Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/586

* COURIER DE MERE. 502 COURSING. he went to Florence and discovered there a com- plete ^IS. of the Greek pastoral Daphnis and Vltlue (see Longus), which he edited (1810) and translated into exquisite French. At the Kesloration (1S15) he became active as a poli- tical pamphleteer, writing letters for Le Censeur, conii)arable to Lcs provinciales of Pascal or the satires of Junius. Fined and imprisoned for his Simple Discuiirs (1821) ridiculing a plan to endow the royal family, he published a report of his trial that had a sensational success through- out France. His last political satire, Le pam- phlet des pamphlets ( 1824), is amongthe bitterest anil best; witty, classical in form and scholarly allusion, epigrammatic in its common sense. A few months after, he was assassinated (April 10, 1825), by whom, the Government could or would never discover. Courier's (Euvres completes were published in four volumes, with an essay on his life by Arniand Carrel (Paris, 1830). COURLAN, kour'lan (Fr., probably from native South American ). The French book name tor a limpkin (Aramidae), called also 'crying bird' and 'mad-widow' (vidua loca) by Spanish Americans. See Limpkin. COURLAND, koor'land, or KURLAND (translation of Lett. Kursemme, from Kur, Finnish tribe inhabiting the region in mediaeval times + semme, land, OCh. Slav, zemlya, OPruss. same, land, Gk. x"/""'! chamai, on the ground, Lat. hemo, homo, man). One of the Baltic prov- inces of Russia, bounded by the Gulf of Riga and the Province of Livonia on the north, Vitebsk on the east, Kovno on the south, and the Baltic Sea on the west (Map: Russia, B .3). Area, 10,535 square miles. The surface is level, broken onlj' by isolated hills, while the coasts are very low. There are a number of lakes, and a large ])ortion of the area is covered A'ith forests. The climate is moderate, the annual temperature averaging 43'' F. The chief occupations are agri- culture, cattle-raising, and fishing. There are also a number of breweries, distilleries, and tex- tile mills, but the manufacturing industries are very little developed. The commerce, on the other hand, is quite extensive. The seaport of Libau is the connnercial centre. Courland had a population in 1897 of 672,034, over 70 per cent, of which were Letts, representing the agricultural laboring class ; over 8 per cent, were Germans, mostly large landholders; and the rest consisted of .Jews and Russians. The Protestant Church counts over 70 per cent, of the population among its adherents. The capital is Mitau. Courland came under the rule of the Teutonic Order in the thirteenth century. In the second half of the sixteenth century it became an hered- itary duchy under the sovereignty of Poland. After a long internal struggle between the Rus- sian and the Polish parties the duchy came under Russian influence with the appointment of Biron as Duke of Courland in 1737. It was formally annexed to Russia In 1795. COURSE. See M.sokrt and Bulldisg. COURSE OF TIME, The. A religious epic in blank verse by Robert Pollok (1827). COURSER (Fr., coursier, from OF., Fr. course, Lat. cursus,, course, from currere, to run ). The French name of eight or ten species of plovers of various genera inhabiting desert regions of Africa and Asia. The best-known is the cream-colored courser (Cursorius gallieus) , connnon on arid jilains from the western Sahara to northern India. All are sand-colored above, swift-footed, and wary, and conceal themselves by simply squatting and remaining motionless and so practically invisible; their food consists of insects, mainly locusts. The name black- backed courser is frequently given to the croco- dile-bird ( q.v. ). COURSING (from course, OF., Fr. course). The pursuit of a hare by grejdiomids, wlio fol- low it by sight and not Ijy scent, is one of the most ancient of field sports. Arrian (a.d. 150) made its histoiy the subject of much research. There are two kinds of coursing — 'open,' which may be described as the haphazard pursuit of any hare that can be discovered, without regard to any set rules or regulations; and 'close' cours- ing, in which the course is determined by fi.xed boundailes, or otherwise fenced in. In the latter case, the hares, which have been previousl}' se- cured, are released, and after sutheient law (time or distance) has been allowed them, the dogs are slipped, and the pursuit begins. Both these kinds of coursing are practiced under similar rules in Great Britain and America alike. The oldest coursing club in England was that established at Swaffham in Norfolk in 1776, and of existing organizations, the most important is the Altcar Club, established in 1825. In America the sport has been in existence since the middle of the nineteenth century, but open meetings, in Avhich competitors from regular organizations take part, are of comparatively recent date. The supervising and controlling body of the sport is "The American Coursing Board,' and the princi- pal meets, or meetings, are in the two Dakotas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota. In England the sport is conducted under the laws and rules of the National Coursing Club, and the principal meet is that held every Febru- ary over the Altcar Course near Liverpool, for the Waterloo Cup, a prize instituted in 1836. It was originally an 8-dog course, increased the next year to IG, the year after to 32, at which it stood until 1857, when it became a 64-dog stake, and as such it still remains. The best dogs of the world compete, and the title 'Water- loo Cup' has become s^iTionymous with the high- est jirize of the year in coursing, in many coun- tries. Russia, America, South Australia, New South Wales, and New Zealand all have their Waterloo Coursing Cups. In competitions the judge follows the dogs throughout the course, noting (txery movement from the moment they are slipped until the 'kill,' or conclusion of the course — his decision being based on the following general rules : I. For speed-, according to the degree of superiority shown, 1, 2. or 3. II. For the go-hy — the starting of a greyhound a clear length behind its opponent, passing it in a straight run and obtaining a clear length ahead — 2 points, or if gained on the outer circle. 3 points. III. The turn — a sharp turn of not less than a right angle in the hare's course when pressed by a dog, 1 point. IV. The wrench — a change of less than a right angle in a hare's course when pressed, one-half point. V. The kill. 2 points, or in a descending scale in pro- portion to the merit displayed, which may be of no value. VI. The trip — an unsuccessful ef- fort which threw the hare off its legs, or the getting so close as to snatch it and lose hold.