NATURAL HISTORY 



741 



imitative of those of other birds. During the 

 inter it inhabits the extreme south of the 

 States, and is found also in Mexico and 



itral America. The cat-bird frequently at- 



;ks the common black snake, which, in the 

 of the bird, rifles its nest. 



Cedar. A tree which forms fine woods on 

 mountains of Syria and Asia Minor, and 

 jr parts of the world. It is an evergreen, 



>ws to a great size, and is remarkable tor its 

 >ility. Of the famous cedars of Lebanon 

 iparatively few now remain, and the tree 



s not grow in any other part of Palestine. 

 The most celebrated group is situated not far 

 from the village of Tripoli, at an elevation of 

 about 6,000 feet above the sea. The circum- 

 ference of the twelve largest trees here varies 

 from about eighteen to forty-seven feet. Cedar 

 timber was formerly much prized, but in mod- 

 ern times is not regarded as of much value, 

 perhaps from the trees not being of sufficient 

 ^ome fine cedars are met with in America 

 and England. The name is given also to the 

 deodar, which is indeed regarded by many 

 botanists as a mere variety of the cedar of 

 Lebanon, and which produces excellent timber. 

 It i- a native of India, and is a large and hand- 

 some tree, growing in the Himalayas to the 

 heiirht of 150 feet, with a circumference of 

 thirty. It has wide-spreading branches, which 

 droop a little at the extremities. The leaves 

 are tufted or solitary, larger than those of the 

 cedar of Lebanon and very numerous, of a 

 d:irk-bluih green, and covered with a glaucous 

 bloom. The cones are rather larger than those 

 of the Lebanon cedar, and very resinous. The 

 wood is well adapted for building purposes, 

 bcinir compact and very enduring. 



Chameleon (ka-me'li-on). A genus of 

 reptiles belonging to the Saurian or lizard order, 

 a native of parts of Asia, Africa, and the south 

 of KM rope. The best-known species has a naked 

 ix or seven inches long, with a prehensile 

 tail of about five inches, and feet suitable for 

 grasping branches. The skin is cold to the touch, 

 and contains small grains or eminences of a 

 bluish-gray color in the shade, but in the light 

 of the sun all parts of the body become of a 

 prayi-h brown or tawny color. It possesses the 

 curious faculty, however, of changing its color, 

 either in accordance with its environment, or 

 with its temper when disturbed, the change being 

 due to the pn-ence of clear or pigment-bearing 

 contractile cells placed at various depths in the 

 skin, their contractions and dilatations being 

 under the influence of the nervous system. 

 Their power of fasting and habit of inflating 

 -Ives gave rise to the fable that they lived 

 on air. but they are in reality insectivorous, 

 taking their prey by rapid movements of a lone 

 ie. In general habit they are dull 

 and torpid. 



< ll.l Minis. |n antelope 



Inhabiting hinh inacce ,b|e mountain- in 1 



'(stern Asia. I \\luch are about 



seven inch.' . round, almost 



smooth, pcrpendicul. liirht until near 



the tip. wh.-rr they suddenly terminate in a 

 hook directed backwards and downwards. Its 

 hair is brown in winter, brown fawn color in 



summer, and grayish in spring. The head is of 

 a pale yellow color with a black band from the 

 nose to the ears and surrounding the eyes. The 

 tail is black. Its agility, the nature of its haunts, 

 and its powers of smell, render its pursuit an 

 exceedingly difficult and hazardous occupation. 



Chimpanzee. The native Guinea name 

 of a large West and Central African ape belong- 

 ing to the anthropoid or man-like monkeys, and 

 to the same genus as the gorilla. When full 

 grown it is sometimes about five feet high, with 

 black hair, and is not so large and powerful as 

 the gorilla. Like the orang, it has the hair on 

 its forearm turned backwards, but differs from 

 it in having an additional dorsal vertebra and a 

 thirteenth pair of ribs. It walks erect better 

 than most of the apes. It feeds on fruits, often 

 robs the gardens of the natives, and constructs 

 a sort of nest amongst the branches. It is com- 

 mon in menageries, where it shows much intel- 

 ligence and docility. 



Chrysanthemum. A genus of herba- 

 ceous or slightly shrubby plants, distinguished 

 by their hemispherical involucre being composed 

 of imbricated scales which are membraneous at 

 the edges, and large naked receptacles. The 

 ox-eye daisy is a common weed in hay-fields, 

 where its flowers, which are white with a yellow 

 disk, are conspicuous. The corn marigold has 

 large golden-yellow flowers. It is a handsome 

 but mischievous weed in cornfields. The species, 

 however, which holds so high a rank among 

 florists' flowers is a plant which has been long 

 familiar to us from'its frequent appearance in 

 Chinese drawings, but has of late years been 

 improved to such an extent as to be prized for 

 its intrinsic beauty, and not simply from its 

 valuable property of blooming in November 

 and December. 



Cloves. A very pungent aromatic spice, 

 the dried flower-buds of Caryophyllus aromaticus, 

 a native of the Molucca Islands, belonging to 

 the myrtle tribe, now cultivated in Sumatra, 

 Mauritius, Malacca, Jamaica, etc. The tree is 

 a handsome evergreen from fifteen to thirty 

 feet high, with large elliptic smooth leaves and 

 numerous purplish flowers on jointed stalks. 

 Every part of the plant abounds in the volatile 

 oil for which the flower-buds are prized. The 

 spice yields a very fragrant odor, and has a 

 bitterish, pungent, and warm taste. It is some- 

 nines employed as a hot and stimulating medi- 

 cine, but is more frequently used in culinary 

 preparations. 



Cocoanut or Coco-nut. A woody fruit 

 of an oval shape, from three or four to six or 

 eight inches i,, length, covered with a fibrous 

 husk, and lined internally with a white, firm. 

 and fleshy kernel. Hie iree which produces the 

 cocoa-nut is a palm, from forty to sixty feet high. 

 The trunk is straight and naked, and surmounted 

 by a crown of feather like leaves. The nuts 

 hang from the summit of the iree in clusters of 

 en or more together. 1 >l rind of 



the nuts has a Mnooth surface. This incloses 

 ibrous substance, of considerable 

 thickness, which immediately surrounds the 

 nut. The fibrous coat of the nut is made into 

 the well-known cocoa-nut matting; the coarse 

 yarn obtained from it is called coir, which is also 



