CAM 



CAM 



led at all, be confined. 2. An involucre, 

 remote from the flower, as in many um- 

 belliferous plants. 3. An amentum, or 

 catkin, from a common, chaffy, gemma- 

 ceous receptacle. 4. A spathe, bursting 

 longitudinally. 5. A glume, formed of 

 valves embracing the seed. 6. A calyp- 

 tra, covering the capsules of mosses like 

 u hood. 7. A volva, a membranaceous 

 covering to the fructification of the fungi. 

 The involucre is rather a number of 

 bractes ; and the amentum a species of 

 inflorescence. See BOTANY. 



CAMAX, in botany, a genus of the 

 Pentandria Monogynia class and order. 

 Essential character : corolla, wheel-shap- 

 ed ; filaments inserted between the seg- 

 ments of the corolla; berry four-celled, 

 many seeded, all villose. There is but 

 one species ; viz. C.guianensis, is a shrub 

 growing to the height of fifteen feet ; it 

 is a native of Guiana, and flowers in Janu- 

 ary. The inhabitants and negroes use 

 the branches of this shrub for wattling 

 their huts. 



CAMBLET, or CAMLET, a plain stuff, 

 composed of a warp and woof, which is 

 manufactured on a loom, v/ith two tred- 

 dJes. There are camlets of several sorts, 

 some of goat's hair, both in the warp and 

 woof; others, ia which the warp is of 

 hair, and the woof half hair and half silk ; 

 others again, in which both the warp and 

 the woof are of wool ; and lastly, some, 

 of which the warp is of wool and the woof 

 of thread. Some are dyed in the thread, 

 others are dyed in the piece, others are 

 marked or mixed ; some are striped, 

 some waved or watered, and some figured. 



Camblets are proper for several uses, 

 according to their different kinds and 

 qualities ; some serve to make garments 

 both for men and women ; some for bed- 

 curtains ; others for household furniture, 

 &c. 



CAMBOGIA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Polyandria Monogynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Tricoccse. Guttiferse, 

 Jussieu. Essential character: corolla 

 four-petalled; calyx four-leaved; pome 

 eight-celled ; seeds solitary. There is but 

 one species; viz. C. gutta^ is a tall tree, 

 with a trunk sometimes as thick as two 

 men can compass, with spreading, oppo- 

 site branches ; native of the East Indies 

 and China ; it is very abundant in Siam 

 and Cambodia, where incisions are made 

 in the bark, and a great quantity of gum - 

 mi guttae, or gamboge, is extracted, and 

 exported into foreign countries ; it is ve- 

 ry much in use for miniature painting 

 and water colours. 



CAMEL, in zooloey, a genus of quad- 



YOL. Ill, 



rupeds, of the order of Pecora ; distin- 

 guished from the rest by having no horn. 

 See CAMELUS. 



CAMELEON mineral, a compound, so 

 called on account of the changes of co- 

 lour which it exhibits. It is prepared 

 from the black oxide of manganese, finely 

 levigated, and purified nitre, in the pro- 

 portion of one part of the former to five 

 of the latter. They are to be fused to- 

 gether for half an hour at a high heat, in 

 an earthen crucible. A green mass is pro- 

 duced, which deliquates by exposure to 

 the atmosphere, and of course requires 

 to be kept in a well-stopped vial. It 

 readily dissolves in hot water, making a 

 dark green solution. This solution, 

 though kept in a close vessel, will in a 

 few days deposit a yellow powder, and 

 the liquor becomes of a fine blue, which 

 being diluted with water, assumes a violet 

 colour^ that afterwards grows red, and 

 finally loses its colour, a grey oxide of 

 manganese being thrown down. By the 

 addition of a few drops of acid to the 

 blue liquor, the change to the red is in- 

 stantaneous,andthe colour is a very beau- 

 tiful tint, between crimson and pink. 



CAMELLIA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Monadelphia Polyandria class and order. 

 Natural order of Columniferse. Aurantia, 

 Jussieu. Essential character : calyx im- 

 bricate, many-leaved ; the inner leaflets 

 larger. There are three species, of which 

 C. japonica, Japan rose, is a great and 

 lofty tree, in high esteem with the Japa- 

 nese for the elegance of its beautiful 

 flowers, which exhibit a great" variety of 

 colours, and for its evergreen leaves, but 

 has no scent. It is common in their gar- 

 dens, flowering from October to April. 

 It varies with single and double flowers, 

 white, red, and purple. It is also a na- 

 tive of China. 



CAMELOPARDALIS, the camelopard 

 giraffe, in natural history, a genus of the 

 Mammalia, and order Pecora. The gene- 

 ric character: horns covered with a brist- 

 ly skin, bony and permanent ; in the low- 

 er jaw eight teeth in front, and on each 

 side the exterior tooth deeply bilobate. 

 There is but one species ; viz. the Giraf- 

 fe, which, when fully grown, has been 

 known to attain the extraordinary height 

 among quadrupeds of seventeen feet. Its 

 head is small; its aspect gentle ; its fore- 

 parts are much higher than those behind, 

 its colours arranged so as particularly to 

 please the eye, and its form, notwithstand- 

 ing the very great length of the neck, and 

 a general singular) ty,possessesgreatbeau- 

 ty and elegance. It is a native of seve- 

 ral parts of Afric*. living in forests, prin- 



