CAP 



196 



CAP 



"Name, xetttotfif, perhaps <rae* TO 

 vmmotvb* oteoty, from its supposed efficacy 

 n curing melancholy. The picVi.-d buds 

 of thft C. smnosa are well known under the 

 name of camera. 



CA'>RA, the goat : a genus of ruminant 

 maiamalia, of which the wild goat (the 

 stock of all the varieties of our domestic' 

 go.it) and the ibex are species. The name 

 copra is the Latin word for a she-goat. 



CAFRA'RIA, a genus of tropical plants. 

 Didyr.amia Atigiospermia. The sweet- 

 wood or Mexican tea is the C. biflora. 

 Name, Caprarta, a kind of seagreen good 

 against hemorrhoides. 



CAPRE'OLET, Lat. capreolatus, resembling 

 the tendrils of a vine, tendril-like. 



CAP'REOL, Lat. capreolus, a tendril. 



CAP'REOLS, the struts or braces of a 

 trussed roof. 



CAP'RIC ACID, a peculiar acid discovered 

 by M. Chevreuil in the butter of goats' 

 and cows' milk. 



CAPPRICCIO (Ital.)i fancy. In music, 

 applied to passages where the composer 

 indulges his fancy without being bound 

 to keys or moods ; called also Fantasia. 



CAP'RICORN, from capra, a goat, and 

 cornu, a horn. 1. The name of one of the 



three divisions of tetramerous beetles. 



2. In astronomy, one of the twelve signs 

 of the zodiac represented on globes by the 

 figure of a goat, and symbolised by y^, 

 originally intended to represent the horns 

 of a goat. The sun enters Capricorn on 

 tne 21st Dec., which is the time of the 

 winter solstice, and as he then ascends to- 

 Tards the north, like the goat when it 

 Climbs the sides of mountains, some 

 have ascribed the origin of the name to 

 this fanciful resemblance. This constel- 

 lation gives name to one of the small 

 circles of the sphere. See TROPIC. 



CAP'RIDJB, a tribe of mammalia of which 

 the genus Capra is the type. 



CAPSIFICA'TJCN, a method of ripening 

 the fruit of the domestic fig- tree, by means 

 of the cynipt or fig -fly, practised in the 

 if lands of the Grecian Archipelago. These 

 insects, which are produced from the 

 winter figs of the caprificus or wild fig- 

 tree, are gathered and deposited on the 

 fruit of the garden fig-trees. They enter 

 the fruit by the eye, and the worms pro- 

 duced from the eggs which they lay 

 puncture the fruit, and, it is said, not 

 "only accelerate its maturity but render it 

 larger. 



CAPRIFOLIA'CEJE, a family of plants in 

 the natural system of Jussieu ; the genus 

 Caprifolium is the type. 



CAPRIMUL'OCS, the goat-sucker ; capra 

 and mulgeo,tn suck ; a genus of passerine 

 Sirds of the family fittirostre*. The goat- 

 auckers are allied to the swallows, live \ 

 , t&A EOT Twiture tbrytA ex- 1 



cept at twilight and at night in fin 

 weather, when they hunt phalana; and 

 other nocturnal insects. The whip-poor- 

 will of America, and the night-swallow, 

 or night -jar of Europe, are species. The 

 generic names, (caprimnlyun, goat-sucker, 

 eegathehts,) derive their origin from the 

 whimsical idea entertained by the people 

 of their sucking goats and even cows. 



CAP'RIOLE, in the tnanfye ; the goat- 

 leap, capriohis ; the leap which a horse 

 makes in the same place without advan- 

 cing, in such a manner that, when he is 

 at the height of his leap, he jerks out 

 his hind legs, even and near. The com- 

 mon name of this exercise is the pillared 

 horse, because the animal to work well 

 upon caprioles is put between two pillars 

 and taught to raise first his forequarters, 

 and when these are jot in the air to 

 raise his hind quarters. 



CAP'ROIC ACID, a peculiar acid discovered 

 in butter by M. Chevreuii. 



CAP'ROMIS, a genus of mammalia of the 

 order Rodentia, belonging to the rat-tribe. 

 The shape is that of a rat, but the size 

 is that of a rabbit or hare. There are 

 two species, the C. fournieri, Desmar, and 

 C. prchensilit, Pcessig ; both inhabit the 

 island of Cuba, where they are known by 

 the name of Houtias. Name xenreaf , a 

 boar, andjttuf, rat, the boar-rat. 



CAp'sA,a genus of mollusca named from 

 the capsular form of the shell, 



CAPSEL'LA, (dim. of capsa, a box). 1. 

 The herb shepherd's - purse, a British 



annual. 2. The echium, or viper's 



bugloss. 3. A genus of plants recently 



detached from the genus Thlaspi. 



CAP'SICUM, a genus of plants, natives of 

 warm climates. Pentandria Monogynui. 

 Name from xaa-m, to bite ; some of tha 

 most pungent peppers, as the cayenne, 

 bird, bell, and cherry peppers, being pro- 

 duced by species of this genus. 



CAP'SQDARES, the plates cf iron which 

 come over the trunnions of a &M. to keep 

 it on the carriage. 



CAP'STAK , 1 If a windlass have its axis 



CAP'STERN, ) placed vertically, it be- 

 comes a capstan. The power is applied 



to the capstan by meant wf a series of 

 iCTflrii. ?k.ced at equal distances round it, 



