CHA 



CIIA 



within its base ; the instant it falls 

 on the outside the body tumbles over. 



CENTRIFUGAL (from centrum, 

 the centre, and/u^?o, 1 retreat). Used 

 in botany to describe an inflorescence 

 in which the uppermost or central 

 flowers bloom first. 



CENTRIPETAL (from centrxm 

 and pctro, I seek). That inflorescence 

 in which the outermost or lowest 

 buds develop first ; it is the most 

 common. 



CEPHALIC (from K£(^akTj, a head). 

 Relating to the head. 



CERACEOUS (from cr.ra, wax). In 

 botany, waxv. 



CERASIN. The gum of the cher- 

 ry and other trees, which does not 

 dissolve, but swells in water ; it is 

 the same as bassorin. 



CERATE. An ointment contain- 

 ing wax. 



CEREALIA. A term applied to 

 wheat, barley, rye, oats, corn, millet, 

 or grain plants. 



C E R I N. That portion of wax 

 which dissolves in boiling alcohol. 



CERUMEN. The wax formed in 

 the ears of animals. An accumula- 

 tion produces deafness, that may be 

 partly cured by syringing the ears 

 with tepid water. 



CERUSE. White-lead, which see. 



CERVICAL (from cervix, the neek). 

 Belonging to the neck. 



CESPITOSE, CESPITOSUS 

 (from ccspcs, a turf). Producing 

 many stems from one root. 



CHAFF. The husks of grain or 

 straw cut in small pieces. 



CHAFF ENGINES. The Enghsh 

 name for Siraw-cutters, which see. 



CHALCEDONY. A semi-transpa- 

 rent, silicious mineral, usually milky 

 and nodular. 



CHALDRON. A measure of 36 

 bushels, heaped. 



CHALK. A geological formation 

 abounding in Europe, but absent in 

 the United States. It belongs to the 

 uppermost portions of the secondary 

 formation, and consists of a large pro- 

 portion of carbonate of lime. 



CHALYBEATE. Medicines or 

 mineral waters containing iron : they 

 are tonic. 



CHAMOMILE. Anthcmis nohilis. 

 The flowers are used in medicine as 

 a bitter ; or an extract is made of 

 their boiled liquor. See Camomile. 



CHAMPIGNION. The French 

 name for mushrooms ; also the Aga- 

 ricas arcades, an English species, 

 tougher, but more highly flavoured 

 than the common mushroom ; it is 

 good when dried, and used in powder 

 as a condiment, or made into catsup. 



CHANGE OF SEED. Practical 

 men have discovered that highly im- 

 proved seeds, especially of wheat, 

 corn, &c., brought from a distance, 

 gradually deteriorate if the soil is un- 

 suited. Thus, the white May wheat 

 becomes red on the red soils of Vir- 

 ginia ; the delicate six weeks' corn 

 of Canada becomes a three months' 

 hard corn in the South. General 

 Harmon has shown that many of the 

 choicest English wheats produce im- 

 perfect grain in New-York ; and it 

 must be evident that whatever im- 

 provement in plants and seeds has 

 been attained by high culture, wiU be 

 lost unless that culture is maintained. 

 Instead, therefore, of changing seed, 

 it is best to improve our own, and 

 keep the land up to the proper tilth ; 

 and if we introduce new varieties, to 

 take care to introduce, also, high cul- 

 ture. Seeds of the same state, or a 

 similar soil and climate, deteriorate 

 less rapidly than foreign grain. By 

 changing seed and always buying 

 choice kinds, fine grain may be ob- 

 tained for one or two seasons, even 

 from indifferent lands. 



CHARCOAL. Vegetable matter 

 burned in a place without access of 

 air. Near large cities a strong vine- 

 gar (pyroligneous acid) is made from 

 green wood, by distilling it in iron 

 vessels ; fine charcoal remains in the 

 vessel, and is thus obtained for com- 

 bustion. On the farm, the produc- 

 tion of charcoal must be on a cheaper 

 and more wholesale scale. Logs of 

 wood are piled either horizontally or 

 vertically into a dome-shaped mass, 

 a chimney being left in the centre 

 about four or five inches square, and 

 the rest covered close with sods and 

 earth a foot deep, so that no smoke can 



143 



