CUCKOO
).484 faichet. Tbe Hebrew cnbit, ami ing to Bishop Cumberland and M. Pelletier, is tvcr- one inches ; and the Talmndists observe that tke b brew cubit (meaning prol>ably the kmisv or i measure) was larger by one quarter than the BfOBc. which would make it contain 21.843 inchea. Kir writers fix it at eighteen inches, confounding it nc the Greek and Roman measnre of a foot and a M The most approved computation aasi^^na each \mii Jewish cubits the same length as the correspcB&t Eg3rptian, namely, 20.24 inches for tbe ordinarv m and 21.888 for the sacred, which is coofirmed ir^ mean length of several ancient cubits markfd oa i^ Egyptian monuments (Willdnson's A»c, EggptioiL^ series, i, 80), by a comparison of the dimensioBt dh Pyramids with those given in ancient anths^ (Vyse's Ppumidi ofGiuh^ iii, 104, 10£r>, and whki »? shall find to correspond remarkably with tbe Talsi- ical statement of the circuit of the Temple. In a kr edition of his Ancient EgypHant, however Q^Pof^^ Account,''^ ii, 2^), Wilkinson makes the ordinary Ef^p- tian cubit to have consisted of seven palms or tw^r- eight digits, and gives rune exact compatatioDS c^ i: length, varying from 20.4729 to 20.7484 inches, wkk: yield an average of 20.6169 inches ; and he stats tb cubit on the NUometer at Elephantine, from aciKj measurement, to be 20.625 inches. This last is pt? haps tlie most accurate dimension attainable for tt standard cubit. (See Bockh, MttrU. UmtermtdL Bsi. 1838, p. 12 ; Thenius, in the Stud, u, Kril. 1846, i, 77^ ii, 299; Lepsius, Die aU-dgypOscke JSile, BerL 1?6L See Hetbolooy.
In Judg. iii, 16, the term translated " cnbit'* is is the original ^"Oi, go'med (literally, a cufy, a ntf :f stafiT, as the measure of a cubit. In the New Ife^ ment our Lord characteristically employs the tcre o bit (Matt, xxvii, 6 ; Luke xii, 26) for the enforoeBes! of a moral and spiritual lesson. The term also octr^ in John xxi, 8, and in Rev. xxi, 17 ; and in tlie k^ rypha (2 Mace, xiii, 5). See Mbasubb.
Cnoius. See Kautz.
Cuokoo (t]n^, tihach'apk^ prob. from its IxamoL. Sept, and Vulg. tea^uUj A. V. ** cuckow") occurs ah in Lev. xi, 16 ; Deut. xiv, 15, among birds of ptvr not clearly identified, but dedared to be undies- None of the vsrious ancient or modem versions of ^ word give a bird possessing any affinity with the oc> er species enumerated ; and although the cnckoo i» t winter and spring bird, distinctly heard, it appears, tf Mr. Buckin^^am, early in April, while crossing thr mountains between Damascus and Sidon, at that tim covered with snow, it could scarcely deserve to be io- cluded in the prohibited list, for the species is evey- where scarce. The identifications proposed by iatt writers on the snb,}ect sll equally lack a saffideat foundation. Bochart (Hierot. vol. ii, c 18) thinks tbe aea-guU is meant. Upon the whole, while so much eb> scurity still remains on the subfect, the infeerprctatia of ** cuckoo'* may as well remain nndistUTbed. (Se« Penny Cydopmdia, s.*v.) The word skaeh(q)k was s
Common Cuckoo {Cueulut Canormh
CUCULLUS
599
CUDWORTH
ood iTnitsti(>D of the dbsyllabie voice of thb Lird, as Dtr worri ctichx^ yi\nmiE^\y fcjwjit^d in all European in^uug^s^ aiul ^a^:£H>&, wliich the hird U supposed by ae Arabs to utter. The latter^ indeed, cull it tir el- faJhlby or "Jacob's lard," on tLij account (Kitto, Phy«. tigf. of Pakst. p. cccciii)* The common cuckoo {Ca- uiuM canonts} Js a bkiJ of considemhle wxe, tin fit fitr Dod, iHac^uiM! habitujilly feeding on reptile!^ and brge [wecta. It is spread over tlie wholo of A&ia and Afri- ft iLs well nil Rnrrtpe, mi^atinf; northward in sprints itirl probably not breeding in Pakstiiic, uHhough pasa- 015 the winter there. Tho American cuckot> {Eiytki- ^kri* Affi^icimw\ oftsn called " LOW-lnni/' is a dittt;r- mt species of the family of the Cucuimfp^ all the mem- bers of which are distinguished by laying tbeir epga n tho DdfitJi of other bird&, and rearing no young tbem- lelvea.^^^ttOf fi» y. ; Fairbaliiif s» y.
Eaatem Black Cuckoo {Eudynamys OritntalUb* CncnllTUi. See Cowl.
encumber is the translation of K^p, hUhtku' (so called probably from its difficulty of aigtatum; Sept. aiKvoQ), in our Auth.yer8., and the correctness of this randering has been almost nniversally admitted. It occurs in Num. xi, 5, where the Israelites, when in the desert, express their longings for the melons and the cucuimbert of Egypt. The Heb. is so similar to the Arabic ki$»a that there can be very little doubt of their lM)th meaning the same thing. Celsus (ffierobot, ii, 247) gives kOa, haii, and huaia as different pronun- ciations of the same word in different Oriental lan- guages. It does not follow that these names always indicate exactly the same species, since in the differ- ent countries they would probably be applied to the kinds of cucumber most common, or perhaps to those ^vhich were most esteemed in particular localities. Thus, in Egypt (see Prosp. Alpin, Plantt. JEg, c. 38, p. 54), the name haii appears to be applied to the species which is called Cucumis chaie by botanists, and " queen of cucumbers" by Hasselquist, who describes it as the most highly esteemed of all those cultivated in Egypt {Trav. p. 258). See Melon. In India the name kUim is applied by the Mohammedans to the Cucumus utiU*- nmu«, or the common htkree of the natives, while in Persia and Syria the same name would probably be applied only to the common cucumber, or Cucumis to- (irut, as the two preceding species are not likely to