rammar, which has come down to us in the shape of notes
taken by his pupils. He drew from the best authorities--Apollonius
Dyscolus, Herodian, Orion, Theodosius of Alexandria. The lectures are
written in simple style, but suffer from diffuseness. They were much
used by Constantine Lascaris in his Greek grammar and by Urban of
Belluno (end of 15th cent.). The chief work of Choeroboscus, which we
have in its complete form, is the commentary on the canons of Theodosius
on Declension and Conjugation. Mention may also be made of a treatise on
orthography, of which a fragment (on Quantity) has been preserved; a
tract on prosody; commentaries on Hephaestion and Dionysius Thrax; and
grammatical notes on the Psalms.

See C. Krumbacher, _Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur_ (1897);
A. Hilgard, _Grammatici Graeci_, iv. (1889-1894), containing the text
of the commentary on Theodosius, and a full account of the life and
writings of Choeroboscus; L. Kohn in Pauly-Wissowa's
_Realencydopaedie_, iii. 2 (1889); Reitzenstein, _Etymologika_, 190, n.
4.

CHOIR (O. Fr. _cuer_ from Lat. _chorus_; pronounced _quire_, and until
the end of the 17th century so spelt, the spelling being altered to
agree with the Fr. _choeur_), the body of singers who perform the
musical portion of the service in a church, or the place set apart for
them. Any organized body of singers performing full part choral works or
oratorios is also called a choir.

In English cathedrals the choir is composed of men (vicars-choral or lay
clerks) and boys (choristers). They are divided into two sets, sitting
on the north and south sides of the chancel respectively, called
_cantoris_ and _decani_, from being on the same side as the _cantor_
(precentor) or the _decanus_ (dean). This arrangement, together with the
custom of vesting choirmen and choristers in surplices (traditional only
in cathedrals and collegiate churches), has, since the middle of the
19th century, been adopted in a large number of parish and other
churches. Surpliced choirs of women have occasionally been introduced,
notably in America and the British colonies, but the practice has no
warrant of traditional usage. In the Roman Catholic Church the choir
plays a less conspicuous role than in the Church of England, its members
not being regarded as ministers of the church, and non-Catholics are
allowed to sing in it. The singers at Mass or other solemn services are
usually placed in a ga