CHRISTOPHER, was one of the three fanatics whose visions were published at Amsterdam in 1657, with the title of Lux in tenebris. He lived at Sprotta in Silesia, and his visions began in 1616. He fancied he saw an angel under the form of a man, who commanded him to go and declare to the magistrates, that, unless the people repented, the wrath of God would make dreadful havoc. The elector palatine, whom the Protestants had declared king of Bohemia, was introduced in these visions. KOTTERUS waited on him at Breslaw in December 1629, and informed him of his commission. He went to several other places, and at last to the court of Brandenburg. As most of these predictions promised felicity to the elector palatine, and unhappiness to his imperial majesty, the emperor's fickle in Silesia and Lusatia got him seized, fettered on the pillory, and banished the emperor's dominions. Upon this he went to Lusatia, and there lived unmolested till his death, which happened in 1647.

KOU-CHU, a Chinese shrub, which bears a great resemblance to the fig tree both in the make of its branches and the form of its leaves. From its root several twigs or shoots generally spring up, which form a kind of bush; but sometimes it consists of only one shoot. The wood of the branches of the kou-chu is soft and spongy, and covered with bark like that of the fig-tree. Its leaves are deeply indented, and their colour and the texture of their fibres are exactly the same as those of the fig tree; but they are larger and thicker, and much rougher to the touch.

This tree yields a kind of milky juice, which the Chinese use for laying on gold-leaf in gilding. They make one or more incisions in the trunk, into which they insert the edges of a shell, or something else of the same kind to receive the sap. When they have extracted a sufficiency, they use it with a small brush, and delineate whatever figures they intend for the decoration of their work. They then lay on the gold-leaf, which is so strongly attracted by this liquor, that it never comes off.