CASTING. 



CASTING. The operation of throwing a ' 

 horse down, which should be performed with ' 

 great care on straw. Take a long rope, double J 

 it, and cast a knot a yard from the bow ; pui 

 the bow about his neck, and the double rope 

 betwixt his fore legs, about his hinder pasterns, 

 and under his fetlocks : when you have done 

 this, slip the ends of the rope underneath the 

 bow of his neck, and draw them quick, and 

 they will overthrow him ; then make the ends 

 fast, and hold down his head. 



CASTING A COLT. A term which implies 

 a mare's proving abortive. 



CASTOft OIL. The well known medi- 

 cinal oil obtained from the seeds or beans 

 of the Palma Christi, a plant indigenous to 

 the West Indies. The cultivation of the Pal- 

 ma Christi and the manufacture of castor oil 

 is extensively carried on in some parts of the 

 United States, and continues on the increase. 

 A single firm at St. Louis has worked up 18,500 

 bushels of beans in four months, producing 

 17,750 gallons of oil, and it is stated that 800 

 barrels have been sold at $50 the barrel. This 

 oil may be prepared for burning, machinery, 

 soap, &c., and is also convertible into stearin. 

 It is more soluble in alcohol than lard-oil. 



CASTRATION. In farriery, a term signify- 

 ing, in regard to animals, the operation of geld- 

 ing in males, and spaying in females. The 

 operation may be performed at any age, but, in 

 general, the earlier the better. For cattle, be- 

 tween two and eight months ; for sheep, before 

 they are twenty-one days old ; in horses, be- 

 tween four and twelve months. 



CAT (Felis catus, L.). A genus of animals 

 comprising twenty-one species, and belonging 

 to the same class as the lion and the tiger. 

 Though originally a variety of the wild cat, one 

 of the most ferocious brutes, this animal is 

 now domesticated. The former inhabits hollow 

 trees, especially the oaks of large forests, and 

 in winter retreats to the deserted holes of foxes 

 and badgers. Its skin is an excellent fur, but 

 by no means compensates the damage done by 

 wild cats to game and poultry. 



The domestic cat, when suffered to retire to 

 thickets, easily returns to a wild stale. Its 

 colour is uncommonly diversified ; but the most 

 beautiful varieties are the reddish Spanish cat, 

 and that of Angora, with long silken hair. A 

 tame cat generally attains the age of about 

 twelve years; the female breeds in the first 

 year, though it grows till eighteen months old ; 

 she usually produces from four to six blind 

 kittens, after a gestation of fifty-five days ; and 

 carefully conceals them, apprehensive of the 

 unnatural voracity of the male. It is further 

 remarkable, that the female also has been ob- 

 served to devour her offspring, when it hap- 

 pened to be deformed or monstrous. 



The flesh of animals or fish is the most 

 agreeable food to cats; for they partake of 

 vegetable aliment only from necessity. As 

 they chew with difficulty, frequent drink is in- 

 dispensably requisite to the preservation of 

 t^eir health. There are, however, some plants i 

 oi which they are excessively fond, and when ' 

 indulged with them, present a variety of whim- 

 sical gesticulations ; of this nature is the vale- 

 270 



CAT. 



rian root, and the herb called nep, or catmint, 

 the Nepeta cataria, L.; on the contrary, they 

 shun other vegetables as their mortal enemies, 

 for instance, the common rue, or Rutn graveo- 

 lens, L. Any substance rubbed with the leaves 

 of this plant is said to be perfectly secure from 

 their depredations : for the communication of 

 this useful fact in domestic life we are indebt- 

 ed to C. P. Funke, a German naturalist. 



Cats enjoy a warm temperature and a soft 

 couch; moisture and filth, as well as water and 

 cold, are equally repugnant to their nature; 

 hence they are continually cleaning themselves 

 with their paws and tongue. Another pecu- 

 liarity is the purring of these animals, when 

 they are cajoled or flattered, by passing the 

 hand over their backs ; this 'singular noise is 

 performed by means of two elastic membranes 

 in the larynx, or the upper part of the wind-pipe. 

 Their hair is so electric that the expanded skin 

 of a cat makes an excellent cushion for the 

 glass cylinder or globe of an electrifying ma- 

 chine. 



The flesh of cats is eaten by several nations, 

 but the substance of the brain is said to be poi- 

 sonous. From the intestines of 'these animals 

 are manufactured-the celebrated Roman chords 

 for covering the violin. 



They are manufactured out of the guts of rab- 

 bits and sheep also ; they are cleaned, soakei 

 in water, stretched by a machine, and dried. 

 The name catgut comes from the circumstance 

 of cats being used as food in many parts of 

 Italy, and their guts applied to the making of 

 strings. ( Willictis Dam. Encyr.} 



Several species of the cat kind are found wild 

 in America. Dr. Harlan, in his "Fauna Ame- 

 ricana," describes the following : 



1. The Cougar of Buffon, the Pouma of some 

 travellers, vulgarly called the American Lion. 

 This is of a deep yellow colour, without a mane 

 or a tuft at the end of the tail. Its total length is 

 about three feet six inches, including the tail, 

 which is over two feet long. The body is long 

 and slender, head small, legs strong and short, 

 tail long and trailing, colour grayish about the 

 eyes, hairs within the ears white slightly tinged 

 with yellow. This animal inhabits both Ame- 

 rican continents, from Paraguay and Brazil to 

 Canada, Dr. Harlan thinks the Penmylrtmia 

 Cougar, Panther or Wild-cat a variet)' of the 

 Pouma. The ferocity of these animals is fami- 

 liarly known, and the pioneers often suffer 

 from their depredations upon pigs, sheep, 

 calves, and even colts. 



2. The Jaguar, or South American panther, is 

 also met with in the southwestern portions of 

 the United States, and has occasionally been 

 found east of the Mississippi. It is much 

 larger than the North American panther, being 

 four and a half feet long, including the tail, 

 the length of which is two feet two inches. 

 Their proportions are thick and clumsy. The 

 hairs are short, strong, compact, silky. The 

 fur yellowish, and covered with spots either 

 entirely black, or yellow encircled with black. 

 Like all wild cats they rove by night, and re- 

 tire into thick swamps by day. 



3. The Spotted Mountain Cat, the Felis parda- 

 lis of Linnaeus, and Ocelet of Buffon, inhabits 



