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 452 CRABETH CRACOW being occupied in most diligent and faithful discharge of the duties of his parish and home, as well as in the study of botany. In 1807 he published "The Parish Register," with some other pieces and a reprint of his earlier poems, for the purpose of sending his second son to Cambridge. These were followed in 1810 by "The Borough," and in 1812 by "Tales in Verse." The next year he suffered the loss of his wife, and from this time he made occa- sional visits to London, and associated with a younger generation of poets, among whom were Moore, Rogers, Campbell, Scott, Words- worth, and South ey. In 1819 he completed his last publication, " Tales of the Hall," for the copyright of which and of all his previous works he received from Mr. Murray 3,000. His health began to decline in 1828, but his mind still retained its clearness and cheerful- ness. His death was deeply felt in Trow- bridge, where he had endeared himself to the people by his many charities and his blame- less life. The finest productions of Crabbe are "The Village," "The Parish Register," and some of his shorter tales, which are un- rivalled for their severe and minute descrip- tions of humble life. The whole force of his genius, rarely diverted by bright ideal scenes or pictures of elegance and refinement, was bent upon delineating the circumstances and anatomizing the characters of poverty, vice, and misery. He is styled by Byron " nature's sternest painter, yet the best." A complete edition of his poetical works was published in 1834, in 8 vols., the first volume containing his letters and journals, and his life written by his son, the Rev. George Crabbe. His works were republished in 1847, in one volume. CRABETH, Dirk and Wouter, two brothers, natives of Gouda, Holland, masters of painting on glass, lived in the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century. They painted the win- dows of St. John's, church at Gouda, which are considered the most finished productions ever executed in that branch of art, and also the windows of other churches in Belgium and Paris, and probably also in Spain. The two brothers were excessively jealous of each other, Wouter being superior in correctness, and Dirk in brilliancy of coloring, 'with a more vigorous style and execution. CRAB STONES, or Crabs' Eyes (lapilli cancro- rum), concretions found in the stomach of the European crawfish. They are somewhat hemi- spherical in shape, of a laminated texture, and vary from 1 to 12 grains in weight. They con- sist of carbonate and phosphate of lime, with animal matter. They have been used, when ground and levigated, in the same dose and for the same purposes as prepared chalk, over which they possess no distinct advantages, and have gone out of use. (See CHALK.) CRACOW (Pol. Krakow; Ger. Krdkau), a city, formerly capital of independent Poland, from 1815 to 1846 of a republic of its own name, and since 1846 incorporated with the Austrian crownland of Galicia. It is situated in a plain surrounded by hills on the left bank of the Vistula, which there becomes navigable, and is crossed by a massive bridge connecting the city with the suburban town of Podgorze ; lat. 50 3' N., Ion. 19 52' E., 200 m. N. E. of Vi- enna; pop. in 1869, 49,834, of whom about 15,000 were Jews. It consists of the city proper and several suburbs, the chief of which are Kleparz, Stradom, and Kazimierz, the lat- ter on an island of the Vistula, inhabited al- most exclusively by Jews. Except this part, which is mostly a narrow and gloomy abode of misery, Cracow, with its old castle, once the residence of the kings, on the top of the Wawel, its large central square, its numerous churches, chapels, turrets, and steeples, offers the aspect of a handsome and picturesque old city ; though several conflagrations, of which that of 1850 was one of the most destructive, have changed parts of it, and the ancient fortifications have been converted into modern encircling prom- enades. The royal castle, whose history is connected with that of the legendary Krakus and his daughter Wanda, of the Piasts and Jagiellos, having been destroyed by two con- flagrations, restored by King Augustus II., for- tified under the direction of Dumouriez, after- ward the French general, in 1768, and repaired by the Austrians, has finally been converted by the latter into barracks. But the beautiful Gothic cathedral of the ancient residence still contains, in its numerous and splendid chapels, the tombs and monuments of St. Stanislas, whose remains are preserved in a silver coffin, of Casimir the Great, Jagiello and his wife Hedvig, the three Sigismunds, Stephen Bathori, John Sobieski, Copernicus, Prince Poniatow- ski, Kosciuszko, Dombrowski, Arthur Potocki, and other kings, queens, and celebrated men of Poland. Its bell, cast in 1520, its archives and library, as well as the royal insignia pre- served in the vaults, are also shown to visiting travellers. A bishopric was established at Cracow about the year 1000, and in 1443 the bishops became sovereign dukes of Severia, the country between Cracow and Silesia. The larger portion of the diocese belongs to Russia, the smaller to Austria. The see has been va- cant for some time, and in 1873 each part had a vicar apostolic, the one for Russia residing at Kielce. Cracow has more than 70 Roman Cath- olic churches, numerous convents and chapels, a number of synagogues, and one Protestant church. Other remarkable buildings are the episcopal palace, with a museum of Sarmatian antiquities, the city hall, and the Jagiello uni- versity. The latter, founded by Casimir the Great, and completed under Ladislas Jagiello, was for centuries one of the most flourishing institutions of Europe, but lost its importance through the influence of the Jesuits, and hav- ing been reorganized in 1817, had again to suffer restrictive alterations in 1833. In 1871 it had 70 professors and 563 students. A library containing numerous old books and valuable