CAN 



CAP 



stead of remaining rectilinear, is curved 

 down upon itself, the base of the nucleus 

 still continuing to be contiguous to the 

 hilum. 



CAMWOOD. A red dye-wood, prin- 

 cipally obtained from Sierra Leone, and 

 used with alum and tartar as a mordaunt. 



CANAL. A groove observed in dif- 

 ferent parts of certain spiral shells, be- 

 longing to the Zoophaga, or carnivorous 

 tribe, and adapted for the protrusion of 

 the long cylindrical siphon possessed by 

 these animals. This part, also, consti- 

 tutes the base of the shell. 



Besides this there is, in many of the 

 mitres, strombi, and other predaceous 

 genera, another canal or groove, placed 

 in the interior of the upper part of the 

 aperture, the use of which has not been 

 ascertained. 



CANALI'CULATE {canaliculus, alittle 

 canal). Channelled ; long and concave, as 

 the leaves of tradescanlia. 



CANCE'LLATE {cancelli, lattice- 

 work). Latticed ; any thing which is 

 cross-barred, or marked by lines which 

 cross each other at right angles ; the cha- 

 racter of a leaf which has veins without 

 connecting parenchyma, anastomosing 

 and forming a kind of net-work, as in 

 hydrogeton fenestralis. 



CA'NCER. The Crab ; the fourth of 

 the zodiacal constellations, consisting of 

 83 stars. It denotes the first month of 

 winter, extending from the 20th of De- 

 cember to the 20th of January, and bears 

 allusion to the retrograde motion of the 

 sun at the winter solstice. 



CANES VENA'TICI. Asterion and 

 Chara, the Greyhounds ; a modern north- 

 ern constellation, consisting of twenty- 

 five stars. 



CANI'CULAR PERIOD {canicula, 

 the dog-star). A period of forty days, 

 comprising, according to the old calen- 

 dars, twenty before and twenty after the 

 heliacal rising of the Canicula, Sirius, or 

 dog-star. The time of the heliacal rising 

 of the dog-star, however, varies in con- 

 sequence of the precession of the equi- 

 noxes, so that, instead of happening in 

 the warmest season, it has gradually ad- 

 vanced towards the autumn. In modern 

 almanacs, therefore, the period of the 

 rising of the star has been disregarded, 

 and the canicular days are reckoned as 

 commencing on the third of July, and 

 ending on the eleventh of August. 



CA'NIDiE [cams, a dog). The Dog 

 tribe ; a family of carnivorous Vertebrata, 

 which, like the felidae, are digitigrade, 

 67 



but have no retractile claws, and they 

 are further characterized by the presence 

 of two flat tuberculated molar teeth be- 

 hind the great incisor. 



CANIS MAJOR. The Greater Dog ; 

 a southern constellation, consisting of 

 thirty-one stars, the principal of which is 

 Sirius. 



Canis Minor. The Lesser Dog ; a 

 southern constellation, consisting of four- 

 teen stars, the principal of which is 

 Procyon. 



CANNEL COAL. A bituminous sub- 

 stance, which yields, on combustion, a 

 bright flame without smoke. The term 

 is probably a vulgarism for candle coal, 

 in allusion to its illuminating properties. 

 It occurs in most of the English collieries, 

 especially at Wigan in Lancashire. 



CANNON METAL. An alloy of cop- 

 per, tin, and small quantities of other 

 metals, used for casting cannon. 



CANO'PUS. A star of the first mag- 

 nitude, in the rudder of the southern 

 constellation Argo. 



CANTATRl'CES {canto, to sing). 

 Songsters ; an order of Birds, so named 

 by Macgillivray on account of their being 

 pre-eminently musical, as the orioles, 

 thrushes, chanters, &c. They are all of 

 small size, with the bill slender, and 

 adapted for seizing insects, worms, or 

 soft fruits. They thus differ from the 

 Vagatrices, which have the bill more 

 elongated and stronger; and from the 

 Deglubitrices, in which it is short, stout, 

 and conical. 



CANTON'S PHOSPHORUS. A sub- 

 stance made by exposing calcined oyster- 

 shells and sulphur to ;a red heat. On 

 exposure to light, it acquires the property 

 of shining in the dark. 



CAOU'TCHOUC. India Rubber. An 

 elastic resin or dried juice of certain trees 

 growing in South America and the East 

 Indies. Caoutchine is a liquid procured 

 by the distillation of caoutchouc. 



CAPACITY FOR HEAT. The power 

 which a body possesses of retaining a 

 certain proportion of latent heat. See 

 Caloric, Specific. 



CAPE {caput, a head). A headland, 

 or projecting portion of a coast. It some- 

 times terminates in an acute angle, and 

 is then called a point. If the projecting 

 portion is small or low, the affix ness is 

 employed in England, as in such terms 

 as Dungeness; and in Scotland that of 

 mull, as the mull of Galloway. 



CAPE'LLA or a AURI'G.E. The She- 

 Goat, a star of the first magnitude in the 



