Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/824

* CYPRINID-ffi!. 712 CYPRUS. few exceptions, is covered with cycloid scales. The uioutli bears no teeth, but the pharyn- geal bones bear from one to three series of teeth, with a maximum of seven teeth in the main series. There are about 200 genera and 1000 species. They are usually very numerous in individuals. With exceptions like the gold- Jish, they are not highly colored. The males often differ from the females during the spawn- ing season, not only in additional colors, but in the grorth of tubercles on the head, fins, and other parts of the body. The family includes such familiar fish as the chub, dace, carp, tench, bleak, bream, barbel, minnow, goldfish, roach, loach, etc. Most of the North American species are small, under 12 inches in length. The Old World forms and some of the Pacific Coast species grow to a much larger proportion, and are often important as food. All important kinds are described elsewhere under their Eng- lish names. See C.rp. CYPRIN'ODON'TID^ (Neo-Lat., from Gk. KVTrptvos, kyprinos, carp -f- ddovs, odoiis, tooth). A large family of soft-rayed fishes closely re- lated to the CyprinidiB (q.v.), with which they were formerly placed. The body is elongate, compressed behind and usually depressed at the head, and both are covered with rather large cycloid scales. The mouth is small, extremely protractile, and provided with small teeth ; the lower jaw usually projects, and the pharyn- geal bones are not armed, as in the Cyprinid.T. The sexes are usually unlike, and some of the species are viviparous. In these the anal fin of the male is modified into an intromittent organ. The species are numerous, but none attains a large size, and some are extremely small. They inhabit the fresh-water streams, brackish waters and bays of America, southern Europe, Africa, and Asia. The family includes the top-minnows, mummichog, killifish, etc., and the interesting anableps, or four-eyed fish. Many of the species are extremely resistant and have become adapted to very diverse habitats. See JIlNNOW; and Plate of KiLLTFiSHES a:«d Top-minnows. CYPRIOTES, sip'ri-ots (from Lat. Cyprius, Cyprian, from Cyprus, Gk. KiJirpos, Kypros, Cy- prus; Turk. Kibris). Natives or inhabitants of Cyprus (q.v.). Since there appears to have existed at least as early as B.C. 4000 an in- digenous civilization in the island of Cyprus, the creative and stimulative influences of which are discoverable all over the eastern Mediterranean, the relationship of its ancient inhabitants is a question of great importance. The idea that they were simply Semitic Phcenicians is being abandoned, since the civilization of the latter may very well have been derived from Cyprus, and not vice i^ersa. Some of the latest authori- ties, like Ohnefalsch-Richter and Sergi, regard the autochthonous civilization of Cyprus as be- longing, with the prehistoric Egj-ptian, to the Afro-Mediterranean or 'Afro-European' culture- centre, and its originators physically to the North African white race. Asiatic influence as such is later. The literature about the Cypriotes and their culture is listed up to date in Cobham, Bibliog- raphy of Cyprus (London, 1900). The ethnologi- cal questions involved have been discussed by Ohnefalsch-Richter, in his article in the Ver- handlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft fiir Anthro- pologie for 1899, and by Sergi in his Ueditcr- raiicaii Race (London, 1901). CYP'RIPE'DIUM. See Lady's-Slippee. CY'PRTIS (Lat., from Gk. KiTrpos, Kypros). One of the largest and most imjjurtant islands in the iledilerranean, in the northeast of that sea, nearly equidistant from Asia Minor on the north and Syria on tlie cast, 46 miles from the former, and about 50 miles from the latter (Map: Turkey in Asia, E 5). It is 145 miles long and (iO miles wide. Area, 3584 square miles. Cy- prus formerly belonged to the Ottoman Empire, but since 1878 has been under British control. A great part of the island is occupied by two mountain ranges in a general direction of west to east. The loftiest, which fills the whole southern portion of the island, is called Olympus, a name applied by the ancients to one particular peak. The highest summit is that of . Jlount Troodos, about 6500 feet. The range terminates in the isolated peak of Oros Stavro, or Hill of the Holy Cross, a conspicuous object from Larnaka, and evidently the peak called Olympus by Strabo, although it is but 2300 feet high. The northern range is an unbroken ridge for 100 miles, inferior in elevation to the other, its highest summits not exceeding 3200 feet. Between these ranges is a broad plain extending across the island from the Bay of Famagosta to that of Jlorphu on the west, about 60 miles long and from 10 to 20 miles wide. This plain is called Messaria, and is watered by two streams. It is open, but little cultivated. It is bare of timber, and only the loftiest and central summits of the Olympian range retain their covering of pine woods. The climate varies in different localities; in the central plain and about Larnaka the heat is excessive, but is tempered by cool sea-breezes until about the mid- dle of September, between which time and the end of October is the hottest period. The winter is short and cold, but snow is seldom seen except upon high mountain peaks. Fevers are prevalent during the warm months. In ancient times Cyprus supplied the Greek monarchs of Egypt with timber for their fleets. It was also celebrated for its mineral wealth, especiall}' for copper, a metal which takes its name (cuprum) from the name of the island. No copper-mines are now worked. There was also considerable silver produced, and Pliny says the precious stones were found there. .Salt, for which the island was noted in olden times, is still produced in large quantities in the neighbor- hood of Larnaka and Limasol. G-psum and terra-umbra are the chief minerals found. The principal vegetable productions are cotton, wines, and fruits; some tobacco is grown. Cultiva- tion is easy and the soil in many places is ex- ceedingly productive, particularly at the foot of Mount Olympus, and along the level land of the northern shore. Drainage and the planting of trees has greatly benefited the least healthful regions. Agricul- ture and manufactures, formerly in a backward state, have made considerable progress since the island came under British rule; according to current estimates about two-thirds of the arable land is tinder cultivation. The success of the crops depends on irrigation, which is chiefly ef- fected by means of wells. The rivers are short and variable in volume, depending for their water