paration of it. The manufactories which prepare | feed upon his fellow animals. Pythagoras and his the best carmine carefully conceal the method. The best natural cochineal is found in Mexico.

CARNATION. A beautiful sort of clove pink, having its bright colors equally marked all over the flowers.

CARNELIAN, or CARNELION. In natural

history, a sub-species of calcedony, of which there are three kinds, distinguished by three colors, a red, a yellow, and a white. The red is very well known among us; is found in roundish or oval masses, like our common pebbles, and is generally met with between one inch and two or three inches in diameter: it is of a fine, compact, and close texture; of a glossy surface; and of all the degrees of red, from the palest flesh color to the deepest blood red. The pieces of carnelian which are all of one color, and perfectly free from veins, are those which our jewellers generally make use of for seals, though the variegated ones are much more beautiful. For this purpose it is excellently adapted, being not too hard for cutting, and yet hard enough not to be liable to accidents, to take a good polish, and to separate easily from the wax. The finest carnelians are those of the East Indies; but there are very beautiful ones found in the rivers of Silesia and Bohemia.

followers looked on it as a great impiety; and strictly abstained from all flesh, from the notion of a metempsychosis: and their successors, the Bramins, continue the same to this day.

In this, however, as in most other controversies, truth lies between the two extremes; there is an obvious connexion between the conformation of

the teeth, stomach, and intestines, and the nature of the food upon which an animal subsists: and according to the rules laid down by comparative anatomists on this subject, man was designed to use a mixed food in common; but if circumstances required it, his organs were adapted to digest either animal or vegetable substances. His teeth are neither calculated for grinding coarse vegetable food, nor for tearing the flesh, or breaking the bones of animals: they are only fitted for masticating such matter when divided by machinery, or prepared by the operation of heat, in the several processes of cooking.

CARPETS. Are thick textures, composed wholly or partly of wool, and wrought by several dissimilar methods. The simplest mode is that used in weaving Venetian carpets, the texture of which is plain, composed of a striped woollen warp on a thick wool of linen thread.-Kidderminster carpeting is composed of two woollen webs, which duce definite figures.-Brussels carpeting has a intersect each other in such a manner as to probasis composed of a warp and woof of strong linen thread. But to every two threads of linen in the warp, there is added a parcel of about ten threads of woollen of different colors. The linen thread the woollen threads are, from time to time, drawn never appears on the upper surface, but parts of

CARNIFEX. Among the Romans, the common executioner. By reason of the odiousness of his office, the carnifex was expressly prohibited by the laws from having his dwelling-house within the city. The carnifex (according to some,) was anciently keeper of the prison under the triumviri capitales, who had only the superintendence, or care of it, hence, "tradere ad carnificem," to imprison. In middle-age writers, carnifex also de-up in loops, so as to constitute ornamental figures, notes a butcher.

CARNIVOROUS. In Zoology, an epithet generally applied to animals of every description that subsist for the most part, or entirely, on animal food. In a more limited sense we understand by carnivorous animals, those only of a savage and voracious nature, assimilating in our ideas some instinctive ferocity of character in the manners of those creatures when seeking and attacking their prey, as well as actually feeding on flesh. We naturally consider, for this reason, among the principal carnivorous animals, the lion, the tiger, and the wolf; or among birds, the eagle, and the kite, with a host of other rapacious creatures, upon which nature has bestowed preeminent advantages of courage, strength, and arms to aid them in seizing upon, and tearing into pieces, those animals on which they feed: they have either formidable canine teeth, or fangs; claws, or talons; the quadrupeds possessing both, and the birds the latter: fishes with very few exceptions are carnivorous, but their only offensive weapons are the teeth, or in some species the spines and prickles disposed on various parts of the body.

It is a dispute among naturalists, whether or not man be naturally carnivorous? Some contend that the fruits of the earth were intended as his sole food; and that it was necessity in some places, and luxury in others, that first prompted him to

In

the proper color being each time selected from the
parcel to which it belongs. A sufficient number
of these loops is raised to produce a uniform sur-
face. To render them equal, each row passes over
a wire, which is subsequently withdrawn.
some cases, the loops are cut through with the end
of the wire, which is sharpened for the purpose, so
as to cut off the thread as it passes out. In form-
ing the figure, the weaver is guided by a pattern,
which is drawn in squares upon a paper.-Turkey
carpets appear to be fabricated upon the same
general principles as the Brussels, except that the
texture is all woollen, and the loops larger, and al-
ways cut.-There are several carpet-manufactories
in New England, which make handsome goods.
The English and Americans are the only nations
among whom carpets are articles of general use.

CARTEL. An agreement between two states for the exchange of their prisoners of war. A cartel ship is a ship commissioned, in time of war, to exchange the prisoners of any two hostile powers; also to carry any particular request from one power to another. The officer who commands her is ordered to carry no cargo, ammunition, or implements of war, except a gun for the purpose of firing signals.

CARTILAGE. A part of the animal body, harder and drier than a ligament, and softer than a

bone; its use is to render the articulation of the bones more easy.

CARTOUCH. A case of wood holding about four hundred musket balls, besides iron balls, from six to ten, to be fired out of a howitzer.

CARVING. The art or act of cutting or fashioning a hard body, by means of a chisel or other sharp instrument. The term carving is generally applied when wood is the body carved; the same operation upon stone being denominated sculpture. In carving a figure or design, the outline must first be drawn or pasted on the wood. The wood fittest for the use, is that which is hard, tough, and close, as beech, but especially box.

CASE. Any outside covering which serves to enclose a thing entirely, as packing cases or knife cases; in carpentry, the case of a door is the wooden frame, in which it is hung; in printing, it is a frame of wood, with numerous small partitions for the letters.

CASE-HARDENING. A method of preparing iron, so as to render its outer surface hard, and capable of resisting any edgetool.

CASTS, INDIAN. Denote the four grand tribes, or orders, into which population has been divided from the remotest antiquity. The Hindoo records afford no authentic documents to ascertain the origin of this singular arrangement; and the earliest Greek authors who treat of the history of India, content themselves with mentioning the fact without attempting an explanation of its origin. The first, or that of the Bramins, was deemed the most sacred; and the members of it, had it for their province to study the principles of religion, to perform its functions, and to cultivate the sciences. They were the priests, instructers, and philosophers of the nation. The members of the second order, were intrusted with the government and defence of the state. In peace they were its rulers and magistrates; in war they were the generals, who commanded its armies, and the soldiers who fought its battles. The third, was composed of husbandmen and merchants, and the fourth, of artisans, laborers, and servants.

When any person has been guilty of egregious misconduct, such as neglecting or violating the precepts of his religion, he then becomes an outcast from his tribe, and is subjected to a species of excommunication, which brings along with it the most terrible consequences. The persons thus excommunicated are denominated Pariars, and someCASHMERE. A small country in Asia, called times Chandalas, and their condition is inconceivby the Moguls, the Paradise of the Indies. It is ably wretched. "No person of any cast will have confined to a valley about seventy miles in length, the least communication with them. If a pariar and forty in breadth; and the whole country re-approach a nayr, i. e. a warrior of high cast, on the sembles a garden, interspersed with many towns and villages; intersected by numerous canals; and planted with every kind of vegetable that can perfume the air, delight the eye, or please the taste. The inhabitants have a tradition of the general deluge, and are worshippers of the one God; they are most ingenious manufacturers, particularly of shawls; which they make, some of goats' hair, and some, as Volney says, of the wool of lambs, torn from the belly of the dam, before the time of birth. The most beautiful shawls, says this author, are brought from Cashmere; their price is from six guineas to fifty pounds sterling.

CASHMERE GOAT. A nobler species of common goats, is descended from the goat of Thibet, which pastures on the Himalaya. The goats of Thibet and Cashmere have the fine curled wool close to the skin, just as the under hair of our common goat lies below the coarse upper hair. The wool is shorn in the Spring, shortly before the warm season--the time when the animal, in its natural state, seeks thorns and hedges in order to free itself from the burden of its warm covering. All the hard and long hairs are picked most carefully. The wool, thus purified, is washed, first in a warm solution of potash, and afterwards in cold water, in which process felting must be carefully avoided. It is then bleached upon the grass, and carded for spinning. The shawl-wool is three times dyedbefore carding, áfter spinning, and in the shawl. The Asiatics avoid spinning the wool hard, in order that the shawl may be soft. They use a spindle, which consists of a ball of clay, with an iron wire attached. The finger and thumb of the spinner are kept smooth by steatite powder.

Malabar coast, he may put him to death with impunity. Water or milk are considered as defiled even by their shadow passing over them, and cannot be used until they are purified. It is almost impossible for words to express the sensation of vileness that the name of pariar or chandala conveys to the mind of a Hindoo."

Though it is impossible to fix the period when this division into casts took place, yet it is easy to conceive the circumstances under which it has originated. It must have been established at a time when the regal and sacerdotal offices were united in the same individual; for nothing but the sacredness attached, in early ages, to the priestly character, combined with absolute authority on the part of the person who was thus revered, could have given birth to such a monstrous institution, so contrary to reason, and so subversive of the natural rights of man. This evidently carries back the origin of the institution into the remotest antiquity; for it was only in the primitive ages of the world that this formidable union of regal and sacerdotal power existed in the person of the same individual. When once the division into casts was established, we need not be surprised at its continuance. The human mind needs a stimulus to excite it to any efforts of excellence; and when this stimulus is not only withheld, but positive discouragements applied, we can only expect the mind to remain in a state of torpor and lasting immaturity. This effect has been produced to a very great extent on the immense population of India. The mind being chained down to some groveling employment, above which it is forbidden to aspire, must seek comfort from dismissing even the consciousness of exertion, and the desire of improvement: and the

favoured few, who are permitted to explore the | of the dead," and the gayety and dissipation of the sources of knowledge, being secure of respect, al-city of the living, which is built over it! together independent of their abilities or attainments, have but little inducement to pursue the rugged paths of science.

CASUIST. One who propounds the doctrine and science of conscience, and its cases, with the rules and principles of resolving the same. To casuistry belongs the decision of all difficulties arising about what a man may lawfully do, or not do; what is sin, or not sin; what things a man is obliged to do, in order to discharge his duty, and what he may let alone without breach of it.

CATAMOUNT. One of the most fierce and dangerous quadrupeds of North America. It is supposed to be the same animal, which the ancients called lynx, and which is known in Siberia by the name of ounce. In the form of its body it much resembles a common cat; it is generally of a yellow color, bordering upon a red or sandy; and is larger than the largest dogs. Some years ago, a catamount, at Bennington, in Vermont, took a large calf out of a pen, where the fence was four feet high, and carried it off upon his back. With this load it ascended a ledge of rocks, where one of the leaps CAT. A domestic animal, whose good and ill was fifteen feet in height. Two hunters finding qualities are too generally known to need a des- the catamount upon a tree, one of them discharged cription. The ancient Egyptians paid a religious his musket, and wounded it in the leg. It descendhomage to this little animal; and among them no-ed with the utmost agility and fury; did not attack thing could more expose a man to popular rage, the men, but seized their dog by one of his ribs, than killing a cat. The following is, in substance, broke it off in the middle, and instantly leaped up related by Diodorus Siculus, as a fact of which he the tree again with astonishing swiftness and dexwas an eye-witness. While embassadors from terity. The other hunter shot him through the Rome, which was at that time the proud mistress head, but his fury did not cease but with the last of the world, were in Egypt, and were treated by remains of life. the Egyptians, not only with all the courtesy of respect, but with all the servility of fear, one of their attendants happening unintentionally to kill a cat, this circumstance excited such a general horror and indignation, that neither the remonstrances of the officers sent by Ptolemy their king, nor the fear of the Romans, could save the unhappy man from the fury of the populace. "What is called the Wild Cat, is an animal in most respects similar to our common cats; but different in its disposition, and dimensions. It is much larger, stronger, and fiercer, than any of our domestic cats; and seems to be of the same disposition and colour, as the wolf." Strings for musical instruments, of superior and unrivalled excellence, are made of cat-gut.

CATACOMBS. The catacombs of Paris are supposed to be the largest in the world, exceeding in extent those of Rome, Naples, Malta, and even those of Thebes. The excavations extend beneath the whole of the southern half of the city, and under a small part of the northern division across the Seine. They are the quarries whence Paris was built; the stone is a soft calcareous aggregate, filled with organic remains, of which shells form the principal part.

Here are vast quantities of human bones collected from the different cemeteries of Paris since 1786, and arranged according to the receptacles from which they were taken. Nothing can be conceived more solemn and affecting, than a visit to these dreary abodes-this place of sculls. It is, as it were, Paris in the grave. Here lie the remains of millions of its once gay and buisy people, ranged in their long home, and pilled together without distinction of high or low, rich or poor, friend or enemy. One pile alone contains 2,400,000 human sculls, and the different heaps extend a mile in length. Here are chambers, and galleries connecting them, which are lined from the roof to the floor with bones; in whatever direction the eye turnes, it rests on rows of sculls. How affecting the contrast between the solemn appearance of this "city

CATANEA. A city of Sicily, destroyed by an earthquake, in the year 1693. A traveller who was on his way to that city, at a few miles distance perceived a black cloud, like night, hanging over the place. The sea, all of a sudden, began to roar; Mount Etna to send forth great spires of flame; and, soon after, a shock ensued, with a noise as if the artillery in all the world had been at once discharged. Our traveller being obliged to alight, instantly felt himself raised a foot from the ground; and, turning his eyes to the city, he, with amazement, saw nothing but a thick cloud of dust in the air. Its place only was to be found; and not a footstep of its former magnificence was to be seen remaining. Although the shock did not continue above three minutes, yet near nineteen thousand of the inhabitants of Sicily perished in the ruins.

CATARACTS AND FALLS. The falls of Niagara are esteemed the grandest object of the kind in the world. Though there are other falls which have a greater perpendicular descent, yet there is none in the known world where so great a mass of water is precipitated from so great a height.

The distance of the falls above Lake Ontario is fourteen miles, and below Lake Erie twenty three miles on the New-York side, and twenty one on the Canada side. At the distance of a mile and three-quarters above the falls, the river begins to descend with a rapid and powerful current. At the falls, it turns with a right angle to the northeast, and is suddenly contracted in width, from three miles to three-fourths of a mile. Below the cataract, the river is only half a mile wide, but its depth is said to exceed three hundred feet. The descent within ten miles is about three hundred feet, and from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario three hundred and thirty-four feet. The agitation and rapid current continue about eight miles below the cataract, nearly to Queenstown, and the river does not become sufficiently calm to admit of navigation till it reaches that place. Below the falls, it is en

closed in perpendicular banks three hundred feet high. The best single view of the cataract is that from Table Rock, on the Canada side; the best view of the rapids is from Goat Island, which is connected with the eastern shore by a bridge.

The precipice over which the river descends, is formed by the brow of a vast bed of limestone. The perpendicular descent, according to the measurement of Major Prescot, is one hundred and fiftyone feet. The descent is perpendicular, except that rocks are hollowed underneath the surface, particularly on the western side. The cataract is divided into two parts by Goat, or Iris Island, which occupies one-fifth or one-sixth of the whole breadth. The principal channel is on the western side, and is called the Horseshoe fall, from its shape. The eastern channel is divided by another small island. The descent on the eastern side is stated at one hundred and sixty-two feet, being greater than on the western, but the water is more hollow. The quantity of water discharged in an hour, is computed at about one hundred million tons.

"The emotions excited by a view of this stupendous scene, are unutterable. When the spectator casts his eye over the long ranges of ragged cliffs, which form the shores of this great river below the cataract; cliffs one hundred and fifty feet in height bordering it with lonely gloom and grandeur, and shrouded every where by shaggy forests; when he surveys the precipice above, stretching with so great an amplitude, rising to a great height, and presenting at a single view its awful brow, with an impression not a little enhanced by the division which the island forms between the two great branches of the river; when he contemplates the enormous mass of water pouring from this astonishing height in sheets so vast, and with a force so amazing; when, turning his eye to the nighty mass, and listening to the majestic sound which fills the heavens, his mind is overwhelmed by thoughts too great, and by impressions too powerful, to permit the current of the intellect to flow with serenity. The disturbance of his mind resembles that of the waters beneath him. bosom swells with emotion never before felt, his thoughts labor in a manner never before known. The pleasure is exquisite, but violent. The conceptions are clear and strong, but rapid and tumultuous. The struggle within is discovered by the fixedness of his position, the solemnity of his aspect, and the intense gaze of his eye. When he moves, his motions appear uncontrived. When he is spoken to, he is silent; or if he speaks, his answers are short, wandering from the subject, and indicating that absence of mind which is the result of laboring contemplation.

His

The noise of the falls resembles the hoarse roar of the ocean; being much graver, or less shrill than that of smaller cataracts. It is not unfrequently heard at York, fifty miles distant. When two persons stand very near each other, they can mutually hear their ordinary conversation; when removed to a small distance, they are obliged to halloo, and when removed a little farther, they cannot be heard at all. Every sound is drowned in the tempest of noise made by the water; and all else in the regions of nature appears to be duinb. The noise is a vast thunder, filling the heavens, shaking the earth, and leaving the mind, although "All these impressions are heightened to a degree perfectly conscious of safety and affected with a which cannot be conjectured, by the slowly ascendsense of grandeur only, lost and astonished, swell-ing volumes of mist, rolled and tossed into a thouing with emotions which engross all its faculties, and mock the power of utterance.

sand forms by the varying blast, and by the splendor of the rainbow successively illuminating their bosom. At the same time, the spectator cannot but reflect that he is surveying the most remarkable object on the globe. Nor will he fail to remember that he stands upon a river, in most respects equal, and in several of high distinction superior to every other; or that the inland seas which empty, the mass of waters which it conveys, the commercial advantages which it furnishes, and the grandeur of

A large majestic cloud of vapor rises without intermission from the whole breadth of the river below; and ascending with a slow solemn progress, partly spreads itself down the stream by an arching, and wonderfully magnificent motion; and partly mounts to heaven, blown into every wild fantastical form; when separated into smaller clouds, it successively floats away through the atmosphere. This cloud is said to be visible at the distance of sixty or sev-its disruption in the spring, are all suitable accomenty miles.

"In the mist produced by all cataracts," observes Dr. Dwight, from whom this account is chiefly extracted, "rainbows are ordinarily seen in proper positions when the sun shines; always, indeed, unless when the vapor is too rare. Twice, while we were here, the sun broke through the clouds, and lighted up in a moment the most lucid rainbow that I ever beheld. In each instance the phenomenon continued a long time, and left us in perfect leisure to enjoy its splendors. It commenced near the precipice, and extended, so far as I was able to judge, at least a mile down the river. In one respect, both these rainbows differed widely from all others which I had seen. The red, orange, and yellow were so vivid, as to excite in our whole company strong emotions of surprise and pleasure, while the green, blue, indigo, and violet, were certainly not more brilliant than those which are usually seen on the bosom of a shower.

paniments of so sublime and glorious a scene."

Cataract of the Rhine.-The Cataract of the Rhine, about a league below the town of Schaffhausen, is the most celebrated in Europe. The river dashes headlong from the height of about fifty feet, with rapids above and below the fall. There are other cataracts in Europe of much greater height, yet on account of the smaller mass of water, or being situated more out of the range of observation, they have less excited the attention of travellers.

"About three miles below Schaffhausen," says Mr. Simond, "we saw, at a distance, the rapids of the Rhine above its fall; and leaving our vehicle, we proceeded on foot to the spot, where, from a height, we discovered at once the foaming breakers above, the abyss below, the cataract between, pouring through five distinct passages, separated by four insulated rocks, standing like inverted cones, with huge black heads overhanging their narrow bases,

undermined by the ceaseless fury of the waves, to | passable rapids, which extend for a mile below. which every part of their surface has been succes- These falls are shunned by a portage of eighteen sively exposed; first, the top only, when the cata-miles in length. ract fell from that height, then gradually, lower down.

"The velocity and the bustle, the deafening roar of the water surpass, perhaps, Niagara itself; but there is here less grandeur and majesty. The mass of water of the American cataract is probably ten times greater, its breadth six times as great, and height three times; yet it bends over and descends unbroken, in its native emerald green, a vertical lake, as it were, instead of a horizontal one. The Rhine, on the contrary, is here all froth and fury from top to bottom. It might be compared to a cataract of snow, but does not make a worse picture on that account; and the height and length are, besides, in juster proportions.

The principal cataract, styled the great falls, is eighty-seven feet perpendicular. The river is here nine hundred feet wide, and is pressed in by a perpendicular cliff on the left, which rises to about one hundred feet, and extends up the stream for a mile. On the right the cliff is also perpendicular for three hundred yards above the falls. From ninety or one hundred yards from the left cliff, the water falls in one smooth even sheet, over a precipice of upwards of eighty feet. The remaining part of the river precipitates itself by a rapid current, but being received as it falls, by the irregular and somewhat projecting rocks below, forms a splendid prospect of perfectly white foam, six hundred feet in length, and more than eighty in perpendicular elevation. This spray is dissipated into a thousand shapes, sometimes flying up in columns of fifteen or twenty feet, which are then oppressed by larger masses of white foam, on which the sun impresses the brightest colors of the rainbow. As it rises from the fall it beats with fury against a ledge of rocks, which extend across the river one hundred and fifty yards distant from the precipice. The river, for three miles below, is a succession of rapids, overhung with perpendicular banks from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet high: it seems to have worn itself a channel through solid rock.

"The day was drawing to a close, and it became necessary, before dark, to think of our night quarters, three miles off through a country partly overflowed by the Rhine. Yet we lingered to contemplate the cataract, illuminated by the last rays of the sun; the dashes of emerald green at the top seemed more bright than ever, the foam of a more dazzling whiteness, and a double rainbow tinged the spray, while the evening shades already spread their vague terrors over the abyss below; in short, Nature seemed making a last effort to touch our obdurate hearts, and force us to admire this, one of her finest works-nor was the effort made in vain." Falls of Montmorenci. The Montmorenci falls The next most considerable cataract is fortyinto the St. Lawrence seven miles below Quebec. seven feet perpendicular, and is more than five The river just above its junction with the St. Law-miles higher up the river. Here the whole Misrence, after passing through a wild and thickly souri is suddenly stopped by one shelving rock, wooded country, over a bed of broken rocks, with which, with an edge as straight and regular as if precipitous brinks of limestone, from two hundred formed by art, which stretches itself from one side to three hundred feet in height, rushes down a of the river to the other, for at least a quarter of a precipice of two hundred and forty feet. The mile. Over this it precipitates itself in a smooth cataract is almost perpendicular; the deviation be- unbroken sheet to the depth of forty-seven feet, ing just sufficient to break the water completely whence dashing against the rocky bottom, it rushes into foam and spray. The width of the river, at rapidly down, leaving behind it a spray of the the top of the falls, is about sixty feet, but the stream purest foam across the river. It presents a scene dilates in descending. of singular beauty, without any of the wild and irregular sublimity of the lower falls.

In its fall the water has the exact appearance of snow, when thrown in heaps from the roof of a house. The effect on the beholder is most delightful. The river at some distance seems suspended in the air, in a sheet of billowy foam; and contrasted with the black frowning abyss, into which it falls, is an object of the highest interest. On a near approach the impressions of grandeur and sublimity are finely blended with those of extraordinary beauty.

The spray here, as at other similar cataracts, serves as a medium for forming the most beautiful rainbows. In the winter the spray freezes, and forms a regular cone, of sometimes one hundred feet in height, standing immediately at the bottom of the cataract.

Falls of Missouri. The great falls of the Missouri are 2,575 miles above the mouth of the river, following the course of the stream. From the commencement of the descent to the junction of portage creek, the river rushes down a succession of rapids and cataracts, and in passing three miles and three-fourths, experiences the descent of three hundred and fifty-two feet, exclusive of the almost im

Falls of Chaudière. The Chaudiere is a large river, which rises in Maine, and flows into the St. Lawrence, six miles above Quebec. About four miles above the entrance into the St. Lawrence there are remarkable falls which are considered by some superior to those of Montmorenci. The perpendicular height is only about half as great, but the quantity of water is vastly greater, the width of the river at the cataract being three hundred and sixty feet.

The course of this river is broken by masses of irregular rocks, over which it is precipitated from a height of one hundred and twenty feet into an immense chasm below. In some parts, large sheets of water roll over the precipice, and fall unbroken to the bottom: while in other places the falling water dashes from one fragment of the rock to another, with wild impetuosity, bellowing and foaming in every hollow and cavity that obstructs its progress; thence rushing down with the rapidity of lightning, into the boiling surge beneath, where it rages with inconceivable fury, till it hurries away and loses itself in the river St. Lawrence.