CAS 



CAT 



C ASTOR-oz7, in pharmacy, is extracted 

 from the kernel of the fruit produced by 

 the Fficinus Americanus, or oil nut, which 

 grows in many parts of America, and is 

 much cultivated in Jamaica. A gallon of 

 nuts from this tree will produce about a 

 quart of oil. It is either prepared by 

 coction or cold drawn ; that is, extracted 

 from the bruised seeds. It is sent over 

 to us in barrels ; and it is reckoned the 

 best which has least colour. 



CASTRAMETATION, is the art of 

 measuring or tracing out the form of a 

 camp on the ground ; yet it sometimes 

 has a more extentive signification, by in- 

 cluding all the views and designs of a ge- 

 neral ; the one requires only the know- 

 ledge of a mathematician, the other the 

 experience of an old soldier. The an- 

 cients were accustomed to fortity their 

 camps by throwing up entrenchments 

 round them. The Turks, and other Asia- 

 tic nations, fortify themselves, when in an 

 open country, with their waggons and 

 other carriages. The practice of the 

 Europeans is quite different ; for the sure- 

 ty of their camp consists in the facility 

 and convenience of drawing out their 

 troops at the head of their encampment : 

 for which reason, whatever particular 

 order of battle is regarded as the best 

 disposition for fighting, it follows, of 

 course, that we should encamp in such 

 a manner as to assemble and parade our 

 troops in that order and disposition as 

 soon as possible. It is therefore the or- 

 der of battle that should regulate the or- 

 der of encampment ; that is to say, the 

 post of each regiment in the line of bat- 

 tle should be at the head of its own en- 

 campment : from whence it follows, that 

 the extent of the line of battle from right 

 to left of the camp should be equal to the 

 front of the troops in line of battle, with 

 the same intervals in the camp as in the 

 line. By this means every battalion co- 

 vers its own tents, and they can all lodge 

 themselves, or turn out in case of neces- 

 sity at a minute's warning. 



If the front of the camp is greater 

 than the line, the troops must leave large 

 intervals, or expose their flanks; if less, the 

 troops will not have room to form with 

 the proper intervals. 



The front or principal line of the 

 camp is commonly directed to face the 

 enemy. 



CASUALS, a term used by military 

 men, in their regimental returns of the 

 British army, signifying- men that are dead, 

 have been discharged, or have deserted. 



CASUARINA, in botany, a genus of 



the Monoecia Monandria class and order. 

 Natural order of Conifers. Essential 

 character : male calyx of the ament ; 

 corol scalelets two-parted ; female calyx 

 of the ament ; corol none ; style bifid ; 

 strobile. There are five species, of which 

 C. equisctifolia, horse-tail casuarina, is a 

 very large spreading lofty tree; the leaves, 

 or rather blanchlets hanging down in 

 bunches from twelve to eighteen inches 

 in length, like very longhair, or a horse's 

 tail, all joiuted from top to bottom like the 

 equisetums, or horse tails, is a very re- 

 markable character of this singular tree. 

 It is a native of the East Indies and the 

 South Sea Islands. 



CAT. See FELIS. 



CAT, a ship usually employed in the 

 coal trade ; built very strong, and made 

 to carry from four to six hundred tons. It 

 is distinguished by a narrow stern, pro- 

 jecting quarters, and by having no orna- 

 mental figure on the prows. 



C \T-hook, a strong hook fitted to the 

 cat, to hook the ring of the anchor when 

 it is to be drawn up or catted. 



CATc-o'iune tails, an instrument, by 

 which discipline is still maintained in the 

 British navy and army, though, to the 

 honour of other countries, it is said that 

 corporal punishment has been abolished. 

 This instrument is composed of nine 

 pieces of line or chord, about half a yard 

 long, fixed upon a piece of thick rope for 

 a handle, and having three knots on each 

 cord, with which the men who transgress 

 the orders of their superiors are pun- 

 ished. 



CA-r's-patv, a light breeze of wind per- 

 ceived at a distance, in a calm, by the im- 

 pression made on the surface of the sea, 

 which it sweeps very lightly, and then de- 

 cays. The same term is given to a parti- 

 cular turn made in the bight of a rope, in 

 order to hook a tackle on it. 



C \T-harpiugSy in a ship, small ropes 

 running in little blocks from one side of 

 the shrowds to the other, near the deck. 

 Their use is to force the shrowds and 

 make them taught, for the more security 

 and safety of the masts. 



CAT-Aea</s, two strong beams of timber, 

 projected almost horizontally over the 

 ship's-bows, on each side of the bow- 

 sprit. The cat-head serves to suspend 

 the anchor clear of the bow, when it is 

 necessary to let it go : it is supported by 

 a sort of knee, which is generally orna- 

 mented by sculpture. 



CATACAUSTIC curves, in the higher 

 geometry, that species of caustic curves 

 which are formed by reflection. 



