Croce Vkro-cha\, Benedetto (b. Feb. 25, 1866, Pescasseroli, Italy—d. Nov. 20, 1952, Naples) Italian patriot, aesthetician, critic, and cultural historian. He founded La Critica, an influential journal of cultural criti¬ cism, in 1903 and was its editor until 1937. A passionate antifascist, he helped revive liberal institutions in the years following World War II, including the Liberal Party, which he led from 1943 to 1952. In 1947 he founded the Italian Institute for Historical Studies. His philosophical work has been influential in aesthetics and in studies of Giambattista Vico, which he helped to revive. See photograph opposite.
crocidolite \kro-'si-d a l- l It\ or blue asbestos Gray-blue to green, highly fibrous (asbestiform) form of the amphibole mineral riebeckite. It
has higher tensile strength than chrysotile asbestos. The major commer¬ cial source is South Africa, where it occurs in Precambrian banded-iron formations; it is also found in Australia and Bolivia.
Crockett, Davy orig. David Crockett (b. Aug. 17, 1786, eastern Tennessee, U.S.—d. March 6, 1836, San Antonio, Texas) U.S. frontiers¬ man and politician. He made a name for himself in the Creek War (1813— 15). In 1821 he was elected to the Tennessee legislature, winning popularity through campaign speeches filled with yarns and homespun metaphors. He won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1827, 1829, and 1833. During his first congressional term, Crockett broke with Andrew Jackson and the new Democratic Party over Crockett’s desire for preferential treatment of squatters occupying land in western Tennessee. The Whigs early courted and publicized Crockett in the hope of creating a popular “coonskin” politician to offset Jackson. In 1834 Crockett was conducted on a triumphal speech-making tour of Whig strongholds in the East. From the many stories about him in books and newspapers, there grew the legend of an eccentric but shrewd “b’ar hunter” and Indian fighter. In 1835 he went to Texas to join the war against Mexico and was killed at the Alamo.
crocodile Any of about a dozen tropical reptile species (family Croc- odilidae) found in Asia, the Australian region, Africa, Madagascar, and the Americas. Crocodiles are long-snouted, lizardlike carnivores. Most feed on fishes, turtles, birds, and small mammals; large individuals may attack domestic livestock or humans. Crocodiles swim and feed in the water, floating at the surface to wait for prey, but bask in the sun and breed on land. They are reputed to be livelier than alligators and more likely to attack humans. They have a narrower snout than alligators and a tooth on each side of the jaw that is visible when the jaw is closed.
crocus Any of about 75 species of low-growing plants, with corms, that make up the genus Crocus (iris family), native to the Alps, southern Europe, and the Mediterranean and widely grown for their cuplike blooms in early spring or fall. The spring-flowering sorts have a floral tube so long that the ovary is belowground, sheltered from climatic changes. Saffron comes from C. sativus of western Asia. The alpine C. vernus is the chief ances¬ tor of the common garden crocus. Dutch yellow crocus (C. flavus) and C. biflorus are popular spring-flowering species.
crocus, autumn See autumn crocus
Croesus Vkre-s9s\ (d. c. 546 bc) Last king of Lydia, famous for his great wealth. He succeeded his father as king c. 560 bc, and, after completing the conquest of mainland Ionia, he faced the rising threat of the Persians under Cyrus II. He forged an alliance with Babylon, Egypt, and Sparta to combat the Persians, but, after an inconclusive effort to invade Cappado¬ cia, he returned to his capital at Sardis. The Persians pursued him, storm¬ ing Sardis in 546 bc and conquering Lydia. Croesus’s later fate is uncertain. Herodotus claims he was condemned to be burned alive but was saved by Apollo.
Croghan Vkro-onV, George (b. c. 1720, near Dublin, Ire.—d. Aug. 31, 1782, Passyunk, near Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) American trader and Indian agent. He immigrated from Ireland in 1741, settling near Carlisle, Pa., where he learned Indian customs and languages to assist him in his
trade. He was named Indian agent (an official representative to Indian tribes) for Pennsylvania in the 1740s. Later, as deputy to William Johnson (1756-72), he negotiated with tribes complaining of encroachments on their land by colonists. In 1765 he achieved an end to Pontiac’s War. He espoused the patriot cause in the American Revolution.
Croix de Feu Ykrwa-do-'foeV (French: “Cross of Fire”) French political movement (1927-36). Originally an organization of World War I veterans, it espoused ultrana- tionalistic views with vaguely fascist overtones. Under Francois de la Rocque (1885-1946), it organized popular demonstrations in reaction to the Stavisky Affair, hoping to over-
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486 I Cro-Magnon ► crop
throw the government. It subsequently lost prestige and was dissolved by the Popular Front government in 1936.
Cro-Magnon Mcro-'mag-non, kro-'man-yon\ Population of anatomi¬ cally modern Homo sapiens dating from the Upper Paleolithic Period (c. 35,000-10,000 bc). First discovered in 1868 at the Cro-Magnon rock shelter in the Dordogne region in southern France, the human skeletons that came to be called Cro-Magnon are now considered representative of humans at that time. Cro-Magnons were relatively more robust and pow¬ erful than today’s humans, with a somewhat larger brain capacity. The Cro-Magnons are generally associated with the Aurignacian tool indus¬ try and artistic tradition (see Aurignacian culture). Cro-Magnons seem to have been a settled people, living in caves or primitive huts and lean-tos, moving only when necessary to find new hunting or because of environ¬ mental changes. It is difficult to determine how long the Cro-Magnons lasted and what happened to them; presumably they were gradually absorbed into the European populations that came later.
Cromer, Evelyn Baring, 1st earl of (b. Feb. 26, 1841, Cromer Hall, Norfolk, Eng.—d. Jan. 29, 1917, London) British administrator in Egypt. After serving as an army officer (1858-72), he became private sec¬ retary to his cousin Lord Northbrook, viceroy of India. In 1877 he went to Egypt to help resolve Egypt’s financial problems. Named British agent and consul general in 1883, he instituted a form of government known as the Veiled Protectorate, whereby he ruled the Egyptian khedives. Egypt was made financially solvent by 1887, and Cromer’s parsimony and encouragement of agricultural projects increased its prosperity. Until his resignation in 1907, he remained the country’s real ruler, profoundly influ¬ encing Egypt’s development as a modern state.