CAN 



CAN 



gours of winter. In some parts it is com- 

 pelled to sustain itself by berries, shell- 

 fish, or whaiever is thrown up by the 

 sea. In others, the sustenance of these 

 animals consists of wild geese, and every 

 kind of water-fowls, with their eggs; 

 and in Lapland, particularly, they feed 

 upon a species of mice called lemings, 

 which, being migratory at uncertain pe- 

 riods, induce the consequent migrations 

 of the arctic fox, who will, in the pur- 

 suit of this prey, be absent from his na- 

 tive country sometimes for three, or 

 even four years. The ground in Spitz- 

 bergen being eternally frozen, these ani- 

 mals being consequently here unable to 

 burrow, reside in the clitfs of rocks, and 

 two or three are often found in the same 

 hole. The cunning supposed to be cha- 

 racteristic of the fox, and which it might 

 be supposed that embarrassment and 

 hardship would increase, is by no means 

 a quality of the variety under conside- 

 ration, which is indeed rather noted for 

 its simplicity, instances having been 

 known, in which the arctic fox, after 

 standing by while a trap was baited, has 

 immediately thrust his head into it. The 

 Greenlanders convert the skins of these 

 animals, which are light and warm, but 

 not lasting, to the purposes of merchan- 

 dize, manufacturing some of the thicker 

 and harder parts into buttons. They oc- 

 casionally eat the flesh, and the tendons 

 are divided by them into slender fila- 

 ments, and substituted for thread. For a 

 representation of the fox, see Mammalia, 

 Plate VI. fig. 4. 



CAJHS, Major, in astronomy, a constel- 

 lation of the southern hemisphere. 



CA.ITIS Minor, Caniculus, or Canicula, 

 in astronomy, a constellation in the nor- 

 thern hemisphere. See ASTRONOMY. 



CANKER, a disease incident to trees, 

 proceeding chiefly from the nature of 

 the soil. It makes the bark rot and fall. 



CANNA, in botany, Indian flowering 

 reed, or Indian shot, a genus of the Mo- 

 nandria Monogynia class and order. Na- 

 tural order of Scitaminex. Cannze, Jus- 

 sieu. Essential character; corolla six 

 parted, erect ; lip two-parted, revolute ; 

 style lanceolate, growing to the corolla ; 

 calyx three-leaved. There are five spe- 

 cies, most of them natives of the northern 

 provinces of America. 



CANNABIS, in botany, English hemp, 

 a genus of the Dioecia Pentandria class 

 and order. Natural order of Scabridae. 

 Urticje, Jussieu. Essential character : 

 male, calyx five-parted ; corolla none ; 

 female, calyx one-leafed, entire, gaping- 



on one side ; corolla none ; styles two ; 

 not bivalve, within the closed calyx. 

 There is but one species, viz. C. sativa. 

 The uses of hemp are well known, as 

 well as its great importance to the navy 

 for sails and cordage. Exceedingly good 

 huckaback is made from it for towels 

 and common table-cloths. The low pric- 

 ed hempen cloths are a general wear for 

 husbandmen, servants, and labouring ma- 

 nufacturers. The hemp raised in Eng- 

 land is not of so dry and spongy a nature 

 as what we have from Russia, and there- 

 fore it requires a smaller proportion of 

 tar to manufacture it into cordage. Eng- 

 lish hemp, properly manufactured, stands 

 unrivalled in its strength, and is superior 

 to the Russian. Like many other plants, 

 generally cultivated, it is difficult to as- 

 certain the original place of its native 

 growth. Linnaeus gives it to the East 

 Indies and Japan. 



C ANN EL coal. See AMPELITES. 



CANNON, in the military art, an en- 

 gine or fire-arm for throwing iron, lead, 

 or stone bullets, by force of gun-powder. 

 Cannons at first were called bombardae, 

 from the noise they made ; they had like- 

 wise the name of culverin, basilisk. &c. 

 from the beasts that were represented 

 upon them ; and the Spaniards, from de- 

 votion, gave them the name of saints ; 

 witness the twelve apostles which 

 Charles V. ordered to be cast at Malaga, 

 for his expedition to Tunis. 



Cannon are classed as field-pieces or 

 battering pieces ; the former are usually 

 made of mixed metals, but sometimes of 

 pure brass ; the latter, with very few ex- 

 ceptions, are of cast iron. Every can- 

 non is made by running fused metal into 

 a mould, and is afterwards finished by be- 

 ing turned on a lathe. The chase is bored 

 by means of a strong machine. Some 

 suspend the cannon vertically over the 

 borer, making it press downwards as the 

 borer revolves : others have a horizontal 

 process, in which the cannon is firmly 

 fixed on a frame, and the borer approach- 

 es as the chase proceeds. There is a 

 large cylindrical projection on each side 

 of a cannon, nearly in the middle of its 

 length ; these are called trunnions ; they 

 serve to support it on the carriage, and 

 as pivots, whereon a due degree of ele- 

 vation or depression may be given. The 

 variation in the elevation is made in field- 

 pieces, which usually carry balls of 3, 6, 

 9, 12, and up to ISlb. weight, by means of 

 a screw fixed to a strong piece of wood, 

 that joins ^he two cheeks of the carriage, 

 and is fastened by a loop and bol*. to 1 h^ 



