CAM 



187 



CAM 



the plants of the genus Myayrwn, and 

 perhaps more correctly.) 



CAMEL'LIA, a very extensive genus of 

 Asiatic plants (trees and shrubs^, all 

 treated in this country as green-house 

 plants. Monadelphia Polyandria. Name 

 from zat/MtthKiict, an undetermined plant. 



CAMEI/LIOS, | a natural order of plants, 



CAMELLI'EJE, ) including the genera 

 eamcllia and then. 



CAM'ELOPARD, the giraffe.: an African 

 quadruped forming the genus Camelopar- 

 dalis of Linntrus. It is the tallest of ani- 

 mals; its head being often 18 feet from 

 the ground. Its hair is short and gray, 

 intermixed with fawn brown angular 

 spots. It lives on leave*, and is of a gen- 

 tle disposition. 



CAMELOPARDALIS, the generic name of 

 the camelopard (q. v.) or giraffe. Charac- 

 terised in both sexes by conical horns 

 covered with a hairy skin ; from xau,'/i>.o;, 

 a camel, and ?rj5aX/r, a panther, the 

 animal being supposed by the ancients to 

 partake of the characteristics of both 

 these animals. 



CAMEL'S HAIR, the hair of the camel, 

 imported into this country chiefly for the 

 manufacture of tine pencils for drawing 

 and painting. It is divided into three 

 sorts, the black, the red, and the grey. 

 The black is the dearest, and the grey is 

 only worth half the red. 



CAMEL'S HAY, the sweet rush (andropo- 

 pon schcenanthiis'i. The dried plant is 

 imported into this country from Turkey { 

 and Arabia, and used as a stomachic. 



CAM'ELCS, the Latin generic name of 

 the camel : there are only two species ; 

 known, the two-humped or Bactrian j 

 camel (so called from its inhabiting Tur- 

 kestan, the ancient Bactria), and the one- 

 humped camel or dromedary, both large 

 animals of the Eastern Continent. (The 

 lamas are by some placed in this genus). 

 The camel belongs to the ruminant order 

 of mammiferous animals, and is the only 

 animal of that order which has cutting 

 teeth in the upperjaw. Name etu.rM;, 

 from xau.ru, to toil. 



CAM'ELCT. See CAMLET. 



CAM'EO, in the proper sense, a gem en- 

 graved in relievo. At first the onyx (see 

 CAMAIEV) only was used for this purpose, 

 but afterwards any gem which was carved 

 in relief was called a cameo. They were 

 carved according to the layers of the stone , 

 so that the ground should be of a different 

 colour from the figure in relief. The most 

 famous cameo is the Apotheosis of Augustus, 

 at Paris ; it is 12 inches high, and 10 

 inches wide. 



CAMFRA JEoitu (Chamber of JEoltti), a 

 contrivance for blowing the fire. It is 

 simply a large -eolopilc (q. v.). 



CAM'ER*. Cr.v i*. (Clear chamber), an 



optical instrument on the principle of the 

 Camera obscura, and has this advantage 

 over that instrument, that it may be usr<l 

 equally well m clear and dark weather. 



CAM'ERA LUCIDA (Light chamber), an in- 

 strument employed for delineating view g 

 from nature and copying drawings. It con- 

 sists essentially of a four-sided glass prism , 



P\ 

 i\ 



a section of which is shewn in the cut, in 

 which O is the object, and O' its reflected 

 image, P the prism, and E the eye of the 

 observer, who is thus led to suppose that 

 he sees the object delineated on a sheet of 

 white paper placed at O'. This instru- 

 ment was invented by Dr. "Wollaston, but 

 the name was originally given to an in- 

 strument invented by Dr. Hooke, analo- 

 gous to the solar-microscope. 



CAM'ERA OBSCC'RA (Dark chamber) , an op - 

 tical instrument, employed for exhibiting 

 the images and colours of external ob- 

 jects, so that they may be traced on paper 

 The simplest form of it is a darkened 

 room, into which no light is admitted ex- 

 cept by a small hole in the window-shut- 

 ter. A picture of the opposite objects 

 will then be seen on the wall or on a 

 white screen placed so as to receive the 

 light from the aperture. A very simple 

 portable camera obscura is reoreseiited in 



the annexed cut. A BCD is a small rec- 

 tangular box, closed on all sides except 

 the space EFGD, which is covered with 

 a piece of ground glass. In the other end 

 is a moveable tube T.with a proper lens, 

 and in the body of the box is a mirror 

 E I H D, set to an angle of 45. Upon this 

 mirror the image of the object PQ falls, 

 and is reflected upon the ground glass 

 plate EFGD. 



CAMERALIS'TICS, the science of finance, 

 German eameraUwt, a financier. The root 



