Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/650

Rh and were renowned for their skill in all athletic exercises ; the Sybarites were distinguished by luxury and effeminacy. The government of Crotona, oligarchical in form, had hitherto been confined to the council of 1000, who traced their descent from the Achsean founders of the city. But a secret society of 300 of the disciples of Pythagoras con trived to guide and even overawe the supreme council, till the people, who were excluded from all share in the government, expelled the Pythagoreans from the city, and established a democracy. Before this revolution, however, the Grotoniats, under the command of the celebrated athlete Milo, had inarched against Sybaris, and, though opposed by an army three times their own in number, had taken it and levelled it with the ground. This event is usually dated 510 B.C. Before thirty years had elapsed, the Crotoniats themselves sustained a still more disgraceful defeat from the united forces of the Locrians and Rheggians, which, however, was not attended with such disastrous consequences to their city. During the Athenian invasion of Sicily, Crotona remained neutral ; it supplied the Athenians with provisions, but refused to allow them a passage through its territory. In 389 B.C. the city fell into the hands of the elder Dionysius ; but on his death in 377 it recovered its independence. Its prosperity, however, was greatly impaired by intestine feuds and the growing power of external foes. Being hard pressed by the Bruttians, Crotona sought and received assistance from the Syracusans, but had ultimately to conclude a treaty with the enemy, as it was now in danger from its own exiles. Menedemus, their general, defeated the exiles, and established a tyranny which lasted for some time. In the beginning of the 3d century B.C., the city was held for some years by Agathocles ; and in the wars of the Romans with Pyrrhus it suffered so severely that more than half the area within its walls ceased to be inhabited. In the absence of Pyrrhus in Sicily, it was seized by the Roman consul Cornelius Rufinus (277 B.C.); but during ths latter years of the second Punic War it was the headquarters of Hannibal for three successive winters. This completed the rain of the town, which, though colonized a few years after from Rome, sank into obscurity, and is not again mentioned in history till the wars of Narses and Belisarius against the Goths. After that it remained subject to the Byzantine emperors till it passed into the hands of the Normans. The medical school of Crotona was, in the days of Hero dotus, and long after, the most renowned in Greece, its proudest name being that of Alcmaeon. It is not known whether there was anything remarkabla about the architec ture of Crotona ; but the temple of the Laclnian Juno, six miles from the city, was the most sacred and magnificent work of the kind in the whole of Magna Gnecia, and con tained, among other ornaments, the &quot; Helen &quot; of Zeuxis. One column of this great edifice still stands amid a mass of shapeless ruin. About a mile from the site of the old Crotona is the modern town of Cotrone, in the Bay of Taranto, with a small but excellent harbour. It is the seat of a bishop, and retains the castle and walls that were erected in the time of Charles V. It surrendered to the English in 1806, but was again occupied by the French. Population, 7700.  CROUP (synonym, Cynanche trachealis), a common and dangerous form of disease, occurring chiefly in young children. Its essential nature is an acute inflammation of the air passages, particularly the larynx and trachea, accompanied with the exudation of a fieri nous material or &quot; false membrane &quot; which spreads over the interior of the tube, narrowing its calibre, and thus obstructing respiration. Croup occurs most frequently in the second and third years of life, although it may affect children of any age. It is exceedingly rare in adults. The attack sometimes cornea on suddenly in the night without previous warning, but in general some premonitory symptoms exist in thfe shape of the phenomena of a common cold or catarrh, which may precede the onset of the croup for several days. There is a slight hoarseness of the voice and an occasional cough of a peculiarly harsh or brassy sound, together with a feeling of pain in the throat and breast, and a high degree of feverishness and general disturbance. The disease soon assumes its characteristic features. The loud croupy cough comes on in frequent paroxysms, and is attended with an increasing difficulty of breathing, the respirations partaking of the shrill metallic noise of the cough, while the voice is reduced to a hoarse whisper. The child lies with the head thrown back, making strong efforts to breathe, the countenance indicating intense suffering and anxiety. At first little or nothing is expectorated with the cough, but as ths latter increases, fragments of the so-called false membrane are brought up into the mouth, with the effect of affording some temporary relief to the breathing. The power of swallowing is not much impaired. Should the attack undergo no abatement, symptoms of asphyxia soon make their appearance. The surface of the body becomes livid, the respiration long drawn out and laboured, while the cough continues to recur in fits which threaten instant suffocation. Drowsiness or coma succeeds ; and death takes place, either gradually from exhaustion, or suddenly in the midst of a suffocative paroxysm. Throughout the whole course of the disease remissions in the severity of the symptoms are common, and generally occur during the daytime, the attack re turning with all its violence as night approaches. In favourable cases the symptoms undergo gradual abatement, and there is a speedy return to health, but it is to be borne in mind that one attack of croup appears to predispose to another, and relapses are not uncommon. The inflammatory product, or false membrane formed in the air passages in the course of an attack of croup, varies both as to its amount and the extent of its distribution. It may consist merely of a thin white film covering portions of the windpipe, or on the other hand it may have the character of a tough compact membrane of several lines in thickness, and may extend from the upper part of the larynx down to the ramifications of the bronchial tubes. It ad heres closely to the mucous surface, and although large portions are occasionally detached by coughing or vomiting, the false membrane appears to be reproduced with great rapidity. It is the chief source of danger in the disease, and where it has spread downwards into the bronchial tubes death by asphyxia is the rapid result. Croup is apt to be complicated with other serious diseases, such as bronchitis and inflammation of the lungs, and it may also be accompanied with many of the pheno mena of diphtheria, in which case it has been named diphtheritic croup. This latter form of the disease is some times observed when croup occurs in connection with some of the infectious diseases, such as measles, scarlet fever, or small-pox. On this point it ought to be stated that much discussion has from time to time taken place respecting the relation of croup to diphtheria, not a few eminent authorities holding that in all essential points they are one and the same disease. The generally prevailing opinion, however, among physicians who have had extensive oppor tunities of observation, is, that while many points of similarity exist betwen croup and diphtheria they cannot be regarded as identical. See. Croup has sometimes appeared in an epidemic form. This was the case in the year 1805-7, when it spread over a large portion of the continent of Europe. In the last- named year an inquiry into the nature of the disease by the faculty of medicine of Paris was ordered by Napoleon I., 