popular 



of 



111 



under a silken tent, spun by them in com- 

 mon, which even shelters them in winter. 

 Several construct sheaths for themselves, 

 either fixed or portable ; others make their 

 abode in the parenchyma of leaves, where 

 they form galleries. The greater number 

 are diurnal ; the others never issue forth 

 but at night." 



There are perhaps no insects which are so 

 commonly and so universally destructive as 

 Caterpillars ; they are inferior only to lo- 

 custs in voracity, and equal or exceed them 

 in their powers of increase, and in general 

 are far more widely spread over vegetation. 

 As each female Butterfly or Moth usually 

 lays from two hundred to five hundred eggs, 

 one thousand different kinds of butterflies 

 and moths will produce, on an average, three 

 hundred thousand caterpillars ; if one half of 

 this number, when arrived at maturity, are 

 females, they will give forty-five millions of 

 caterpillars in the second, and six thousand 

 seven hundred and fifty millions in the third 

 generation ! These data suffice to show that 

 the actual number of these insects, existing 

 at any one time, must be far beyond the 

 limits of calculation. 



CATHARTES. [See TURKEY BUZZARD.] 



CATTLE. A collective term, denoting 

 all animals of the bovine or ox kind. The 

 domestic cattle of Britain may be divided 

 into two races: those of large size, adapted for 

 the plains ; and those of smaller size, adapted 

 for the mountains. Of each of these classes 

 there are several breeds ; such as the High- 

 land and the Welch cattle, among the latter; 

 and the Lancashire, the Yorkshire, and 

 the Herefordshire cattle, among the former. 

 There is also an intermediate breed, adapted 

 for moderately hilly countries ; such as the 

 Galloway and Fife breeds in Scotland, and 

 the Alderney and Guernsey cattle in Eng- 

 land. The best beef brought to the London 

 market is that of cattle of the Highland 



breed fed in English pastures, or on turnips, 

 for general purposes is 

 the Ayrshire ; the best for cream and butter, 



The best milk cow for gei 



the Alderney ; and the best for immense 

 quantities of milk, the Lancashire. Hence 

 the latter are generally employed in public 

 dairies, the Ayrshire by farmers and cot- 

 tagers, and the Alderney by the higher 

 classes. 



CAVY. (Cavia.) This genus of Rodentia 

 seems to hold a middle place between the 

 mouse and rabbit tribes : they are natives 

 of tropical America, and are distinguished 

 by two wedge-shaped fore-teeth and eight 

 grinders ; from three to five toes on the fore- 

 , feet, and on the hind from four to five ; tail 

 short, or tailless ; and no clavicle. They 

 have generally a slow, and sometimes a 

 ; leaping pace ; they live on vegetable sub- 

 ' stances, and in their natural state inhabit 

 excavations under ground, or beneath the 

 roots of trees, or other recesses which they 

 either find ready prepared, or form for them- 

 selves. The most familiar example of this 

 genus is the well-known little animal, called 

 the Guinea-pig, or Cavia Cobaya. 



The COMMON CAVY, or GUIXEA- i 

 PIG. (Cavia Cobaya.') From the beauty and 

 variety of its colours, and the neatness of its 

 appearance, this species must have early : 

 attracted the attention of those Europeans 

 who first visited South America ; but it has 



been so long domesticated in this and other 

 countries, as now to have become quite 

 naturalized in the Old World. Its ears 

 are large, broad, and rounded at the sides ; 

 its upper lip is half divided ; and its hair is 

 erect, somewhat resembling that of a young 

 pig. Its colour is white, varied with orange 

 and black in irregular blotches. It has four 

 toes on the fore-legs, and three on the hind ; 

 and is destitute of a tail. In its wild state 

 it lives in societies, inhabiting dry lands 

 covered with low brushwood ; and remains 

 concealed during the day. coining forth on 

 the approach of evening to seek its food. It 

 possesses neither cunning to avoid danger, 

 strength to resist, nor swiftness to escape 

 from it ; and nothing could save the race 

 from extermination, were it not for its extra- 

 ordinary rapidity of multiplication. The 

 usual litter consists of six, eight, or ten ; and 

 so prolific is it that it breeds almost every 

 two months. The young very soon acquire 

 the necessary degree of strength and perfec- 

 tion of their species, though they continue 

 to grow till seven or eight months. They 

 are very tender animals, and susceptib e of 

 cold ; and should therefore be provided with 

 warm receptacles to retire into in bad wea- 

 ther. In their habits they are extremely 

 neat, and may be frequently observed in the 

 act of smoothing and dressing their fur. 

 Their general voice is a sort of a grunting 

 squeak, and sometimes a shriller or sharper 

 cry. 



The SPOTTED CAVY (Calogenyspaca) is 

 a large species, measuring nearly two feet in 

 length. It is found in Guiana, Brazil, and 

 other parts of South America ; inhabiting 

 holes formed underground, and principally 

 near the banks of rivers. Its shape is thick 

 and clumsy, somewhat like that of a pig, for 

 which reason it has been sometimes called 

 the hog-rabbit. It has five toes on each foot, 

 and only the mere rudiment of a tail. The 

 upper jaw is longer than the lower ; the ears 

 are short and naked ; the lip is divided like 

 that of a hare ; and it has long whiskers. 

 The body is covered with coarse, short, 

 thinly-scattered hair of a dusky colour; the 

 throat, breast, and belly are of a dingy 

 white ; and on each side the body run five 

 rows of roundish, slightly angular spots. 

 The Spotted Cavy is a nocturnal animal, 

 residing in a solitary manner in his hole 

 nearly the whole day. In a domestic state 



