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 330 COPTIS COPTS best grammars are those of Peyron (Turin, 1841) ; of Benfey (Leipsic, 1844), showing the relation of the Coptic to the Semitic languages ; of Schwartze, edited after his death by Steinthal (Berlin, 1850) ; of Uhlmann (Leipsic, 1853) ; of Seyfiarth (Gotha, 1855) ; and of Schrader (Got- tingen, 1860). The best vocabularies are those of Vessiere de la Croze (edited by Woide, Ox- ford, 1775), Rossi (Rome, 1808), Tattam (Ox- ford, 1835), Peyron (1835), Parthey (Berlin, 1844), and Brugsch (Leipsic, 1867-'8). For a reading book there is the Pistis Sophia, pub- lished by Petermann (Lat. version by Schwartze, Berlin, 1851), and the Liber HenocJi cethiopice, edited by A. Dillmann (Leipsic, 1861). Valu- able contributions appear from time to time in the monthly periodical edited by Lepsius and Brugsch, Zeitschrtft fur agyptiscJie Sprache und AUerthumskunde, which has been pub- lished at Leipsic since 1864. COPTIS, gold thread, a genus of the natural order ranunculacece, which inhabits the north- ern regions of this continent and of Asia, and is found in Greenland and Iceland. C. trifolia, the only native species, is a pretty little ever- green, growing in moist woods, which derives its English name from the bright yellow color of its slender roots. The yellow color, as well as the bitterness which pervades the whole plant, and especially the root, is due to the presence of the alkaloid berberina. Its virtues are sim- ply those of a mild bitter tonic. In New Eng- land it is employed as a local application in ulcerations of the mouth. COPTS, the principal sect of Christians in the valley of the Nile. Etlmologically, the Copts are the representatives of the native race which inhabited Egypt in the time of the Ptolemies. The race, however, has been min- gled somewhat with the blacker tribes of the upper Nile, and with its Greek and Arab con- querors. In physical characteristics the Copts resemble much the Moslems in Egypt, but they are smaller in stature and have a less indepen- dent bearing and manner. As a general rule their complexion is dark brown, almost ap- proaching to black. The nose is straight, wi- dened at the end ; the eyes, which incline up- ward, are black, the forehead is narrow, and the hair curly. Their dress is of dark colors, both in the turban and flowing robe, either of brown, dark blue, or black. In the towns and cities this is an invariable distinctive mark, but in the villages of Upper Egypt the attention to costume is less scrupulous, and the Copt wo- men cannot by dress be distinguished from the Moslem. The cross, tattooed upon the hand of the Copt woman, is a more decisive badge; and for the man an inkhorn at the girdle is another badge, since the work of scribes and clerks in Egypt is almost wholly in the hands of Copts. Their education is usually much supe- rior to that of the Moslems, and they are more apt in those pursuits which require quickness of sight and readiness of invention. Unlike the Moslems, also, they drink freely of spiritu- ous liquors. In the matter of food their cus- toms are in many respects identical with those of the Jews. They will not eat things stran- gled, nor blood, nor the flesh of swine ; and above all things, they shun camel's flesh as un- clean. With the other races of Egypt they now seldom intermarry, such connection being prohibited by the ecclesiastical law. They are devotedly attached to their ecclesiastical sys- tem, and hold that their ritual is the most an- cient Christian ritual in existence. They reck- on in their list of saints an evangelist, with many of the most celebrated fathers and doc- tors of the church. They stigmatize as he- retical the communions of Greece and Rome ; and they regard with intense hatred those of their own countrymen who recognize the au- thority of the pope or the Byzantine patriarch. The church has so diminished in numbers that A Copt. it is computed to have in all Egypt not more than 150,000 members. It has five orders of active and secular clergy, besides the order of monks, which holds a very important rela- tion to the rest of the church. Historically the church of Egypt is a monastic church. The beginnings of the monastic life were in its deserts ; and the hermits and cenobites of the Thebaid and the Red sea coast gave the ex- ample and the impulse to all subsequent de- velopment of Christian asceticism. The head of the Coptic church is the patriarch of Alex- andria, who originally resided in that city ; but the patriarch Christodulos (1045-'76) transfer- red his seat to Cairo, where his successors have a palace, and derive a large revenue from theif possessions. The patriarch holds office for life, and his authority in the church is almost abso- lute. Formerly he was elected by a synod of 12 bishops convened at Cairo ; but at present he is selected from among the monks of the