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CAI'LTJS (Latin), a preternatural hard- 

 ness of any part, whether carneous or osse- 

 ous. Corns produced by pressure and fric- 

 tion on the hands and feet of labourers are 

 examples of the first, and the new growth 

 of bony substance bet ween theextemities 

 of fractured bones, by which they are 

 united, is an instance of the latter. 



CALociTAN us a name of the wild poppy, 

 Papaver rhteas; from xoi\o;, beautiful, 

 and xatTotvou, a cup, in allusion to the 

 beauty of its flower and shape. 



CAL'OMEL, from KO.KO; , good, and uX<xj , 

 black. This name was originally applied 

 to the black sulphuret of mercury, 

 athiops mineral, it was afterwards very 

 inappropriately applied to the proto- 

 chloride ol mercury, which is the only 

 substance LOW known under the name of 

 calomel. It is a highly important and 

 highly abused medicine. 



CALOPHYL'LCM, the calaba-tree of the 

 E. Indies, of which there are two species. 

 Folyandria Monogynia. Name from 

 oXdf, beauty, and <pyXAv, a leaf; the 

 species being distinguished by the beauty 

 of their leaves. All the species afford a 

 kind of tacamahaca, and an oil used for 

 burning. 



CALOR'IC, from color, heat; applied in 

 philosophical language as the name of 

 that agency which produces the pheno- 

 mena of heat and combustion. There 

 are two theories regarding it : 1. That it 

 is a subtile fluid, the particles of which 

 mutually repel one another, and are at- 

 tracted by all other substances. 2. That 



it is not a separate entity, but is merely, 

 like gravity, a property of matter refer- 

 able to a vibratory motion among the 

 ultimate particles of common matter. The 

 arguments in favour of the first theory are 

 founded on the evolution and absorption 

 of heat during chemical combination, and 

 the existence of colorific rays along with 

 those of light in the solar beam ; those of 

 the latter are chiefly founded on the pro- 

 duction of heat by friction, and other 

 mechanical processes, producing motion 

 among the particles of matter. 



CALORI'METER, from caloric and metrum, 

 a measure. An apparatus invented by 

 Lavoisier and Laplace to measure the 

 quantity of heat which a body gives out 

 in cooling, by the quantity of ice which 

 it melts. It consists of three similar me- 

 tallic vessels, the one containing the 

 other, and kept separate by small pieces 

 of wood. The intervals between the ves- 

 sels are filled with pounded ice, and the 

 body to be cooled is placed in the inner 

 vessel which is formed of iron net-work. 

 The quantity of water produced by the 

 cooling of the body is the measure of its 

 pecific caloric. In the calorimeter of 

 Count Kumford water is used, and the 



capacity of the body is determined by 

 the number of degrees which the tem- 

 perature of the water is raised in cool- 

 ing the body a given number of degrees. 

 The sources of fallacy in both kinds are 

 such as render the results doubtful. 



CA'LORIMO'TOR, from caloric and motor, 

 a mover, a galvanic instrument, in which 

 the calorific influence or effects are at- 

 tended with scarcely any electrical power. 



CALOSO'MA, Gr., from jjoc/.o* , beautiful, 

 and tra/ua, body. Carabidae or ground 

 beetles, a genus of most beautiful cole- 

 opterous insects. 



CALOSTEM'MA, a genus of perennial 

 plants of New Holland. Hexandria 

 Monogynia. Name from Xj, beauti- 

 ful, and (rrtu.ua., a wreath. 



CALOTHAM'NCS, a genus of plants trees) 

 of New Holland. Polyadelphia Icotan- 

 dria. Name from zat&os, beautiful, and 

 roifjiyof, tree. 



CALOTTE' (French), a cap ; applied in 

 architecture to a concavity in the form of 

 a cup or niche, lathed and plastered, to 

 diminish the height of a chapel, cabinet, 

 alcove or the like, which otherwise would 

 be too high for the breadth. 



CAL'OTERS, Greek monks, who chiefly 

 resided in Mount Athos, and became ce'- 

 lebrated for their solitary and austere 

 life. The Turks sometimes call their der- 

 vishes by this name. 



CALP, xa,Xxr, , a sub-species of carbon ate 

 of Ifme containing argil and oxide of iron . 



CAL'THA, the marsh marigold, a genus 

 of British perennials. PolyandriaPoly- 

 gynia. Greek name jgoXfla, caltha, pro- 

 bably a corruption of ^aX^a, yellow, 

 whence its other names, xx6yX, cal- 

 thula ; x<xAO'j>.x, caldula ; ^a/.svjy/.a, 

 calendula. 



CAL'TROPS, a name common to all the 

 species of the genus Tribulus, but espe- 

 cially applied to the T. terrestris ,a thistle, 

 with a roundish prickly pericarp on the 

 one side, gibbose and armed with three 

 or four daggers ; and on the other angu- 

 lar and converging with transverse cells. 

 It is found in the south of Europe, among 

 corn, &c., and is peculiarly dangerous to 

 the feet of cattle. Name, calyx, the heel, 

 and tribolo, a thistle. The name water- 

 caltrops is applied to the plants of the 

 genus Trapa. 



CALTROP. In military affairs, an instru- 

 ment with four iron points disposed in a 

 triangular form, so that three of them 

 being on the ground the othe- point is 

 upwards. Caltrops are scattered on the 

 ground where an enemy's cavalry are to 

 pass, to impede their progress by endan- 

 gering the feet of the horses. The instru- 

 ment takes its name from its resemblance 

 to the caltrops thistle. 



