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 210 CERES CERIGNOLA neither request would she comply, save on con- dition that her daughter Proserpine should be first restored to her. All the other divinities of Olympus were successively sent to her on the same mission, but in vain. Jupiter, finding at length that it was impossible to shake her de- termination, sent Mercury to Erebus to beg of Pluto that he would permit Proserpine to re- turn to the earth on a visit to her mother. The king of Hades at once complied with the request, but while announcing to his consort that she was at liberty to return to her parent, he cunningly handed her a pomegranate seed, which she incautiously swallowed. Proserpine was then conducted by Mercury to Eleusis, and delivered to Ceres. After the first burst of joy at this unexpected meeting had found vent, Ceres asked Proserpine if she had tasted aught in the nether world, to which the latter replied that she had a single pomegranate seed. Then, said the mother, you must spend one third of every future year in the regions of darkness with your husband, but the other two thirds you will be privileged to pass on earth with me. The wrath of the goddess was now ap- peased, and she caused the earth to yield fruits in abundance as of old; she instructed the Eleusinian sovereign and his nobles in the mys- teries of her worship ; and when Jupiter sent Rhea to invite her once more to Olympus, she cordially accepted the invitation, and went thither with her daughter to take up her abode again among the immortals. The chief seats of the worship of Ceres, besides Rome, were Attica, Arcadia, and Sicily, where she was ( t'TVS. adored under the name of Demeter. The principal sacrifices offered on her altars were swine, the symbols of fertility, oxen, cows, honey, cakes, and fruits. Her image resembled that of Juno in its maternal character, but expressed more mildness and dignity. She was represented sometimes in a sitting attitude, sometimes walking, and sometimes riding in a chariot drawn by horses or dragons. Her attire was always complete, and on her head she generally wore a garland of corn or a band of ribbon ; while in her hand she held a sceptre, a bunch of corn, or a head of poppy, and oc- casionally a torch or mystic basket. The prin- cipal festivals of the goddess were the Thes- mophoria and Eleusinia in Greece, and the Cerealia at Rome. CKKKI'S, the name given to several species of cactus. The largest and most remarkable is the cereus giganteus, called by the Mexicans Cereus giganteus. saguaro, found chiefly in New Mexico and Texas; between lat. 30 and 35 N. It grows from a globular form to a tall, upright, remark- ably regular cylinder, which sometimes throws out branches which at a short distance from the trunk turn and grow parallel with it. The old plants often attain a height of 60 ft. They bear a light cream-colored flower, and a fruit with a green rind and crimson pulp, pleasant to the taste. For the night-blooming cereus (cactus grandiflorw), see CACTUS. CERIGNOLA, a town of Italy, in the province and 22 m. S. E. of the city of Foggia ; pop. about 18,000. The inhabitants are engaged in the cultivation of almonds and cotton, and also in linen manufactures. It has a college, hospital, and several convents. On April 28, 1503, the Spaniards, commanded by Gonzalvo de Cor- dova, here defeated the French under the duke of Nemours, who lost his life in the battle. In the principal streets of Cerignola is a milliarium recording that Trajan laid out the road from Beneventum to Brundusium at his own cost.