  The magnetic behavior of the quaternary compounds, RCr2Si2C (R = La, Ce), has
been investigated by magnetization (M) and heat-capacity (C) measurements
(1.8-300 K) in the bulk polycrystals and nano forms (<1 {\mu}m) obtained by
high-energy balling. Our finding is that Cr appears to exhibit magnetic
ordering of an itinerant type at low temperatures (<20 K) in the bulk form, as
inferred from a combined look at all the data. The magnetic ordering gets
gradually suppressed with increasing milling time. Evidence for a mixed-valence
state of Ce for the bulk form is obtained from the tendency of magnetic
susceptibility to exhibit a maximum above 300 K. However, this feature vanishes
in the nano form, which exhibits a Curie-Weiss behavior above 200 K as though
Ce tends towards trivalency in these fine particles; in addition, there is a
weak upturn in C/T below 10 K in the bulk, which becomes very prominent in the
milled Ce-based specimens at lower temperatures, as though heavy-fermion
behavior gets stronger in smaller particles.
