CATALPA 



1223 



CATARACT 



Catalina has been made a fish reservation. 

 Formerly the canning of tuna was rapidly 

 exhausting the supply of that fish, and as 

 many as 150 fishing launches were seen there 

 each day. Tourists visit Catalina in constantly 

 increasing numbers. They are now invited to 

 view the wonderful marine gardens in glass- 

 bottomed boats; the sight is a never-ending 

 source of wonder and delight, for one sees a 

 jumbled rainbow of color, a gracefully-moving 

 mass of curious shapes starfish, octopus, long- 

 armed jelly-fish, angel-fish, sea cucumber, crab 

 and squid of varied colors, moving in the 

 clear blue water, in and out among the ribbon- 

 like olive and amber leaves of kelp. 



CATALPA, katal'pa, or INDIAN BEAN, 

 a rapidly-growing shade and ornamental tree. 

 Some species are natives of Asia; others belong 

 to the United States and Southern Canada. 

 Hardy varieties are cultivated in cool tem- 

 perate climates. The leaves are large, heart- 

 shaped and pointed; the flowers, trumpet- 

 shaped, are white and tinged in the throat 

 with purple and violet. They are followed by 

 pods containing winged seeds. These pods, 

 often nearly a foot long, hang from the leaf- 

 less twigs until spring. Catalpa wood is used 

 for fence posts and railroad ties. 



CATANIA, kahtah'nya, a beautiful city of 

 Sicily, capital of the province of the same 

 name, situated on the lower slopes of Mount 

 Etna, fifty-nine miles southwest of Messina. 

 It has been repeatedly visited by violent earth- 

 quakes; one of the worst of these was in 1693, 

 when it was almost entirely destroyed; and 

 it has been partially laid in ruins by lava from 

 eruptions of Mount Etna. The city was one 

 of the most flourishing of Greek cities in Sicily 

 and was important under the Romans. Cata- 

 nia manufactures silk and other fabrics, be- 

 sides lava ware and amber ware. It exports 

 grain, fruits, sulphur and wine. Population 

 in 1911, 211,699. 



CATAPULT, kat'apult, a machine which 

 works on the same principle as a crossbow, 

 used by the ancients to throw heavy mis- 

 siles, chiefly stones or bars of iron. The toy 

 weapon of this same nature now used by boys 

 and called a slingshot in the United States 

 and Canada is described under the title SLING. 

 In the trench fighting prevailing in the War 

 of the Nations various forms of the ancient 

 catapult were revived and found effective, 

 throwing poison-gas missiles straighter and for 

 a greater distance than they could be hurled 

 by hand. Some of the missiles were bombs or 



grenades, sometimes of primitive manufacture, 

 consisting merely of tin cans filled with gun- 

 powder or dynamite ignited by means of a 

 fuse. In some cases a stick served the pur- 

 pose of a catapult; one end was stuck deep 

 into the ground and to the other was attached 



THE CATAPULT 



At the left, the machine projected a number of 

 arrows at one time ; that at the right threw a 

 large stone when the spring was released. Such 

 Instruments of destruction were common for hun- 

 dreds of years. 



a loop of cloth, leather or rope. The bomb 

 was placed in the loop, the stick was bent 

 as far as possible and suddenly released; it 

 sprang back into an upright position and 

 hurled the bomb into the hostile trenches. 



CATARACT, kat'arakt, a disease of the 

 crystalline lens of the eye or its capsule, which 

 produces in these structures a loss of trans- 

 parency which affects the vision in varying 

 degrees, from slight impairment to blindness. 



The origin of the term cataract is a matter 

 of dispute. It is generally accepted, however, 

 that it is derived from a Greek word meaning 

 a waterfall, this name being applied to the 

 disease under the belief formerly held that 

 the opacity, -or lack of transparency, was 

 caused by an opaque liquid falling from above 

 downward in front of the crystalline lens. 



The normal crystalline lens of the eye is a 

 bi-convex body enclosed in a sac called its 

 capsule. Both the lens itself and this capsule 

 are transparent; the function of the lens is 

 to focus rays of light and cause them to form 

 a perfect image on the retina. 



There are many varieties of cataracts, such 

 as the congenital (existing from birth), the 

 senile (occurring in the aged), the traumatic 

 (due to injuries), and cataracts produced by 

 diseases of the eye itself or diseases of the 

 body generally, such as diabetes, gout, kidney 

 and diseases of the blood vessels. The variety 

 of cataract most commonly met with is the 

 senile. The cause of this variety is not def- 

 initely known. It is certain, however, that 

 old age predisposes to its development, and 

 that proper care of the eyes, regulation of the 

 demands made upon them, wearing of glasses 

 fitted by a competent oculist, if necessary, and 

 observance of the laws of general health all 



