Crouch

n. [Ger. kriechen, to creep, to cringe. See CREEP and CRINGE.] To stoop low; to bend down in a squatting position; to lie close to the ground; as, a crouching tiger. - To bend servilely; to stoop meanly; to fawn. "They crouch beneath their fatal foe." - Dryden. Croud, n. Old speiling of CROWD, q. v. Croup, ( kroōp ,) n. [Fr.; Goth. kropjan , to cry out; Sansk. hrap , to speak.] ( Med .) An acute inflammation of the mucous membrane of the larynx, but frequently extending also to the trachea and bronchial tubes. This disease is not mentioned by medical writers before the middle of last century, and it is the opinion of many that it did not exist prior to that time. Both from the importance of its situation, and the rapidity with which it runs its course, C. is one of the most dreaded and fatal affections in the range of juvenile diseases. The causes which lead to C., or cynanche tracheal is, though sometimes depending on a low damp situation, are far more frequently induced by constitutional than by local accidents, and are to be looked for rather in certain characters in the child, such as a leuco phi egma tic, or white skinned, puffy, indolent habit of body, than from external influences. Children of a dull and sluggish temperament are far more liable to C. than the thin, active, and sanguineous. The period at which the disease most generally occurs is between the ages of 3 and 10 years. C., at certain wet seasons, is often epidemic, and by some has been considered contagious; but in this respect it is only like whooping-cough, sympathetically so, children taking it from imitation rather than from infection. The symptoms begin with restle ne , which in a few hours is followed by a wheezing in the throat and hoarsene , most heard during sleep, while a short dry cough soon after succeeds, attended with a tightne and constriction in the throat, indicated by the child frequently raising its hand to the part, as if to remove some obstruction. The difficulty of breathing becomes rapidly more distre ing, and the face a umes an aspect of great anxiety; the veins in the neck become swollen and knotted, or varicose, and the voice, every time the -child speaks or coughs, has a sharp metallic ring, which soon settles in a steady sound, like the crow or croupy noise made by fowls when caught and held in the hand the popular name which it bears. The cough, at first dry, is after a time attended by a thick, ropy expectoration, which, clinging like glue to the fauces, and extremely difficult to remove, causes the child great suffering to expel, the patient appearing half suffocated in its abortive attempts to void the adhering whitish phlegm. With these symptoms come on thirst, heat, and considerable fever; the pulse is quick and vibrating, while the efforts of the child to obtain air cause it to arch the neck back in a manner most distre ing to witne ; till, the anxiety of countenance and difficulty of inspiration increasing, the little patient expires about the third day , strangulated from the interruption of air to the lungs. The paroxysms of this disease usually come on in the evening, and become intensified about midnight, the patient seeming freer and better during the day. A favorable termination may be expected when the expectoration is free from the first, the breathing little interfered with, and the febrile symptoms slight; but a fatal result may be anticipated when the anxiety and difficulty of breathing are great, the metallic sound more acute, and there is no appearance of expectoration. That parents may see the nece ity of attending to this fatal disease immediately , and better understand the object for which the different remedies are given, we purpose explaining the peculiar morbid action which takes place in C., and the reason why it is so rapid in its course, and often so fatal in its termination. - C. is an inflammation of that delicate membrane which, continued from the mouth, lines the whole inner surface of the larynz and windpipe, and finally of the bronchial tubes, or air-pa ages. Though the inflammation may extend from the larynx to the bronchi, the mischief is, in general, confined to that portion of the membrane lining the trachea, or windpipe. The consequence of this inflammation is to induce the ve els of the membrane to throw out a thick, tough secretion, to protect the structure from the action set up. This effusion, in character like a thin coat of gelatine, and called profe ionally the adventitious or false membrane , is spread out along the whole circumference of the tracheal tube. This sheath within a sheath, though rendering the breathing much more difficult and oppre ive, would still not of itself prove fatal to the function of breathing, but the adventitious membrane po e es this peculiar character, that as soon as the whole pa age has been lined, the membrane closes either above or below, and, like the finger of a glove dropped down the tube, effectually cuts off all acce of air to the lungs, thus accounting for those efforts of the child, by straightening the throat and arching the neck, to overcome an impediment, that, once completely formed, terminates its life. It is to induce the re-absorption of this false membrane, loosen it from its hold of the windpipe, and cause it to be expelled, that all the efforts of the physician are bent; hence the importance of using energy and dispatch in the treatment. In so rapid and fatal a disease, medical advice ought to be immediately obtained. Bleeding, except by leeches, is not now generally approved of by medical men; some recommend emetics and purgatives; others opium and calomel. Warm bathing, or sponging with warm water, should be had recourse to, as well as the inhalation of a watery vapor. The following extract from the Medical Gazette of Paris (1869) indicates a treatment remarkable for its simplicity. We give it publicity, as we believe, for the benefit of mothers, though without a uming any personal opinion of its merits: "Langantarie, a French doctor, aiter observing the effect of sulphur on the oilium of grape-vines, was led to administer it in several cases of croup. He mixes a teaspoonful of sulphur in a gla of water, and gives a teaspoonful of the mixture every hour. Its effect is described as wonderful. The disease is cured in two days, the only symptoms remaining, being a cough arising from the presence of loose pieces of false membrane in the trachea. Langanterie says he has followed this plan in seven cases, all being severe, especially the last, in which the child was cyanotic, with protruded rolling eyes, and noisy respiration." IMG:content-0427.jpg:[merged small][graphic] Fig . 732. - соMMON CROW, (Corvus American us.) they are such thieves, that while the one is fetching materials, the other must keep watch to prevent the rising fabric from being plundered by their neighbors. As soon as the nest is finished, and the eggs produced, (five, bluish-green, with dark blotches,) the male takes upon himself the care of providing for his mate, which he continues during the whole period of incubation. They frequent the same rookeries for years, but allow no intruders into their community. They feed chiefly on worms, and the larvæ of insects; they also eat grain and seeds, whence they have sometimes been supposed injurious to the farmer; but they amply repay him for what they take, by destroying the vermin in his fields. Crow, n. A bar of iron; a crow-bar; any thick piece of iron used as a lever. - The sound uttered by a cock. Part of the entrails of an animal; as, bullock's liver and crow. A vaunt; a boast; a cause for triumph over another. To pluck a crow. To be contentious about anything of little value. "If you dispute, we must even pluck a crow about it." L'Estrange. Crow, v.n. ( imp . CREW OF CROWED; pp . CROWED.) [A. S. craw an; Ger. krähen ; formed from the cry of the bird.] To cry as a cock; to cry and make a noise as a cock in joy, gayety, or defiance. "Within this homestead liv'd, without a peer, For crowing loud, the noble chanticleer." -Dryden. -To boast in triumph; to vaunt; to vapor; to swagger. "Selby is crowing, and, though always defeated by his wife, still crowing on." -Richardson. - To utter a shrill cry of pleasure or glee; as, a crowing baby. Crow'-bar, n . ( Carp . ) A bar of iron used as a lever; a crow. Crow'-berry, n . ( Bot . ) See EMPETRUM. Crow-black'bird, n. (Zool.) Quiscalus versicolor , a beautiful bird of N. America, east of the central plains. It belongs to the fam. Icterid a , is 13 inches long, head and neck steel-blue, and the rest of the body black, with varied metallic reflections. In autumn, they are seen by large flocks upon the corn-fields, where they commit depredations. Crowd, n . [A.S. cruth , cread; W. crwd , a round lump; Swed. and Goth. kroeta , a congeries, a crowd.] A collection; a collection of things collected, or closely pre ed together; a medley of things; as, a " crowd of islands." -Pope . -A number of persons collected into a close body without order; a throng; a promiscuous medley of people; a great multitude; a concourse; a swarm. ""Midst the crowd , the hum, the shock of men." -Byron. _The populace; the common orders of people; the mob; the rabble; the canaille; the vulgar. See CROP, and CRUPPER.] The rump of a fowl; the buttocks of a horse. crowded up. "Ye unborn ages, crowd not on my soull"-Gray. leap than a curvet, or one that keeps a horse's fore and hind quarters at an equal height, to enable him to tru fill to exce ; to encumber by multitudes. "One crowded hour of glorious life Is worth an age without a name."-Scott. his legs under his belly without jerking. Croup'er, n . See CRUPPER. Croupier, ( kroo'pe -ur.) n. [Fr.] A person who presides -To urge by solicitation: to dun; to pester. at a gaming-table, and collects the stakes. - A vice- chairman at a public dinner or banquet. resembling croup. Crouse's Store, in New York , a P. O. of Dutche co. Crout, n. (Cookery.) See SOUR-KROUT. Crow, n. [A. S. craw; Ger. krähe , formed from the sound it makes; Ar.kak ; Lat. corvus ; Fr. corbeau .] ( Zool .) The crow family ( Corvid a ), ord. In se ores , comprises birds that have a strong bill, compre ed towards the points, and covered at the base with stiff, bristly feathers, which advance so far as to conceal the nostrils. The plumage is dense, soft, and lustrous, generally dark, but sometimes of gay colors. They are very omniferous, and remarkable for their intelligence The family, widely diffused over the world, includes the common crow, type of the Corvidæ, and the above, which will be described here; and the RAVEN, the FISH The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia (Naut.) A number of small lines run through an euphroe to suspend an awning by. Crow'-keeper, n . A scare-crow; a figure set up in corn-fields to keep crows from the grain. Crowlandville, or Cook'S MILLS, in Upper Canada, a village of Well and co.; pop. about 200. Crow Meadow, in Illinois, a village of Marshall co., about 122 m. S.W. of Chicago.