Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/484

 480 CRICHTOtf CRICKET There is a variety of this game called three- handed cribbage, played by three persons with a triangular board. Four-handed cribbage is played by four persons in partnership of two and two, as in whist. CRICHTON, James, commonly called the "admirable Crichton," born probably in the castle of Cluny, in Scotland, Aug. 19, 1560, died in Mantua, July 3, 1583. His father was lord advocate of Scotland, and his mother a Stuart of the lineage of the reigning family. At the age of 10 he was sent to the university of St. Andrews, then reputed the first school of philosophy in Scotland, where in his 12th year he took the degree of bachelor of arts, and in his 14th that of master ; and, though the youngest of all, he was then esteemed the third scholar in the university. Before his 17th year he is said to have mastered the whole circle of science and of physical accom- plishments. Soon afterward he went to Paris, where he challenged all learned persons to meet him in public disputation, proclaiming that he would " be ready to answer to what should be propounded to him concerning any science, liberal art, discipline, or faculty, prac- tical or theoretical, not excluding the theologi- cal or jurisprudential habits, though grounded but upon the testimonies of God and man, and that in any of these 12 languages: Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, Italian, English, Dutch, Flemish, and Slavonian, in either prose or verse, at the discretion of the disputant." On the appointed day he encoun- tered the gravest philosophers and divines in presence of over 3,000 auditors, acquitted him- self with marvellous learning during a disputa- tion of nine hours with the most eminent doc- tors, and was presented by the rector amid the acclamations of the assembly with a diamond ring and a purse full of gold. From this time he was known by the epithet of "the admira- ble." On the very next day he entered a tilt- ing match at the Louvre, and bore off the ring from all competitors. After serving two years in the civil wars, he proceeded to Italy, and was in Rome in 1580. There, it is said, he gave another demonstration of his talents and knowledge in a disputation before the pope and all the highest dignitaries of the church and universities. He soon proceeded to Venice, where he was presented to the doge and the senate, and delivered before them an oration which was applauded for its eloquence and grace. He also disputed on questions of divin- ity, philosophy, and mathematics, with so much ability that Imperial! says " he was es- teemed a prodigy of nature." After residing for four months in Venice, he went in 1581 to Padua, the fame of whose university was then spread throughout Europe. Here a meeting of learned men was convened in his honor. He began his performances with a poem, then held a public disputation for six hours on sci- ence, and concluded with an oration in praise of ignorance. Some one having charged him with being a mere charlatan, he caused a pla- card to be posted, in which he undertook to refute innumerable fallacies of Aristotle and the schoolmen, and to answer his antagonists on any topic which they might propose, either in the common logical way, or according to the secret doctrine of numbers and mathemati- cal figures, or in any one of a hundred different species of verse. The trial was eminently suc- cessful, being styled " a miraculous encounter." He then went to Mantua, where he is said to have fought a famous gladiator, who had foiled the ablest masters of fence in Europe, and had recently slain the three best swordsmen in that, city. Crichton, having challenged him, showed such dexterity in the fight that he seemed but to be in play, and at length pierced the heart of his opponent. The duke made him pre- ceptor of his son, a riotous and passionate youth. For the amusement of his patron he composed a comedy, in which he himself repre- sented 15 different characters. This was the last display of his extraordinary talents. On a night of the carnival he was assailed in the street by three armed persons in masks. Turn- ing upon them with his sword, he at length disarmed the principal aggressor, who proved to be his pupil, the son of the duke. Crichton fell upon his knee and presented his sword to the prince, who pierced him through the body. Such is a summary of the incidents recorded of this youth. It is not improbable that they are greatly exaggerated. Four Latin odes, and a few prose fragments, which are all that remain of his compositions, do not convey an impression of remarkable power ; yet there is historical evidence that he made great profi- ciency in knowledge and accomplishments. CRICKET, an insect belonging to the order orthoptera, the group taUatoria, and the fami- ly achetadm. Like other insects of the order, the crickets have straight wings, which, when not in use, are folded lengthwise along the back, the upper wings having a narrow border which is folded down so as to cover also the sides of the body ; the jaws move transversely like those of beetles ; they do not undergo a complete metamorphosis, the young resembling the parents except that they have no wings ; in the pupa state they have the rudiments of wings, eat voraciously, and grow rapidly. In the saltatoria, which includes also grasshoppers and locusts, the thighs of the hind legs are greatly developed, enabling them to take long leaps. In the family to which the cricket be- longs, the wing covers are horizontal, the an- tennae long and tapering, the feet three-jointed (except acanthus, which has four joints to the hind feet), two tapering downy bristles at the end of the body, between which, in the fe- males, there is a long and sharp piercer. The common house cricket of Europe (acheta do- mestica, Linn.) is about an inch long, of a yel- lowish or clay color mixed with brown; it dwells in the cracks of walls and floors, and in warm places, as the vicinity of ovens, where it