CAITHNESS CALABRIA. 



797 



it at high tide. The scuttles being opened, the cais 

 son sinks, and fills up the groove. The scuttles are 

 then shut, and the water is prevented from entering 

 the dock, or from discharging itself from the basin 

 If the dock is to be filled, the scuttles are opened, til 

 the water ; s nearly on a level on each side, when the 

 scuttles are again shut, the caisson emptied by the 

 pumps, and then floated off. 



CAITHNESS ; the most northern county in Scotland 

 bounded on the north by the Pentland firth, whicli 

 separates it from the Orkney islands ; on the east anc 

 southeast by the Moray firth ; on the south anc 

 southwest by Sunderlandshire ; and on the west by 

 the Northern ocean. It is naturally a deep morass, 

 interspersed with fruitful spots ; but much improve- 

 ment has been produced of late years, by ditching, 

 draining, and an improved system of husbandry. The 

 coast is rocky, and remarkable for bays and promon- 

 tories, including among the former the bays of 

 Schribster, Rice, and Thurso ; and among the latter, 

 Land-head, Halborn-head, and Dunnel-head, toward 

 the Pentland firth ; and Dungisbay head and the 

 Ord, extending into the German ocean. It is well 

 watered by small rivers, and the sea-coast abounds 

 with fish; and since the construction of the har- 

 bours of Wick and Thurso, the fisheries have been 

 prosecuted with considerable activity ; and, with the 

 rearing of sheep and black cattle, they form the prin- 

 cipal employment of the hardy inhabitants. The 

 mineral productions of this county consist chiefly of 

 excellent freestone and limestone. Lead-ore is also 

 produced, but it has not been hitherto worked to ad- 

 vantage. Many of the caves abound with stalactical 

 petrifactions. The towns are Wick, a royal burgh, 

 and Thurso, a barony. Many monuments of antiquity 

 are to be seen in this county, more especially the ruins 

 of some noble castles, including those of Castle Sin- 

 clair, Auchnavern, Dirlet, and Lochmore. It also 

 abounds with the tumuli, derns, and cairns, of a still 

 more recent period. Caithness gives the title of earl 

 to the head of the Sinclair family. Population in 

 1831,34,500. 



CAIOS, or, in the Greek manner of writing, GAIUS ; 

 a learned lawyer of the time of Adrian and Antoninus 

 Pius (117 161), of whose life but very little is known. 

 Of his numerous works, his Institutes are particularly 

 important ; first, as having been, for centuries, down 

 to the time of Justinian, one of the most common 

 manuals of law ; secondly, as having been the foun- 

 dation of the official compendium of the law, which 

 occupies an important place in the reform of the ju- 

 dicial system by Justinian ; and, thirdly, as the only 

 tolerably full, systematic, and well-arranged source 

 of the old Roman law. Some parts of this work have 

 been known for a considerable time. Two leaves of 

 a manuscript of it were discovered in the library of 

 the cathedral chapter at Verona, as early as the be- 

 ginning of the last century, by Scipio Mallei ; but the 

 manuscript itself was first discovered in 1816, by Nie- 

 buhr, who staid two days at Verona, on his way to 

 Rome as Prussian ambassador. The parchment, on 

 which the Institutes of C. were written, had been used 

 to copy the letters of St Jerome. Maffei had per- 

 ceived it to be a Codex Ilescriptus, without, however, 

 having very accurately examined it. Niebuhr saw 

 that an old juridical work lay here concealed, and 

 von Savigny, professor of law in Berlin, at that time 

 at Paris, happily conjectured that it might be the 

 Institutes of C. The academy of sciences at Berlin 

 sent, in 1817, two professors, Bekker, the philologist, 

 and Gosheh, the jurist, to Italy, to investigate this 

 discovery with accuracy. The present professor, 

 Bethmann Holweg, offered his services to them, and, 

 by their united efforts, the greatest part of the book 

 has been brought into order, and that part which was 



before illegible wholly restored. The fragments of 

 C. were printed at Berlin, 1820. The manuscript has 

 been again examined, by professor Blume, and many 

 additional discoveries have been made, which have 

 been introduced into a new edition (Berlin, 1825) 

 They have opened new views upon many points of 

 the history of Roman law, and' have also destroyed 

 many acute and learned hypotheses. 



CAJEPOT OIL; the volatile oil obtained from the 

 leaves of the cajeput tree the cajeputa qfficinarum 

 (the melaleuca leucadendron of Linnasus). The tree 

 which furnishes the cajeput oil is common on the 

 mountains of Amboyna, and the other Molucca 

 islands. It is obtained, by distillation, from the dric<< 

 leaves of the smaller of two varieties. It is prepared , 

 in great quantities, in the island of Banda, and sent to 

 Holland in copper flasks. As it comes to us, it is of 

 a green colour, very limpid, lighter than water, of a 

 strong smell, resembling camphor, and of a strong, 

 pungent taste. It burns entirely away, without leav- 

 ing any residuum. It is often adulterated with other 

 essential oils, coloured with the resin of milfoil. In 

 the genuine oil, the green colour depends on the pre- 

 sence of copper ; for, when rectified, it is colourless. 



CALABAR, OLD ; a country of Africa, on a river of 

 the same name, in Upper Guinea. Duke Town, the 

 principal place on the river, contains 2000 inhabitants. 

 Creek Town, eight miles N., contains 1500 inhabi- 

 tants. Old Town was formerly the capital. The in- 

 habitants are represented as cruel, treacherous, and 

 dishonest. New Calabar, situated on a river of the 

 same name, eighty miles W. of Old C., contains about 

 300 houses, and is the centre of the Dutch commerce 

 in this country. 



CALABASH TREE. The calabash tree (crescentia 

 cujeta) is a production of the West Indies and the con- 

 tinent of America, about the height and dimensions of 

 an apple tree, with crooked, horizontal branches, 

 wedge-shaped leaves, pale white flowers on the trunk 

 and branches, and a roundish fruit, from two inches 

 :o a foot in diameter. The uses to which the fruit of 

 ;he calabash tree is applied are very numerous. Be- 

 ing covered with a greenish yellow skin, which en- 

 closes a thin, hard, and almost woody shell, it is em- 

 ployed for various kinds of domestic vessels, such as 

 tvater-cans, goblets, and cups of almost every descrip- 

 ;ion. So hard and close-grained are these shells, 

 ;hat, when they contain any fluid, they may even be 

 jut several times on the fire as kettles, without any 

 njury. When intended for ornamental vessels, they 

 are sometimes highly polished, and have figures en- 

 graven upon them, which are variously tinged with 

 ndigo and other colours. The calabash contains a 

 iale yellow, juicy pulp, of an unpleasant taste, which 

 s esteemed a valuable remedy in several disorders, 

 )oth external and internal. 



CALABRESE ; the appellation of a painter, by name 

 Mattia Preti, & native of Calabria ; born 1643, died 

 1699. 



CALABRIA ; a mountainous country, lying on the 

 sea-coast, about 164 miles in length, and from 

 wenty to sixty broad, forming the southern part 

 of the Italian peninsula. It extends, in the southern 

 )art of Naples, along the Apennines and the Tyr- 

 henian sea, to the capes of Spartivento and Squil- 

 ace on the south, and to the gulph of Tarento 

 n the Mediterranean sea on the east. In a space 

 of 6800 square miles, it contains more than 890,000 

 nhabitants, among whom are many Arnauts. The 

 accurate accounts of this country, so famous in fable 

 nd history, but hitherto not very accessible to tra- 

 r ellers, we owe to the war which the French, un- 

 der Joseph and Jerome, carried on against the proud 

 and fanatical natives, until 1810. 

 In ancient times, C. was a part of Magna Grjecia, 



