Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/664

* CKIBBAGE. 572 CRICKET. mostly played by two with a pack of fifty-two cards. , Wlien four persons are engaged, they take sides. The value of tlie cards is: face cards ten, ace one, and the rest as marked. The number of cards dealt is usually live. The points arc scored on a board, and sixty-one coustitules game. The players cut for deal : the player w ho loses the deal takes three points, as a makeweight for the adversary's advantage. l<'ivc cards in alternate succession are then dealt, the rest of the pack being placed face downward on the table. The players gather up their five cards, inspect them and select two to place them on the table face down. These cards are called 'the crib,' and become the property of the dealer. The non- dealer then cuts the remainder of the pack and the dealer turns up the top card. The play then begins, the player announcing the value of each card as he plays it : thus suppose it is a king he calls 10 — the next player says, for example, 8; then another card is played by the first player, and so on until the whole amount reaches 31, or as near it, w-ithout exceeding it, as can be ac- complished. The details of counting the points made in play are too intricate to exemplify in a general description. After the play of the hand is completed, each player counts all the fifteens he can by any combination make out of the cards he holds in conjunction with the 'turn up' card. Then the dealer takes up the four cards thrown out for the 'crib' by the two players as al- ready mentioned and counts them in the same way in conjunction with the turn up or start card. Each party is entitled. In addition to the points made in play or in crib, to count 'pairs,' 'pairs royal,' 'double pairs royal,' and for 'the knave,' as well as to count sequences — three or more cards following in successive numbers — and flushes, when all the cards in crib are of the same suit. Consult: Cady, Cribiage (New York, 1897) : 'Aquarius,' Piquet and Cribhage (Lon- don, 1883). CRIBBING, or CRIB-BITING. A bad habit met with especially in the lighter breeds of horses, and those" spending a considerable amount of time in the stable. The act consists in the animal seizing with his teeth the manger, rack, or any other such object, and taking in at the same time a deep inspiration, technically called wind-sucking. Cribbing springs often from idle play ; may be first indulged in during groom- ing, especially if the operation is conducted in the stall, and the animal be needlessly teased or tickled; is occasionally learned, apparently, by imitation from a neighbor; and in the first in- stance is frequently a symptom of some form of indigestion. Its indulgence may be suspected where the anterior edge of the front teeth is worn off, and will soon be proved by turning the animal loose where he can find suitable objects to lay hold of. It usually interferes with thriv- ing and condition, and leads to attacks of indi- gestion. It can be prevented only by the use of a muzzle or throat-strap; but in those newly acquired eases resulting from gastric derange- ment, means must further be taken to remove the acidity or other disorder. CRICHTOW, kri'ton, James (1560-e.85), called The Admirable Criciiton. A Scotchman famotis for his versatility and his universal ac- complishments. He was the son of Robert Crich- ton. of Elioek, Dumfriesshire, who was joint Lord Advocate of Scotland from 1562 to 1573, and from 1573 to 1581. On his mother's side he claimed descent from the old Scottish kings. He was educated at Saint Andrews University. Be- fore he reached his twentieth year he had, it seems, "run through the whole circle of the sciences," mastered ten dilferent languages, and perfected himself in every knightly accomplishment. In Paris, Rome, Venice, Padua, and Mantua, he achieved the most extraordinarj' victories in dis- putation on all branches of human knowledge, and excited universal amazement and applause. The beauty of his person and the elegance of his manners also nuide him a great favorite; while, as if to leave no excellence unattained, he van- quished a famous sw'ordsman in a duel at Jlan- tua (1582). The Duke of Mantua appointed him preceptor to his son, Vincenzo di Gonzaga, a dissolute and profligate youth. One night, be- tween 1585 and 1591, during a carnival, Crichton was attacked in the streets of Slantua by six masked men. He pushed them so hard that their leader pulled oil' his mask, and dis- closed the features of Vincenzo. With an excess of loyalty, Crichton threw himself upon his knees and begged the young prince's pardon, at the same time presenting him with his sword, which the heartless youth plunged into the body of his tutor. What degree of truth there may be in the eulogies of his biographers it is impossible to determine, but he is known to have associated himself with the Venetian publisher Aldus ilanutius, who is the authority for many other- wise unauthentic.ated biographical details. W. H. Ainsworth wrote a romance founded on the story of Crichton in 1837. Consult Tytler, The Life of James Crichton (London, 1819; revised ed. 1823). CRICKET (OF. crequet, Fr. criquet ;, ulti- mately imitative in origin). Any of the salta- torial insects of the orthopterous family Gryl- lidiP, distinguished from the Loeustidae by the cylindrical spear-shaped ovipositor of the female. The family contains three very distinct groups: (1) Mole-crickets (q.v. ), with fore legs devel- open for burrowing: (2) tree-crickets (q.v.) ; (3) true crickets, including the common field and house crickets. Most of them in all parts of the world are black or of some dull color, and are mainly noctvirnal. They are herbivorous, and the American black field-crickets are most abundant in neglected fields, or where layers of old straw, etc., give them warmth and hiding. They dig holes in the ground and sit there dur- ing the day, chirping, as if with contented enjoy- ment, and going abroad at night ; but any dis- turbance near them will produce instant quiet. Their eggs are laid in the loose soil, chiefly in the autumn, and hatch in the spring, few adults surviving the winters of cold climates. The com- monest species in the northeastern L^nited States idii/Uns iirfjiectus) occasionally comes into houses; but the house-cricket proper is a Euro- pean one {Gri/llus domcsticus) which habitually domesticates itself, and is especially fond of the crevices about old-fashioned fireplaces, where its merry chirping has woven itself into the romance and poetry of all Western nations, as a sotind suggestive of domestic cheer. This species is now acclimatized in Canada and some of the Northeastern States. The wingless crickets are represented in the United States by a species