similar specimen made its appearance in 

 tlie garden of his Grace the Duke of 

 Devonshire at Chatsworth. Mr. Darwin 

 confirms that opinion. It has been well 

 observed that 'such cases shake to the 

 foundation all our ideas of the stability of 



. genera and species, and prepare the mind 

 for more startling discoveries than conld 



'■ have been otherwise anticipated.' For, 

 according to the principles employed in 

 botanical classification, no one could have 

 doubted the distinctions between Monar 

 chanthus, Myantleus, and Catasetum being 

 real, until the appearance of all their 

 forms upon the same plant effectually 

 dispelled the illusion. ^ 



CATATA. A Brazilian name for a 

 pungent species of Polygonum. 



CATBRIER. An American name for 

 Smilcix. 



CAT-CHOP. Mesembryanthemum felinum. 



CATCHFLY. The common name for 

 Silene. 



CATCH"WEED. The Cleavers, Galium 

 Aparine. 



CATECHU. The inspissated juice of the 

 Areca palm (Areca Catechu), and of Acacia 

 Catechu. 



CATEXUL ATE. Formed of parts united 

 end to end like the links of a chain. 



CATERPILLAR. A garden name for 

 Scorpiurus. 



CATERPILLAR FUXGU8. See Cordi- 

 CEPS. pi. J. B.J 



CATESBJ3A. A genus of "West Indian 

 shrubs of the order Clnchonacea?, with 

 small spines above the leaves, and large 

 trumpet-shaped whitish flowers, which are 

 ; dilated in the throat, and have a four- 

 parted limb ; the stamens are four, with 

 ; their anthers projecting from the corolla ; 

 the berry is of the size of a small egg. 

 C. spinosa is a dwarf shrub with handsome 

 flowers. Its fruit is yellow, pulpy, and of 

 an agreeable taste. pi. T. MJ 



CATH A. A genus belonging to the ordei 

 Celastoracece, separated from Celastrus on 

 account of some not very well-marked 

 technical characters. Its limits and the 

 number of its species are not strictly 

 defined. They are mostly natives of Africa, 

 forming small shrubs, sometimes with 

 spiny branches, and having simple leaves, 

 from the bases of which small branching 

 heads of flowers are produced. These 

 flowers have a flat five-lobed calyx, five 

 stalkless petals ("those of Celastrus having 

 short stalks), Ave stamens, a three-celled 

 ovary half buried in the large disk which 

 I fills the bottom of the flower, and a very 

 short style crowned by three pointed 

 stigmas. The fruit or capsule is three- 

 sided and three-celled, each cell containing 

 a single seed, and splitting open when the 

 fruit is ripe. 



C. edulis, formerly Celastrus edulis, is a 

 native of Arabia, and is by far the most 



interesting species of the genus, its leaves 

 being used by the Arabs in the preparation 

 of a beverage possessing properties analo- 

 gous to those of tea or coffee. It is a shrub 

 without spines, growing about ten feet in 

 height, and is cultivated by the Arabs in 

 the same ground as coffee. Its leaves are 

 opposite on some branches, and alternate 

 on others, smooth, and about two inches 

 or more in length by an inch in width, of 

 an elliptical form, and having their margins 

 cut into blunt saw-like teeth. The flowers 

 are very small and white. Under the 

 name of Kit or Cafta, the leaves of this 

 shrub, or, rather, twigs of it with the 

 leaves attached, form a considerable article 

 of commerce amongst the Arabs, large 

 quantities of them being annually brought 

 to Aden from the interior of Arabia, where 

 the plant is cultivated. For the purposes 

 of commerce they are made up into neat 

 closely-pressed bundles of different sizes, 

 according to quality, the best kind being 

 in bundles a foot or fifteen inches long by 

 three inches wide, and consisting of about 

 forty slender twigs, tied together with 

 strips of fibrous bark ; each bundle selling 

 at Aden for about two annas (or threepence 

 sterling). The effects produced by a 

 decoction of these leaves are described as 

 resembling those of strong green tea, 

 only more pleasing and agreeable. They 

 are also chewed, either in a green state or 

 when dried, and are said to have the effect 

 of inducing great hilarity of spirits, and 

 an agreeable state of wakefulness, so much 

 so, indeed, that the Arabs who chew them 

 are able to stand sentry all night long 

 without feeling drowsy. The use of Kat 

 in Arabia is said to be of great antiquity, 

 and to have preceded that of coffee. Its 

 stimulating effects induced some Arabs to 

 class it with intoxicating substances, the 

 use of which is forbidden by the Koran, 

 but a synod of learned Mussulmans decreed, 

 that, as it did not impair the health or 

 impede the observance of religious duties, 

 but only increased hilarity and good 

 humour, it was lawful to use it. In addi- 

 tion to its powers as a stimulant, the Arabs 

 have a superstitious idea that a twig of it 

 worn in the bosom protects a person from 

 the danger of infection ; and that the 

 shrub itself is a preventive against the 

 plague. [A. S.] 



CATHARAXTHUS. A name sometimes 

 met with in gardens, and given to certain 

 shrubby plants belonging to Vinca. [T. M.] 



CATHARTOCARPUS. The name under 

 which certain species of Cassia are some- 

 times known. [T. M.] 



CATHCARTIA. Dr. Hooker detected 

 this beautiful plant of the poppy family in 

 the eastern part of the Himalayan moun- 

 tains, and named it in honour of Mr. Cath- 

 cart, an Indian judge who investigated 

 the botany of the Sikkim Himalayas. It 

 is a herb covered with soft yellow hairs, 

 having lobed leaves, and golden drooping 

 flowers, with a hemispherical sessile four- 

 lobed radiating stigma, and an erect 



