CAT 



206 



CAT 



I* obtained directly from the ores by one 

 fusion. It is not suited to the reduction 

 of the clayey iron ores of this country. 



CATALEPTIC VERSES are such as want 

 either feet or syllables, from %TOI and 



CAT AL^SIA,I from 



OATALEP'SIS, > seize. A trance : a disease 



CATALEF'SY, ) which consists in a total 

 suspension of sensibility and voluntarymo- 

 tion,and generally also of mental power ; 

 the pulsation of the heart and breathing 

 continuing, the muscles remaining flex- 

 ible, the body yielding to and retaining 

 any position, in which respect it differs 

 chiefly from ecstacy. , 



CA'TALOGUE RAISONNEE, a catalogue of 

 books, classed under heads. 



CATAL'PIA, a genus of American trees : 

 Diandra Manogynia. 



CATAL'YSIS, Jtctrct^vfis , dissolution. An 

 imaginary force which is supposed to 

 assist in the decomposition of some bodies, 

 and the composition of others. Thus the 

 conversion of sugar into alcohol by yeast, 

 which itself is not changed, is cited as an 

 instance of catalysis. 



CATAMARA'N, a sort of raft, originally 

 used in China as a fishing-boat. The name 

 was applied to explosive vessels, intended 

 to destroy the French flotilla at Bou- 

 logne, early in this century. 



CATAME'NIA, the monthly discharge of 

 females, %oc.r,, and ^y, a month. 



CATAPHON'ICS, the doctrine of reflected 

 Bounds, Kara, and <puyy, sound. 



CATAPH'OR, from xara$l$tu, to fall 

 down, a term used by some to designate 

 a state of coma, and by others an unu- 

 sually sound sleep. 



CAT'APCLT, a military engine used by 

 the ancient Greeks and Romans for throw- 

 ing stones, darts, and arrows upon the 

 enemy ; from xetra., and jroA/Uu, to throw. 



CAT'ARACT, from xa.-ra.oourtrea, to fall with 

 violence. 1. A great fall of water over a 

 precipice ; a cascade upon a great scale. 

 That of Niagara is the largest in the 

 world. - 2. An interruption of sight pro- 

 duced by opacity, either of the crystal- 

 line lens or its capsule, or the fluid of 

 Morgagni, or more generally any percep- 

 tible obstacle to vision, situated between 

 the vitreous humour and the urea and 

 pupil. The first species is called true 

 cataract, and when the disease consists 

 of opaque matter situated before the 

 lens, it is denominated false cataract. 



CATARR'U, from xaraqqiiv, to flow from ; 

 a cold in the head or on the chest ; it de- 

 velopes itself by inflammation of the lin- 

 ing membrane of the air passages. Com- 

 man catarrh is called a cold, and epidemic 

 catarrh is influenza. 



. 1 The con- 



stitution or state of anything, as of the 



atmosphere. 2. The restoration of a 



thing to its natural condition, state, or 

 position. 



CATAS'TROPHE, x,a.rao"r$o&ri, from xarat, 

 and err^di- The change or revolution 

 of events which produces the final event 

 of a dramatic piece, or the unfolding of 

 the plot. The ancients divided their 

 plays into proetasis, epitasis, catastasis, 

 and catastrophe; the introduction, con- 

 tinuance, heightening, and development. 



CAT-BLOCK, a two or three-fold block, 

 with an iron strap and large hook, used 

 on board ships to draw up anchors to the 

 cat's-head. 



CAT-CALL, a squeaking instrument, used 

 in play-houses to condemn plays. 



CATCH'DRAINS, the feeders of reservoirs. 

 In the constructing of canals, the same as 

 counter-drains. 



CATCH-WORD, a word at the bottom of 

 a page which begins the next page 

 Catchwords are not now inserted. 



CATCH-WORK MEADOWS, grass lands with 

 very regular surfaces, subject to irriga- 

 tion, the water as it descends being inter- 

 cepted by drains. 



CATECHE', the Terra japonica, an ex- 

 tract of an astringent nature obtained 

 from two plants ; viz., the acacia catechu, 

 a tree of great abundance in many of 

 the forests of India, and the navclea gam- 

 bir, a scandent shrub, extensively culti- 

 vated in the countries lying on both sidee 

 of the straits of Malacca. From the first - 

 named plant the catechu is obtained by 

 boiling the chips of the interior of the 

 trunk ; from the latter it is obtained by 

 boiling the leaves. Catechu has long 

 been employed in India for tanning hides, 

 in this country it is chiefly used in dyeing 

 browns. 



CATECHU'MEN, an adult who is receiv- 

 ing instruction and preparing himself for 

 baptism. The name, from xam^o-ju-in*., 

 the place where the catechist taught, is 

 commonly applied to pagans not fully in- 

 structed in the Christian religion. 



CATEGORICAL PROPOSITION, xctr^-yo^u, 

 I declare something of another. A pro- 

 position which affirms or denies that the 

 subject does not agree with the predicate. 



CAT'EGORT, xttrv^o^ac,. In logic, an 

 enumeration of all the attributes con- 

 tained under a genus. In the logic of 

 Aristotle there are ten categories: sub- 

 stance, quantity, quality, relation, action, 

 passion, time, place, situation, and habit. 



CATEN'ARY, Lat. catenarius, appertain- 

 ing to a chain (catena) . used to denote the 

 curve which a chain forms itself into by 

 its own weight when hung freely be- 

 tween two points of suspension, whe- 

 ther those points be in the same horizon- 

 tal plane or not, 



