CRUCIBLE

(Lat. crucio, / torment; because, in the language of old chemistry, the metals were tortured by fire to yield up their various virtues.) A ve el, generally made of very refractory earthenware, in constant use in the chemical laboratory for performing fusions of metals and other substances. CRUCIFER^. (Lat. crux, acro ; the flowers being in the form of a Maltese cro .) A natural order of Exogens, inhabiting most temperate countries. They are allied to Cap par i dace a, but differ in their tetradynamous stamens; and also to Papaveracece and Fumariacea>, but are distinguished by,their seeds, and having no albumen. They are characterized e entially by their deviation from the ord i nary symmetry observable in the relative arrangement ot the parts of fructification of other plants. Linnteus divid ed this order into Siliquosai and SilicuhsiB, from the forms of their fruits; but more recently divisions have been found ed upon the nature of the plicature of the cotyledons, and the position of the radicle with respect to them. They po e universally antiscorbutic and stimulant properties combined with an acrid flavour; and their seeds uniformly abound in a fixed oil,— properties of which cre , mustard and rape may be taken as representatives. [s. 318]