CAP 



CAR 



body of the goat, which Auriga is repre- 

 sented as carrying. This is a double 

 star, with a small proper motion. 



CAPILLAME'NTUM {capillus, a hair). 

 A term applied by some botanical writers 

 to the filament, or that part of the stamen 

 which supports the anther. 



CAPILLARY TUBE {capillus, a hair). 

 A minute hair-like tube, so small as to be 

 less than the twentieth of an inch in 

 diameter inside, used for experiments in 

 illustrating capillary attraction. See At- 

 traction, Capillary. 



CAPILLFTIUM (capillus, a hair). Li- 

 terally, the hair of the head ; a kind of 

 purse or net, in which the sporules of 

 some fungi are retained, as in trichia. 



CA'PITATE {caput, capitis, the head). 

 A term applied to any part of a body 

 •which is terminated by a knob, like the 

 head of a pin ; or to certain hairs in 

 plants which terminate in a glandular 

 enlargement. 



CAPI'TULUM (dim. of caput, a head). 

 A little head ; a form of inflorescence, in 

 which numerous flowers are placed on a 

 depressed axis, as in Compositae. It is 

 also termed anthodium, calathium, &c. 



CA'PNOMOR (KaTTvof, smoke, /xoTpa, 

 part). A colourless transparent liquid, 

 found among the products of the distilla- 

 tion of wood. Its name is derived from 

 its being one of the ingredients of smoke. 



CAPPARIDA'CEiE. The Caper tribe 

 of Dicotyledonous plants. Herbaceous 

 plants, shrubs, or trees ; leaves alternate ; 

 sepals 4, petals 4, cruciate ; stamens defi- 

 nite or indefinite ; ovary stalked ; fruit 

 1-celled. The flower-buds of Capparis 

 spinosa are the Capers of shops. 



CATRIC and CAPRO'IC ACIDS. Vo- 

 latile odoriferous compounds, yielded by 

 butter on its conversion into soap. 



CAPRICO'RNUS. The Goat; the 

 tenth of the zodiacal constellations, con- 

 sisting of fifty-one stars. The first month 

 of summer, extending from the 20th of 

 June to about the 20th of July. Capri- 

 corn opens and begins the year ; he is 

 the leader of the celestial animals, as on 

 earth he is the leader of the flock. 



CA'PRIDiE {caper, a goat). The Goat 

 tribe; a family of the Ruminantia, in 

 ■which the horns are directed upwards 

 and backwards, and their bony core is 

 partly cellular. It includes only the 

 goats and sheep. 



CAP RIFI CATION (caprificus, the 

 •wild fig-tree). The process of fertilizing 

 the fig, as practised in the Levant. At 

 the ripening period, branches of the wild 



fig are placed upon the cultivated plants ; 

 an insect, the cynips psenes, brought with 

 the wild plant, pierces the fruit, and ac- 

 celerates its maturation. 



CA'PRIFOLIA'CE^. The Honey- 

 suckle tribe of Dicotyledonous plants. 

 Shrubs or herbaceous plants with leaves 

 opposite ; flowers corymbose, monopeta- 

 lous; stamens alternating with the lobes 

 of the corolla ; ovarium inferior, many- 

 celled ; fruit indehiscent. 



CAPRIMU'LGID^ {caprimulgus, the 

 goat-sucker). The Goat-suckers; a fa- 

 mily of the Insessores, or Perching birds, 

 remarkable for their nocturnal habits, 

 light and rapid flight, and great activity 

 (see Fissirostres). By Macgillivray, these 

 birds are placed in a group, belonging to 

 an order which he names Voliiatrices, or 

 Gliders. 



CA'PSTAN. A modification of the 

 wheel and axle, used on board of ships. 

 It consists of an axle placed upright, 

 with a head or drum, pierced with holes 

 for the levers. The weight is drawn by 

 a rope passing two or three times round 

 the axle, to prevent its slipping. The 

 capstan is, in fact, a wheel and axle, of 

 which the wheel turns horizontally ; when 

 the wheel turns vertically, the machine 

 is called a windlass. 



CA'PSULA (dim. of capsa, a chest). 

 A capsule or little chest ; a term applied 

 in botany to a dry, superior fruit, dehis- 

 cent by valves, and always proceeding 

 from a compound ovarium. By some 

 writers, the term capsella is applied to 

 the same kind of fruit, if small and one- 

 seeded. 



CARA'BID^ {carabus, a beetle). A 

 family of the pentamerous Coleoptera, 

 consisting of a numerous tribe of Beetles, 

 characterized by the presence of six palpi, 

 and by the hooked termination of their 

 claws. They are aquatic, or terrestrial ; 

 most of them are carnivorous. 



CA'RADOC SANDSTONE. A divi- 

 sion of the Lower Silurian Rocks, con- 

 sisting of red, purple, green, and white, 

 micaceous, sometimes quartzose grits, 

 and limestones, 2500 feet thick, contain- 

 ing corals and mollusca. 



CARBAZO'TIC ACID. Nitro-picric 

 acid. An acid formed by the action of 

 nitric acid on indigo, and named from 

 the terms carbon and azote. 



CARBON {carbo, a coal). A substance 

 well known under the form of coal, char- 

 coal, lamp-black, &c. In chemical lan- 

 guage, it denotes the pure inflammable 

 principle of charcoal ; in its state of ab- 



