CAT 



CAT 



the double stars of Dr. Herschel ; M. 

 Messier's nebulae ; and all those of Dr. 

 Herschel, excepting 1 his second and third 

 classes ; that is, all those which are capa- 

 ble of being* discerned with any teles- 

 cope inferior to his own. This work 

 contains five distinct catalogues, viz. Dr. 

 Maskelyne's new catalogue of 36 princi- 

 pal fixed stars ; a general catalogue of- all 

 the stars in zones of north-polar distance ; 

 an index of the general catalogue ; a 

 catalogue of all the stars, in the order in 

 which they pass the meridian ; and a 

 catalogue of zodiacal stars, in longitude 

 and latitude. 



CATANANCHE, in botany, a genus 

 of the Syngenesia Polvgamia JEqualis 

 class and order. Natural order of Com- 

 pound Flowers. Division, Semifloscu- 

 los<e. Cinarocephalae, Jussieu. Essential 

 character : receptacle chaffy ; calyx im- 

 bricate ; down awned from a five-bristled 

 calycle. There are three species, of 

 which C. caenilea puts forth many narrow 

 hairy leaves, which are jagged on their 

 edges like those of buckshorn plantain ; 

 but the leaves are broader, the jags 

 deeper and at greater distances ; these 

 lie flat on the ground, turning their points 

 upwards, which are very narrow. Be- 

 tween the leaves come out the flower 

 stalks, which are in number proportion- 

 able to the size of the plant ; for from an 

 old thriving root there is frequently 

 eight or ten, and young plants do not 

 send out more than two or three; each of 

 the peduncles are terminated with single 

 heads of flowers, having a dry, silvery, 

 scaly calyx, in which are included three 

 or four florets ; these are of a fine blue 

 colour, with a dark spot at bottom, and 

 in each the stamens, with their yellow 

 summits, standing a little above the petals, 

 make a pretty appearance. It is a native 

 of the South of Europe. 



CATAPLASM, an external topical me- 

 dicine, of a soft consistence, and prepar- 

 ed of ingredients of different virtues, ac- 

 cording to the intention of the physician. 

 See PHARMACY. 



CATARACT, in medicine and sur- 

 gery, a disorder of the humours in the 

 eye, by which the pupilla, that ought to 

 appear transparent and black, looks 

 opaque, grey, blue, brown, &c. by which 

 vision is variously impeded, or totally de- 

 stroyed. 



CATARRH. See MEDICINE. 



CATASTASIS, in poetry, the third 

 part of the ancient drama, being that 

 wherein the intrigue, or action, set 

 forth in the epitasis, is supported, and 

 carried on, and heightened, till it be 



ripe for the unravelling in the catas- 

 trophe. 



CATASTROPHE, in dramatic poetry, 

 the fourth and last part in the ancient dra- 

 ma, or that immediately succeeding the 

 catastasis ; or, the fifth act in modern tra- 

 gedy. 



CATCH word, among printers, that 

 placed at the bottom of each page, be- 

 ing 1 always the first word of the following 

 page. 



CATECHU, in chemistry, a substance 

 obtained by decoction and inspissation 

 from the wood of the mimosa catechu, a 

 native of India, is a very powerful as- 

 tringent, and contains a large propor- 

 tion of tannin. It is almost wholly solu- 

 ble in water, and in alcohol, but when 

 acted upon by this, a portion of mucilage 

 remains undissolved : the component 

 parts are 



Bombay catechu. 

 Tannin . . . 54.5 

 Extractive matter 34.0 

 Mucilage . . . 6.5 

 Residue ... 5. 



100.0 



Bengal catechu. 



Tannin . . . 48.5 



Extract . . . 36.5 



Mucilage ... 8.0 



Residue ... 7. 



100.0 



CATEGORY, in logic, a series or order 

 of all the predicates or attributes con- 

 tained under any genus. 



The school philosophers distribute all 

 the objects of our thoughts and ideas into 

 certain genera or classes, not so much, 

 say they, to learn what they do not know, 

 as to communicate a distinct notion of what 

 they do know ; and these classes the 

 Greeks called categories, and the Latins 

 predicaments. 



Aristotle made ten categories ; viz:sub- 

 stance, quantity, quality, relation, action, 

 passion, time, place, situation, and habit, 

 which are usually expressed by the fol- 

 lowing technical distich : 



Arbor, sex, servos, ardore, refrigerat, 

 ustos, 



Rim, eras, stabo, nee tunicatus era. 



C ATENARIA, in the higher geometry, 

 the name of a curve line formed by a rope 

 hanging freely from two points of sus- 



