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THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



case of danger has recourse to flight for safety, 

 but when obliged to stand on self-defense, it 

 kicks its adversary. 



Candleberry, Candleberry Myrtle, 

 Wax Myrtle, etc. A shrub, growing from 

 four to eighteen feet high, and common in North 

 America, where candles are made from its drupes 

 or berries, which are about the size of pepper- 

 corns, and covered with a greenish-white wax 

 popularly known as Blayberry tallow. The 

 wax is collected by boiling the drupes in water 

 and skimming off the surface. A bushel of ber- 

 ies yields from four to five pounds of wax. 

 Another plant belonging to the same genus is 

 the sweetgale, which grows abundantly in bogs 

 and marshes in Scotland a small shrub, with 

 leaves somewhat like the myrtle or willow, of a 

 fragrant odor and bitter taste, and yielding an 

 essential oil by distillation. 



Canvas -back Duck. A bird peculiar 

 to North America, and considered the finest of 

 the water-fowl for the table. They arrive in the 

 United States from the North about the middle 

 of October, sometimes assembling in immense 

 numbers. The plumage is black, white, chest- 

 nut brown, and slate color; length about twenty 

 inches. 



Caper. The unopened flower-bud of a low 

 trailing shrub, which grows from the crevices of 

 rocks and walls, and among rubbish, in the 

 countries bordering the Mediterranean. Picked 

 and pickled in vinegar and salt they are much 

 used as a condiment (caper-sauce being especially 

 the accompaniment of boiled mutton). The 

 plant was introduced into Britain as early as 

 1596, but has never been grown on a large scale. 

 The flower-buds of the marsh-marigold and 

 nasturtium are frequently pickled and eaten as 

 a substitute for capers. 



Capsicum. A genus of annual, sub- 

 shrubby plants, order Solanacece, with a wheel- 

 shaped corolla, projecting and converging sta- 

 mens, and a many-seeded berry. They are 

 chiefly natives of the East and West Indies, 

 China, Brazil, and Egypt, but have spread to 

 various other tropical or sub-tropical countries, 

 being cultivated for their fruit, which in some 

 reaches the size of an orange, is fleshy and vari- 

 ously colored, and contains a pungent principle, 

 which is present also and more largely in the 

 seed. The fruit or pod is used for pickles, 

 sauces, etc., and also medicinally. 



Caraway. An umbelliferous biennial 

 plant, with a tapering fleshy root, a striated 

 furrowed stem, and white or pinkish flowers. 

 It produces a well-known seed used in confec- 

 tionery, and from which both a carminative oil 

 is extracted and the liqueur called kummel pre- 

 pared. 



Cardinal Bird. A North American bird 

 of the finch family, with a fine red plumage, and 

 a crest on the head. Its song resembles that of 

 the nightingale, hence one of its common names, 

 Virginian Nightingale. In size it is about equal 

 to the starling. Called also Scarlet Grosbeak or 

 Cardinal Grosbeak and Redbird. 



Carrot. A biennial umbelliferous plant. 

 In gardens there are three chief varieties. The 

 leaves are tripinnate, of a handsome feathery 

 appearance. The plants rise to the height of 



two feet, and produces white flowers. The root, 

 in its wild state, is small, tapering, of a white 

 color, and strong-flavored; but that of the culti- 

 vated variety is large, succulent, and of a ivd, 

 yellow, or pale-straw color, and shows remark- 

 ably the improvement which may be effected by 

 cultivation. It is cultivated for the taMe ami 

 as a food for cattle. Carrots contain a large 

 proportion of saccharine matter, and attempts 

 nave been made to extract sugar from them. 

 They have been also employed in distillation. 



Cat. A well-known domesticated quadru- 

 ped, order Carnivora, the same name being also 

 given to allied forms of the same order. It is 

 believed that the cat was originally domesticated 

 in Egypt, and the gloved cat of Egypt ami 

 Nubia has by some been considered the original 

 stock of the domestic cat, though more prob- 

 ably it was the Egyptian cat. It was seldom. 

 if at all, kept by the Greeks and Roman-, and 

 till long after the Christian era was ran- in 

 many parts of Europe. Some have thought 

 that the domestic breed owed its origin to the 

 wild cat; but there are considerable differences 

 between them, the latter being larger, and hav- 

 ing a shorter and thicker tail, which also does 

 not taper. The domestic cat belongs to a genus 

 that which contains the lion and tiger 

 better armed for the destruction of animal life 

 than any. other quadrupeds. The short and 

 powerful jaws, trenchant teeth, cunning dispo- 

 sition, combined with nocturnal habits (for 

 which their eyesight is naturally adapted) and 

 much patience in pursuit, give these animals 

 great advantages over their prey. The cat, in 

 a degree, partakes of all the attributes of its 

 race. Its food, in a state of domestication, is 

 necessarily very various, but always of flesh or 

 fish if it can be obtained. Instances of its 

 catching the latter are known, though usually 

 the cat is extremely averse to wetting itself. 

 It is a very cleanly animal, avoiding to step in 

 any sort of filth, and preserving its fur in a 

 very neat condition. Its fur is very easily 

 injured by water on account of the want of oil 

 in it, and it can be rendered highly electric by 

 friction. The cat goes with young for .sixty- 

 three days, and brings forth usually from three 

 to six at a litter, which remain blind for nine 

 days. It is usually regarded as less intelligent 

 than the dog, but this is by no means certain. 

 It has a singular power of finding its way home 

 when taken to a distance and covered up by 

 the way. Among the various breeds or races 

 of cat may be mentioned the tailless cat of the 

 Isle of Man (and the Crimea); the tortoise- 

 shell, with its color a mixture of black, white, 

 and brownish or fawn color; the large Angora 

 or Persian cat, with its long silky fur; and the 

 blue or Carthusian,, with long, soft, greyish- 

 blue fur. 



Cat -bird. A well-known species of Amer- 

 ican thrush, which, during the summer, is 

 found throughout the Middle and New England 

 States, frequenting thickets and shrubberies. 

 Its note is strikingly similar to the plaint of a 

 kitten in distress. The plumage is a deep slate- 

 color above and lighter below, and it is about 

 nine inches in length. In habit it is lively, 

 familiar, and unsuspicious; the song is largely 



