CAS 



CAT 



CA'RTILAGB. (cartilago, Lat. cartilage, 

 Fr. cartilagine, It.) Smooth, 

 solid, animal matter, softer than 

 bone, and harder than ligament; 

 gristle, 



CARTILAGINOUS. (cartilagineux, Fr. 

 cartilaginoso, It.) Consisting of 

 cartilage ; resembling cartilage ; 

 gristly. 



2. A name given to all fish 

 whose muscles are supported by 

 cartilages instead of bones. 



3. A term applied to leaves, the 

 borders of which are hard and 

 horny. 



CARYOPHY'LLIA. " A stony fixed poly- 

 pifer, simple or ramified ; the stem 

 and branches rather turbinated, 

 and striated longitudinally, each 

 being terminated by a cell, radiated 

 in a stelliform figure. Parkinson. 

 Lamarck separated Caryophyllia 

 from Madrepora. In the caryo- 

 philliae possessing more than one 

 cell, each receptacle contains a 

 polypus. A branched madrepore 

 with a star at the end of each 

 branch ; each star having a mouth 

 and tentacula. Bakewell. 



CA'SPIAN. The name given to a large 

 body of salt water not communi- 

 cating with the main ocean. 

 " Masses of salt water are some- 

 times included in the dry land, 

 which have been termed Caspians, 

 from the Caspian Sea, the largest 

 of them. These bodies of salt 

 water have been variously accoun- 

 ted for ; some supposing that they 

 have been left isolated by a change 

 in the relative level of land and 

 water, while others imagine their 

 saltness to arise from their oc- 

 currence in countries impregnated 

 with saline matter." M. Le Beche, 

 Geological Manual. 



CASSIDA'RJA. A genus of univalve 

 molluscs found both recent and 

 fossil. The recent species are 

 found near the shore, and at small 

 depths from the surface. The 



fossil specimens occur in the terti- 

 ary strata. 

 CA'SSIS. 



1. The helmet-stone. An echinite, 

 a section of the class of Catocysti. 



2. A gibbose ventricose univalve ; 

 the aperture longitudinal and sub- 

 dentated, and terminating in a 

 short reflected canal. The colu- 

 mella plicated in its lower part ; 

 the left lip flattened, and forming 

 a ridge on the body of the shell. 

 Parkinson. 



This genus of shells is found 

 both recent and fossil : the recent 

 is an inhabitant of tropical seas ; 

 the fossil occurs in the tertiary 

 deposits. Some species are figured 

 in Parkinson's Organic Remains. 



CA'SSIDITE. A fossil shell of the 

 genus cassidaria. The hills of 

 Tuscany yield these fossils. 



CA'TACLYSM. (from /caTa/cXt/<r/tos, Gr. 

 cataclysmej Fr.) A great inunda- 

 tion or deluge: used generally to 

 describe the ^Noaohian deluge. 



The sect of Stoics taught that 

 catastrophes were of two kinds; 

 the cataclysm and the eepyrosis; 

 the former sweeps from the face of 

 the earth the whole of the animal 

 and vegetable productions; the 

 latter destroys the globe itself. 



CAT'S-EYE. The katzenange of Wer- 

 ner; quartz agathe chatoyant of 

 Hau'y ; quartz hyalin chatoyant of 

 Brongniart. A beautiful mineral, 

 a variety of rhombohedral quartz, 

 having an opalescence resembling 

 the light from the eye of the cat ; 

 whence its name. The peculiar 

 play of light arising from the 

 structure of this stone, is better 

 known than susceptible of descrip- 

 tion. The chatoyement of this 

 mineral ia supposed to arise from 

 fine fibres of asbestus or amianthus 

 included in it. This chatoyement, 

 or opalescence, is increased by the 

 mineral being cut in a spherical 

 form. The colours of cat's-eye are 

 greenish or yellowish-grey, yellow- 



