C A I 



.! reduced, lie olitalned an appointment in the obfervatory ; 



,i.i iinJcr the iiillniiilion of tiiis excellent patron, iiis natural 

 ^ciiius liad favourable opportunities for cultivation and cx- 

 ercife, and he acquired the reputation of an able aflronomer. 

 In 1739 he was conncfted with M. CafTnii de Thury, in 

 verifying; the meridian through the whole extent of France; 

 and in the fame year he was appointed profeffor of Mathe- 

 matics in the college of Mazarine. In 1741 he was admitted 

 into the Academy of Sciences, and from this year to 1763 in- 

 Llufive, he enriched every volume of tlie memoirs with fomc 

 valuable paper. He alfo publiilied, at diderent periods, fume 

 uleful trcatifes on geometry, allronomy, mechanics, and 

 :iptics. He alfo computed all the eclipfes of the fun and 

 moon, from the commencement of the Cliriilian xra, which 

 were printed in the work intitled , " L'Art de verifier les 

 Dates, &c." Paris, 1750, 4to. He alfo compiled a volume 

 of " Aftronomical Ephemerides," for 10 years, from 1745 

 to 1755; another from 17J5 to 1765; and a third, from 

 1765 to 1775. His excellent work, intitled, " Aftronomiaj 

 Fundamenta, noviflimis Solis et Stellarum Obfervationibus 

 ftabilita ; " was publifhed at Paris in 1759 ; and in 1760 ap- 

 peared his corrcft folar tables, under the title of " Tabulx 

 folates, qiias e noviflimis fuis obfervationibus deduxit," N. 

 L. de la Caille. 



Having completed a feries of feven years' obfervations in 

 the obfervatory at the Mazarine college, he formed a pro- 

 eft, which vi'as approved by the French conrt, ofobferving 

 :he fouthcrn ftars at the Cape of Good Hope; and pro- 

 :eeded upon this expedition in 1750. In the fpace of two 

 years he obferved the places of about 10,000 liars in the 

 fouthern hemifphere, invifible in our latitude ; and deter- 

 Tiined feveral other important elements, fuch as the parallaxes 

 jf the fun and moon, and fome of the planets, the obliquity 

 )f the ecliptic, the quantities of refraftion, &c. Previous 

 ;o his return he engaged in the arduous attempt of eilimat- 

 ng the dimenfions of the earth by meafurement, at the 

 onthern parallels, as other aftronomers had done near the 

 ;quator, and in northern latitudes, with a view of deciding 

 whether the former correfponded with the latter. The re- 

 "ults of his labours were fatisfaftory ; for having determined a 

 liftance of 4108 14 feet from a place called " Klip-Fontyn" 

 :o the "Cape," by means of a bafe of 3SS02 feet, three 

 limes aftually meafured, he difcovered an unknown fecret 

 jf nature, vi/. that the radii of the parallels in fouth latitude 

 ire not of the fame length with thofe of the correfponding 

 parallels in north latitude. He found that a degree on the 

 Tieridian in 32° S. lat. contains ,^42222 Paris feet. In con- 

 formity to orders from the court of Verfailles, he alfo de- 

 :ermincd the fituation of the' Ides of France and Bourbon. 

 During his abode at the Cape he likewife made fome curious 

 neteorological obfervations ; and he particularly obferved, 

 ;han vvhen the fouth-eall wind blows, which is often the 

 ;afe, the ftars appear larger and feem to dance; that the 

 •noon has an undulating tremor; and that the planets have 

 I fort of beardlike comets. 



Upon his return to France, after an abfence of 4 years, 

 le replied to fome ftriftures, publifhed by the celebrated 

 Euler, relating to the meridian : he afterwards fettled the 

 refults of the comparifon of his own obfervations, refpefting 

 the parallaxes, with thofe of other aftronomers. Accord- 

 ingly, he fixed that of the fun at 9-^,", that of the moon at 

 56' 56", that of Mars, in his oppofition, at j6", and that 

 if Venus at j8". He alfo fettled the laws, by which aftro- 

 nomical refraftions are varied by the different denfity or ra- 

 rity of the air, by heat or cold, and by drynefs or moifture. 

 And he was one of the firft promoters of the lunar obferva- 

 tions for determining the longitude at fea. In confcquence 



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of the reputation which he had thus acquired and eftabllfhed, 

 he was elcded a member of moft of the academies and foci- 

 cties in F.urope : as London, Bologna, Peterfburg, Berlin, 

 Stockholm, and Gottingen. 



Independently of his own publications, he edited the me- 

 moirs of Father Feuillee, at the Canaries; the journal of the 

 voyage of M. de Chazelle, to the Levant; the maiuifcript 

 coUe-ftiou of obfervations of William, Landgrave of HefTe, 

 and Bouguer's trcatife on the gradation of light. 



Although he was attacked in 1 760 with a fevere fit of 

 the gout, the energy of his mind was unimpaired: fo that 

 befides purfuing his courfe of ftudies, he fkctchcd out the 

 plan of a new and large work, propofed to be " The Hiftory 

 of Aftrononiy through all Ages, with a Comparifon of the 

 ancient and modern Obfervations, and the Coullruftion and 

 Ufe of the Inftruments employed in working them." In 

 the year 1761 his conftitution gradually declined, without 

 interrupting his ftudies, in which he perfevcred to the laft : 

 and they only terminated with his life, March 21ft, 1762. 

 Mem. of the Paris Academy for 1762. 



Caillf,, in Ornithology, among the French, fynonymonS 

 with the Englifti word quail, as for example, ca'iUe de la 

 Lou'ifiane of Buffon, the Lonifiane quail of Latham ; caille 

 de la Chine of Buffon, the Chinefe quail of Edwards; caille 

 ds I'ljle de Lugon of Sonncrat, the Luzonian quail of Latham, 

 &c. 



CAILLERE, LA, in Geography, a town of France, in 

 the department of the Vendee; 4^ leagues N. E. of 

 Lucon. 



CAILLOT, in Biography, a moft pleafing, and almofl 

 the only pleafing, thcatiical French finger, to the natives of 

 other countries, that France has produced. He continued, 

 during many years, the favourite aftor and finger of the 

 comic opera at Paris. His voice, which he could make a 

 bafe, tenor, or counter-tenor at pleafure, was fueet and 

 flexible. He was an excellent aftor, and, in all rcfpefts, a 

 moft interefting, entertaining, and admirable performer. 

 He firft appeared in the part of Colas, in Ninette a la Cour, 

 in 1760. 



CAILLY, in Geography, a town in France, in the de- 

 partment of the Lower Seine, and diftrift of Rouen ; 35 

 leagues N.N.E. of Rouen. 



CAILO, a fmall ifland in the gulph of Perfia, 80 leagues 

 W. of Ormus. 



CAIMACAN, or Caim.\cam, a dignity in the Ottoman 

 empire, anfwering to that of lieutenant, or vicar, among us. 

 The word is compofcd of the two Arabic words. Cairn 

 viiichiim, q. d. he who holds the place, or difcharges the funBions 

 of another. 



There are ufually two caimacans : one refides at Conftan- 

 tinople, who is the governor thereof: the other attends the 

 grand vifir, in quality of his lieutenant. Sometimes there 

 are three caimacans : one conftantly attending the grand 

 fignior, another the grand vit'r, and a third conftantly at 

 Conflantinople, who examines affairs of policy, and regulates 

 them in great meafure. The caimacan that attends the vifir, 

 only officiates when at a diftance from the grand fignior ; 

 his funftion ceafing, when the vifir is with the fultan. The 

 caimacan of the vifir is his fecretary of ftate, and the firft 

 miniller of his council. The caimacan is properly the fub- 

 ftitute of the grand vifir, appointed by the fultan, when tlie 

 former is obliged to abfent himfelf in order to take command 

 of the army. The caimacan difcharges his funftions, is in- 

 vefted with the fame authority, enjoys the fame rights, but 

 not the fame revenues ; his falary is fixed, and the emolu- 

 ments of the place belong to the vifir, to whom the caimacan 

 renders an account of them. It is generally a pacha or 



baftia«" 



