miranda, near Lake Valereia, 56 miles W. of Caracas. The site is 1,600 feet above sea-level, with a steep hill be- hind it and a wide valley before it. Situ- ated near the llanos of the Guarico, it has a considerable commerce in cotton, sugar cane, coffee, cocoa, indigo, general agri- cultural products, and cattle. It was founded in 1730 and was the scene of several battles in the War of Independ- ence. In 1900 an earthquake did con- siderable damage. Pop. about 13,000. CURACAO (ko-ra-sa'o) , an island of the Dutch West Indies in the Caribbean Sea; 46 miles N. of the coast of Vene- zuela; area, 210 square miles; capital, Willemstad; principal harbor, Santa Anna. It is hilly, wild, and barren, with a hot, dry climate. Yellow fever visits it every sixth or seventh year. Fresh water is scarce, and serious droughts occur. The tamarind, cocoa-palm, banana, and other useful trees are reared; among them three varieties of orange, from one of which the Curagao liqueur is made. Sugar, tobacco, cochineal, and maize are also produced, but the staple exports are salt, and a valuable phosphate of lime used as a manure in its natural state, or made to yield valuable superphosphates. The islands of Curasao, Bonaire, Oruba (or Aruba), St. Martin, St. Eustache, and Saba form a Dutch government, the residence of the governor being at Wil- lemstad. From the 16th century Curacao was held in succession by the Spaniards, Dutch, and British, and finally ceded to Holland in 1814. Pop. (1918) 34,639, of the colony, 57,195. CURA9AO, or CURA9OA, a liqueur or cordial prepared from a peculiar kind of bitter oranges growing in Curasao, which have a persistent aromatic odor and taste. It is prepared from the yellow part of the rind. CURASSOW, the name given to a large gallinaceous bird, Crax alector, more fully denominated in English the crested curassow. The upper parts are deep black, with a glow of gi'een on various parts; the lower parts dull white, a color found also on the lower tail coverts. The curassow is found in flocks in the forests of Mexico, Guiana, and Brazil. CURATOR, in civil law, the guardian of a minor who has attained the age of 14, of persons under various disabilities, or of the estate of deceased or absent per- sons and insolvents. In learned institu- tions the person who has charge of the library or collections of natural history, ^ etc., is often called the curator. CURE (kii-ra'), the name applied in France to a priest with a cure of souls. Commonly applied to any pastor with spiritual functions, CURES, an ancient town of the Sa- bines, 25 miles N. E. of Rome, whence the Romans, after the people of Cures united with them, came to be called Qui- rites. CURFEW, a bell rung every evening as a signal to the people to extinguish all fires and retire to rest. It was intro- duced into England by William the Con- queror, most probably as a safeguard against fire, but it was regarded by the English as a badge of servitude. The
