CRESSIDA. 566 CRETACEOUS SYSTEM. Dr.vden, and a type of infidelity. The name is piMl):ibly a niediirval invention representing Briseia, the daughter of Calchas, the Trojan seer. CRESSID, or CRESEIDE, Testament of, and t.'o.Mi"i.^-iNT OF Ckesseide. Poems by Robert llenryson, wrongly included in the earlier edi- tions of C'liancer. CRES'SON. A pleasure resort in Cambria County. Pa.. 102 miles east of Pittsburg, on the Pennsylvania P>ailroad. It has a fine situation, at an elevation of over 2000 feet, and is noted for pure air and the beauty of its scenery. Min- eral springs add to its attractions as a resort. Population, about SOO. CRESSON, Elliott (1796-1854). A Quaker nicrcliant and [jliilanthropist of Philadelphia, Pa., who devoted much attention to theeraaneijia- tion of the negroes from slavery. He was presi- dent for some time of the Colonization Society (q.v.), and subsequently as its agent labored to establish the colony at Bassa Cove, on the Grain Coast, Africa. CRES'SY. See Ck£ct. CRESS'WELL, Sir Ckessvell (1794-1863). An English jurist. He was born at Newcastle; graduated at Emmanuel College. Cambridge, in 1814, and in 1819 was called to the bar. In 1834 he was appointed King's counsel, in 1842 a puisne judge of the eoramon pleas court, and in 18.58 first judge of the newly created probate and divorce court. He was largely employed as advocate in important navigation and mercantile cases. CREST (OF. creste, Fr. crete, Sp., Port, It. crestfi, crest, from Lat. crista, comb, ttift; con- nected with Lat. crinis, hair). Though popu- larly regarded as the most important feature in heraldic emblems, the crest, in the eyes of heralds, is an external adjunct to the shield, without which the bearing is complete, and which may consequently be altered without materially affecting its significance. Occupying the highest place on the helmet, it is the member of the hearing by which the knight was commonly knowTi in battle ; and from this circumstance it is to the crest that the term cognizance (from cognosco, to know) is properlj' given. Its claim to a classical origin is probably better than that of any other portion of coat armor. The hel- met, as we see it represented on ancient statues and gems, was frequently adorned with a crest. Sometimes it was of horse-hair; at other times a lion or other animal was placed on the helmet, either erect or couchant. The first crest to be met with in the monu- ments of English chivalry is that on the great seal of Richard Coeur de Lion. They came into general use about the time of Heniy III., and were used as marks of distinction by commanders in the holy wars, as they had formerly been by the Roman centurions. For lightness they were often made of stulTed leather, which was gilt, silvered over, or painted — a circumstance which explains their greater size then than in later times, when they were made either of wood or metal. The earliest example of the wreath on which the crest is now invari,ibly placed is that on the monument of Sir John Harsiek. It con- sisted of two pieces of silk, of the colors of the Armorial bearings of the wearer, twisted together by the lady who had chosen him for her knight. It is now represented as consisting of two stripes of gold or silver lace, twisted into a circular cord. Its tinctures are always those of the principal metal and color of the anus. It is a lule in delineating the wreath, which is shown edgewise above the shield, that the first coil shall be of metal, and the second of color. Civic, triumphal, and other crowns were used as wreaths; and this practice is supposed to have given rise to the use of coronets, out of which crests are sometimes represented as issuing, even in the case of persons who are not noble. Consult: Fairbairn, Book of Crests of iho Families of Oreat Britain and Ireland (Edin- burgh, 1892) ; and for foreign crests, see Reit- stap. Armorial general (Gouda, 1884-87). See, also. Heraldry and the authorities referred to there. CREST, or Cresting. In architecture, an ornamental finishing in stone, tiles, or metal, running along the top of a wall, or the ridge of a roof, or sunnounting a gable or pinnacle. Crest-tiles, or, as they are eorniptly called, cress- tiles, or crease-tiles, are frequently in the form either of small battlements or Tudor flowers. See Coping. CRESTED. A term in heraldry. ^lien a cock or other bird has its comb of a different tincture from its body, it is said to be crested of such a tincture, naming the tincture. CRESTED DOG'S-TAIL GRASS. See Dog's- Tail Grass. CRES'TON. A city and county-seat of Union County. Iowa, 70 miles southwest of Des Moines ; on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (Map: Iowa, C 3). It has extensive machine- shops, car-works, wagon-factories, etc. Creston was settled in 1868 and incorporated the follow- ing year. It is governed at present under a charter of 1870, revised in 1890, which provides for a mayor, chosen biennially, and a city coun- cil, elected bv wards. Population, in 1890, 7200: in 1900,' 7752. CRES'WICK, Thomas (1811-69). An Eng- lish landscape painter, born in Sheflield, Febru- ary 5, 1811. He was a pupil of J. V. Barber in Birmingham, and went to London in 1828. He constantly exhibited at the British Institu- tion and the Royal Academy. In 1842 the Brit- ish Institution awarded him a premium of eighty guineas, and in the same year he was made an associate of the Royal Academy. He was made R.A. in 1851. He died at Bayswater, December 28, 1869, He was a landscape painter of popu- lar subjects, such as rippling streams, riverside nooks, glens, and dells. He was a fair technician and a good colorist. Among his principal paint- ings are: "Welsh Glen" (1843) ; "London Road a Hundred Years Ago" (1847) ; and the "Weald of Kent." He was also an etcher of repute, and contriI)uted many etchings to the publications of the Etching Club. CRETACEOUS (krs-ta'shus) SYSTEM, or Chalk Form.vtion (Lat. cretaceus, chalky, from ereta, chalk ) . A term applied to a series of strata underlying the Tertiary and resting on the Jura- Trias, the name being derived from the chalk- beds which form such a prominent member of the Cretaceous in England and France, although such chalk-beds are rare in the United States, occur- ring only in Texas and Arkansas. There exists at
