CUSP (

See also:

• LAT

Lat. cuspis, a

See also:

• SPEAR (O. Eng. spere, O. H. Ger. sper, mod. Ger. speer, &c., cf. Lat. sparrs; probably related to " spar, " a beam)

spear, point)  , a projecting point, or pointed end . In architecture (Fr. feuille, Ital. cuspide, Ger . Knopfe), a cusp is the point where the foliations of tracery intersect . The earliest example of a plain cusp is probably that at Pythagoras school, at Cambridge,—of an ornamented cusp at Ely cathedral, where a small roll, with a rosette at the end, is formed at the termination of a cusp . In the later styles the terminations of the cusps were more richly decorated; they also sometimes terminate not only in leaves or foliages, but in rosettes, heads and other fanciful ornaments . The term " feathering " is used of the junction of the foliated cusps in window tracery, but is usually restricted to those cases where it is ornamented with foliage, &c . CUSTARD' APPLE, a name applied to the fruit of various species of the genus Anona, natural order Anonaceae . The members of this genus are shrubs or small trees having alternate, exstipulate leaves, and flowers with three small sepals, six petals arranged in a double row and numerous stamens . The fruit of A. reticulata, the common custard apple, or " bullock's heart " of the West Indies, is dark brown in colour, and marked with depressions, which give it a quilted appearance; its pulp is reddish-yellow, sweetish and very soft (whence the name); the kernels of the seeds are said to be poisonous . The sour-sop is the fruit of A. muricata, native of the West Indies . The plant, which is a small tree, has become naturalized in some parts of India where it is extensively cultivated, as elsewhere in the tropics . It is covered with soft prickles, is of a light-greenish hue, and has a peculiar but agreeable sour taste, and a scent resembling that of black currants .

The sweet-sop is produced by A. squamosa, also a native of the West Indies and widely cultivated 1 The term " custard," now given to a dish made with eggs beaten up with

milk, &c., and either served in liquid form or baked to a stiff consistency, originally denoted a kind of open pie . It represents the older form " crustade," Fr. croustade, Ital. crostata, from crostare, to encrust . in the tropics . It is known as the custard apple by Europeans in India . It is an egg-shaped fruit, with a thick rind and luscious pulp . An acrid principle, fatal to insects, is contained in its seeds, leaves and unripe fruits, which, powdered and mixed with the flour of gram (Cicer arietinum), are used to destroy vermin . A . Cherimolia yield the Peruvian cherimoyer, which is held to be a fruit of very superior flavour, and is much esteemed by the creoles . A. palustris, alligator apple, or cork-wood, a native of South America and the West Indies, is valued for its wood, which serves the same purposes as cork; the fruit, commonly known as the alligator-apple, is not eaten, being reputed to contain a dangerous narcotic principle .