CAR 



GAR 



animals they can overcome ; the legs are 

 long; thighs compressed; shanks rounded 

 and ciliate within, the fore ones spinous 

 before the tip : the larvx are found under 

 groundjorin decayed wood Many species 

 are to be found in our own coun- 

 try, among which one of the largest is 

 the C. hortensis, so named from its being 

 frequently seen in gardens and pathways. 

 Among the smaller species is the C. cu- 

 preus, a very frequent insect, being seen 

 almost every where during the summer 

 months, in gardens, dry pathways, &c. 

 generally running, like the rest of the 

 genus, with a very brisk motion ; its 

 usual length is about half an inch, and its 

 colour varying from the copper to the 

 gold green. Of the British species more 

 than a hundred have been enumerated. 

 On the cont nent the C. cripitans is the 

 mosi remarkable; so named from the 

 power which it possesses of discharg- 

 ing from behind, several times in succes- 

 sion, on being pursued, a fetid and pene- 

 trating vapour, accompanied by a very 

 smart explosion, thus escaping by terri- 

 fying its pursuers. 



CAR ACT, CARAT, CARRAT, the name 

 of that weight which expresses the de- 

 gree of fineness that gold is of. The 

 mint-master, or custom, have fixed the 

 purity of gold at 24 caracts; though it is 

 not possible so to purify and refine that 

 metal, but it will want still about one- 

 fourth part of a caract in absolute purity 

 and perfection. These degrees serve to 

 distinguish the greater or lesser quantity 

 of alloy therein contained: for instance, 

 gold of 22 caracts is that which has two 

 parts of silver, or of any other metal, and 

 22 of fine gold. The caract is divided 



in M'TV. and lV 



CARACT is also a certain weight which 

 goldsmiths and jewellers use, wherewith 

 to weigh precious stones and pearls. The 

 caract by which jewellers estimate the 

 weight of diamonds and pearls is about 

 ^ of an ounce troy : hence the caract is 

 about 3.1 grains troy. 



CARAVAN, in the East, signifies a 

 company or assembly of travellers and 

 pilgrims, and more particularly of mer- 

 chants, who, fortheir greater security, and 

 in order to assist each other, march in a 

 body through the deserts, and other dan- 

 gerous places, which are infested with 

 Arabs or robbers. There is a chief, or 

 aga, who commands the caravan, and is 

 attended by a certain number of janiza- 

 ries, or other militia, according to the 

 countries from whence the caravans set 



out ; which number of soldiers must be* 

 sufficient to defend them, and conduct 

 them with safety to the places for which 

 they are designed, and on a day appoint- 

 ed. The caravan encamps every evening 

 near such wells or brooks as their guides 

 are acquainted with; and there is as 

 strict discipline observed upon this occa- 

 sion, as in armies in time of war. Their 

 beasts of burden are partly horses, but 

 most commonly camels, who are capable 

 of undergoing very great fatigue. The 

 Grand Signior gives one-fourth of the 

 revenues of Egypt to defray the expense 

 of the caravan that goes yearly to Mecca, 

 to visit Mahomet's tomb : the devotees 

 in this caravan are from forty to seventy 

 thousand, accompanied with soldiers, to 

 protect them from the pillage of the 

 Arabs, and followed by eight or nine 

 thousand camels, laden with all necessa- 

 ry provisions for so long a passage across 

 deserts. 



CARAVAN, is also used for the voyages 

 or campaigns which the knights of Malta 

 are oblige -1 to make at sea against the 

 Turks and Corsairs, that they may arrive 

 at the commendaries or dignities of the 

 order. The reason of their being thus 

 called is, because the knights have often 

 seized the caravans going from Alexan- 

 dria to Constantinople. 



CAR A VAN SERA, or KARAVANSERA, a 

 large public building or inn, appointed 

 for receiving and lodging the caravans. 

 It is commonly a large square building, in 

 the middle of which there is a very spacious 

 court ; and under the arches or piazzas 

 that surround it there runs a bank, raised 

 some feet above the ground, where the 

 merchants, and those who travel with 

 them in any capacity, take up their lodg- 

 ings as well as they can ; the beasts of 

 burden being tied to the foot of the bank. 

 Over the gates that lead into the court 

 there are sometimeslittlerooms, which the 

 keepers of the caravanseras let out, at a 

 very high price, to such as have a mind to 

 be private. The caravanseras in the East 

 are something in the nature of the inns in 

 Europe, only that you meet with little ac- 

 commodation either for man or beast, but 

 are obliged to carry almost every thing 

 with you : there is* never a caravansera 

 without a well or spring of water. These 

 buildings are chiefly owing to the charity 

 of the Mahometans: they are esteemedsa- 

 cred dwellings, where it is not permitted 

 to insult any person, or to pillage any of 

 the effects that are deposited there. They 

 even carry their precautions so far, as 

 not to suffer any man who is not married 



