COCKATOO.

The genus Microglossus, one of which is the great black cockatoo or ara (q.v.) of New Guinea (Microglossus aterrimus), the largest of all the Psittaci, is remarkable for the structure of its tongue, which is cylindrical, tubular, capable of being greatly protruded from the mouth, and terminates in a cloven, horny tip. All the cockatoos are natives of the Philippines, New Guinea, and adjacent islands, and especially of Australia and Tasmania, where they formerly abounded, and were hunted for food by the natives. They live on fruits and seeds, insect larvæ, etc. Some of them are frequently to be seen in confinement in Europe, particularly the lesser sulphur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita), which, although of comparatively tame plumage, is a general favorite on account of its docility. None of the cockatoos learn to speak many words. Their name is derived from their cry. See Plate of COCKATOOS AND MACAWS. Compare PARROT.

COCKBURN, kōʻbûrn, Sir ALEXANDER JAMES EDMUND (1802-80), Baronet, Lord Chief Justice of England. Born December 24, 1802, the son of Alexander Cockburn, who was at one time British Minister to Colombia, he was brought up on the Continent, and in 1822 entered at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and was called to the bar in 1829. He was very successful as a practitioner, and in 1841 was made a Queen's counsel. early practice was largely in connection with election petitions, in which he was very successful. In 1847 he was elected to Parliament as a

His

Liberal from Southampton, and distinguished himself by the ardor and eloquence with which he supported the vigorous foreign policy of Palmerston. From this time on his promotion was rapid. In 1850 he was appointed SolicitorGeneral, and in the next year was promoted to the Attorney-Generalship. In 1854 he was made recorder of Bristol; in 1856 he was appointed Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and in June, 1859, he became Lord Chief Justice of England. In 1858 he succeeded to the baronetcy of his uncle, the Dean of York. It fell to his lot, as a judge of the Queen's Bench, to conduct the trial of the celebrated Tichborne case (q.v.). His distinguished position as the head of the British bench was emphasized by his appointment in 1871 to represent Great Britain in the

international court of arbitration convened for the settlement of the long-standing controversy between that country and the United States over the Alabama claims (q.v.). For a sketch of his life, consult the Law Magazine for 1851, page 193, and 4th series, vol. vi., page 191; also Law Times, vol. xx., pages 68-88.

COCKBURN, ALICIA, or ALISON RUTHERFORD (1712-94). A Scotch ballad-writer. In 1731 she was married to Patrick Cockburn, of Ormiston, an advocate, and subsequently became acquainted with Burns, Hume, Lord Monboddo, and other celebrities of the day. Her lyric, "I've Seen the Smiling of Fortune Beguiling" (to the air of "The Flowers of the Forest"), has long

been famous. She was one of the belles of Edin

burgh, a graceful dancer, and an indefatigable letter-writer. A relative of Walter Scott's mother, she all of her life sustained friendly relations with the poet and novelist.

COCKBURN, CATHERINA TROTTER (16791749). An English dramatist and philosophical

COCKBURN.

writer, born in London. She wrote several plays, among which may be mentioned: Agnes de Castro (1696); Fatal Friendship (1698); Love at a Loss (1701); and Revolutions of Sweden (1706). She is also known for her defense of the philosophy of Locke, and later for championing the views of Dr. Samuel Clarke. A collection of her prose works was published with a Memoir by Birch (London, 1751).

COCKBURN, Sir GEORGE (1772-1853). An English naval officer. His operations against Martinique brought about the surrender of that island in 1809. He was active in the war with the United States in 1812-15, planning and executing with General Ross the marauding expeditions along the shores of Chesapeake Bay, and burning the public buildings in Washington. His last noteworthy sea employment was to convey Napoleon to Saint Helena, where he remained in 181516 as governor and commandant. He rose to the rank of admiral, was several times returned to Parliament, and was one of the Lords of the Admiralty.

COCKBURN, GEORGE RALPH RICHARDSON (1834-). A Canadian educator and member of Parliament. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland; graduated at the university there in 1857; studied for several months in Germany and France, and in 1858 went to Canada, where in 1861 he became principal of Upper Canada College, which office he held for twenty years. From 1887 to 1896 he was a member of the Canadian Parliament. He has always warmly advocated British imperial federation. In 1893 he was

chief commissioner from Canada to the World's Fair at Chicago.

COCKBURN, HENRY THOMAS, Lord (17791854). A Scottish advocate and judge. He was born in Edinburgh in 1779, and was educated at the high school of Edinburgh and afterwards at Edinburgh University. He was called to the Scottish bar in 1800, and seven years later was appointed one of the advocates whose duty it is to assist the Lord Advocate in the prosecution of criminal offenders, but was dismissed after holding office four years. Not till the introduction of jury trial in civil causes into Scotland, in 1816, did Cockburn find opportunity for remunerative professional employment. His powers were better adapted for success with a popular than with a professional tribunal. Under the Grey Ministry of 1830 he was appointed Solicitor-General for Scotland; and four years later he was made one of the judges of the Scottish supreme civil and criminal courts, and took the title of Lord Cockburn. He died April 26, 1854, at his residence of Bonaly, in the neighborhood of Edinburgh.

Lord Cockburn contributed to the Edinburgh Review a series of articles on the reform of the Scotch legal procedure, which had considerable influence. Late in life he undertook the task of writing the biography of his friend Francis Jeffrey, the celebrated Scotch essayist and judge. This was published in 1852. Cockburn will be best remembered by the Memorials of His Time, which appeared posthumously in 1856. It is a kind of autobiography, into which have been interwoven numerous anecdotes illustrating old Scottish life, and numerous sketches of the men who composed the brilliant circle of Edinburgh society at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

COCKER. A small dog. See SPANIEL. COCKER, EDWARD (c.1631-75). An English engraver and teacher. He was born probably in Northamptonshire, and died in London. The first edition of his famous arithmetic (which was the first to confine itself to commercial questions only) was published posthumously in 1678, by John Hawkins. At one time it was thought (following De Morgan's belief) that Hawkins wrote this work, but the evidence is against this view. Its popularity lasted nearly a century, and its sale probably exceeded 100 editions. The expression according to Cocker' became proverbial through its frequent use on the title-pages of arithmetical treatises follow ing his method. Cocker's chief works are: Tutor to Arithmetic (1664); Compleat Arithmetician (before 1669); Arithmetic, edited by Hawkins (1678); and numerous contributions to methods of calligraphy.

COCKERELL, kõk'ĕr-el, CHARLES ROBERT (1788-1863). An English architect, born in London. In 1810-17 he visited Greece, Italy, and Asia Minor to study ancient architectural remains, made excavations at Egina and other places, and enriched the British Museum with many rare and valuable fragments, notably from the temple of Jupiter Panhellenius at Ægina and Apollo Epicurius, near Phigaleia. He became surveyor of Saint Paul's Cathedral in 1819, chief architect of the Bank of England in 1833, and a member of the Royal Academy in 1836. From 1840 to 1857 he was professor of architecture in the Royal Academy. He was the designer of many public buildings, such as the Hanover Chapel in London, and the Taylor Buildings at Oxford. His works include: The Temple of Jupiter Olympius at Agrigentum (1830); Ancient Sculptures in Lincoln Cathedral (1848); and Iconography of the West Front of Wells Cathedral (1851).

COCKERILL, kōk'ĕr-il, JOHN (1790-1840). An English manufacturer, born at Haslingden. With his brother, Charles, he established in Berlin a successful woolen-factory, and subsequently at Seraing, near Liège, Belgium, an iron-foundry and machine-shop, which became the largest on the Continent. King William I. of the Netherlands was for a time a partner in this business.

COCK'ERMOUTH. A town of Cumberland, England, at the confluence of the Cocker and Derwent, 25 miles southwest of Carlisle (Map: England, C 2). It is situated in an agricultural district, and in the vicinity are extensive coalmines. On the left bank of the Cocker are the ruins of a castle built in the eleventh century and destroyed by the Parliamentarians in 1648. Near by is a tumulus, with a Roman camp and ditch, where many ancient relics have been found. The town was the birthplace of the poet Wordsworth. It has woolen and flax mills and manufactures hats, paper, hosiery, etc. Population, in 1891, 5464; in 1901, 5400.

COCK-FIGHTING. This is a sport of the highest antiquity, and to-day is the great pastime of millions, in the place of its origin, the far Orient, as well as a favorite sport in many

Western nations, including practically all Latin America. It is noted in the earliest records of China, it was a common pastime of the Persians long before the Greek invasion, it existed in ancient Rome, and Fitzstephen vouches for it in England in the twelfth century. Ascham, the tutor of Queen Elizabeth, was charged with being "too much given to dicing and cock-fighting," and is known to have had the intention of writing "a book of the Cock-pitte." Cock-pits existed in the metropolis of England (as they did in New York) well into the nineteenth century. Pierce Egan describes the Cock-pit Royal in Fulton Street, Westminster, as a large, lofty, and circular building with seats rising as in an amphitheatre. In the middle of it was a round, matted stage of about 18 to 20 feet in diameter, rimmed with an edge 8 or 10 feet high, to keep the cocks from falling over into the auditorium in their combats. There was a chalk ring in the centre of the matted stage, about a yard in diameter, and another chalk-mark within it, much smaller, which was intended for the settingto when the birds become too exhausted to make hostile advances toward each other; they were then placed back to back within the inner mark. A large and rude branch candlestick was suspended low over the mat on the nights of battle. This description will practically suffice for all cock-pits.

GAME-COCK, WITH STEEL SPURS.

To-day

The origin of the breed of game-cocks is lost in an obscurity as dim as that of the origin of the sport. The jungle-cock of India may have been its progenitor; he has the constitutional instinct of fighting highly developed. there are various strains-Warhorses,' 'Fannie Carters,' 'Eslin Red Quills,' 'Arkansas Travelers,' 'Gordons,' 'Cotton Bolls,' Transatlantics,' and Hustlers, are only a few of those which are favorites in the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia.

COCK-FIGHTING.

The Warhorse' strain is generally admitted to rank the highest, though Eslin Red Quills' and 'Gordons' run them close. The 'Warhorses' are the product of a cross between brown and black birds imported from Ireland, and called 'Irish Gilders,' and some dark-gray Irish birds. The resulting birds soon after their introduction fought all through the South, defeating the then fashionable 'Shawlnecks,' 'Baltimore Topknots,' and 'Dominiques.' The breed is still maintained in its integrity, and its reputation has spread from the Southern States to Mexico. The cocks are mostly gray, and they are preferred to the red ones; the hens are nearly all jet-black.

The game-cock needs neither education nor experience to teach him to fight, and his capacity for giving and taking punishment till dead has passed into a proverb. The principal qualities to be desired are (1) cutting, i.e. the ability to hit with their heels, about every time. they rise, and to rise every time their opponents do; (2) hard hitting the blows of the heels driven home by the force of the wings applied to them as the cocks rise; (3) rapidity of fighting. Cocks may be good cutters which are not hard hitters, but disable or kill their antagonists without apparently heavy blows. Others are what are called wing-fighters, from making a great noise and shuffling with their wings, but scarcely using their legs at all; these are practically worthless.

A good breed is not the only prerequisite to victory; the birds must be judiciously strengthened and hardened by a course of diet and physical training to stand the great exertion necessary. This period used to extend over six weeks, but modern methods have reduced it to ten days, during which time they are restricted to a prescribed diet, and exercised in running and sparring. Then they are 'cut out,' i.e. have their wings trimmed to spread diagonally, the tail cut about one-third of the distance from the end, and the hackle and feathers about the rump shortened. If they fight with 'short heels' the gaffs or spurs are 11⁄2 inches long; if with 'long heels' 22 inches long; these gaffs or spurs are of steel, though some of the old aristocrats had them made of silver. The birds are matched by weight; those within two ounces of each other's weight are matches. The fights are conducted according to the local rules of the district, which vary considerably, although the variations are all modifications of the old English rules. Distinct sets of rules govern the United States and Canada; another set, England; yet others, France and Belgium.

When the pairs have been matched they are taken to the ring, examined and certified, and turned down to fight, on the ground (matted or carpeted or otherwise as the case may be). After that the setters-to are not to touch them, unless they either hang in the mat, or on each other, or on the edge of the pit, until they leave off fighting as long as a person can count a prescribed number aloud. Then the setters-to take up the cocks, carry them into the middle of the pit, deliver them on their legs, beak to beak. After each cessation of the combat, they are set to again in the same manner, and continue the fight until one cock refuses or is unable to fight, or is killed.

Large sums used to be staked, as much as $5000 a match and $25,000 a main having been

laid by the Earl of Derby in 1830. His birds are a famous breed to the present day. The Welsh main (now discontinued) was the most sanguinary form of fighting; as many as sixteen cocks would be matched; then the eight victors, then the four survivors, then the final two, until but a single cock renamed alive.

During the latter half of the nineteenth century the sport of cock-fighting was made illegal throughout Great Britain. America it is similarly prohibited in nearly all the States of the Union, either expressly or by laws for the prevention of cruelty to animals If some States, where it is not forbidden by the statutes of the State, it is in some instances made illegal by local laws.

For early history, consult: Markham, The Pleasures of Princes, or Goodmen's Recreations (London, 1614); Fairfax, Complete Sportsman (London, 1764); Blain, Rural Sports (London, 1853).

COCK LANE GHOST, THE. A supposed ghost, whose manifestations occurred in 1762 in Cock Lane, London, in connection with a young girl named Parsons and her parents. Investigation disclosed a conspiracy against a former resident, Mr. Kent, whose wife had died, and who was supposed to be accused by her ghost of murder. Parsons and his wife were punished. Among the investigators was Dr. Johnson, who described the mysterious occurrences in the Gentleman's Magazine, and who, because of his connection with the matter, was made the object of attack in Churchill's poem, "The Ghost." Consult Lang, Cock Lane and Common Sense (London, 1894).

common

COCKLE, kōk'l (Fr. coquille, shell, from Gk. KOYXλov, konchylion, dim. of koyxúλn, konchyle, from Kovxn, konchi, shell, Lat. concha, Skt. sankha, shell), Lychnis. A genus of plants of the natural order Caryophyllaceæ. The cockle or corn-cockle (Lychnis githago) is a frequent weed among crops of grain, a native of Europe or the west of Asia, but now to be found in almost all parts of the world. For illustration, see Plate of CRANBERRY. It is an annual plant, clothed with long, white, appressed hair; three feet high, branched, with large, solitary, terminal reddish-purple flowers. The root, stem, leaves, and seed were formerly used in medicine; the seed is still sometimes sold in Germany under the name of black cumin' (Schwartz-kümmel). The corncockle is a very troublesome weed in some parts of Great Britain and the United States. seed can hardly be screened from wheat, and in some localities millers reduce the grade of grain on account of the presence of cockle. Sowing clean seed is about the only means of combating it, aside from pulling the plants from the field.

The

COCKLE. A globose marine bivalved mollusk, especially of the family Cardiidæ, often called 'heart-cockle' because, viewed endwise, the outline of the shell is like that of the ace of hearts. Cockles are usually gregarious, and vast numbers are found half-buried on sandy and muddy banks. The common European cockle (Cardium edule) is a valuable shell-fish, extensively sold in Great Britain; other species are less commonly eaten elsewhere. The number of known species is great; they are most numerous within the tropics, and particularly in the Indian Ocean, where some have shells very