CAR 
it is the fame with that called in fome parts of 
England the red charre. Artedi diftinguiflies it 
from the other fpecies of falmon, by calling it the 
foall falmon with five rows of teeth in the palate. 
CARRIER PIGEON. A variety of the com- 
mon pigeon, fo' called from it's being emiployed in 
conveying letters from one place to another. It 
is in general larger than the other fpecies, it's 
length from the tip of the beak to the end of the 
tail being frequently fifteen inches. It's flefh is 
firm, it's feathers are clofe, and it's neck is long and 
well turned. The upper chap of the bill is half 
covered, from the head downwards, with a white 
or blackifh tuberous furfuraceous flefii, which pro- 
je£ts over both it's fides on the upper-part, and ter- 
minates in a point about the middle of the bill ; 
and this is called the wattle. The eyes are fur- 
rounded with the fame fort of corrugated flefh^ and 
their irides are red. The beak is long, ftraight, 
and thick; the head is narrow, long, and flat; the 
neck is long and thin; and the breaft is broad. 
The colour of tlie Carrier Pigeon is chiefly black 
or dun, though there are fome blue, white, and 
pyed . 
The ufe of thefe Pigeons is of a very ancient 
date. Anacreon informs us, that he conveyed his 
billet-doux to his beautiful Bathyllus by a dove. 
Taurofthenes alfo, by means of a Pigeon which he 
had decked with purple, fent advice to his. father, 
who lived in the Ifle of yEgina, of his victory in 
the Olympic Games, on the very day he had ob- 
tained it. At the fiege of Modena, Thitius with- 
out, and Brutus within the walls, kept a conftant 
correfpondence by means of thefe winged mefl'en- 
gers, baffling every art of Antony, the befieger, to 
intercept them. There are numerous inftances on 
record of the fervices rendered by thefe pacific birds 
during the crufades. Joinville relates one which 
took place at the crufade of St. Louis; and Taflx> 
mentions another which was efFefted during the 
fiege of Jerufalem. 
This pra6l!ce was formerly much in vogue in the 
Eaft; and at Scanderoon, till of late years, thefe 
birds ufed to give the merchants at Aleppo more 
expeditious notice of the arrival of a fnip than 
eould poflibly have been done by any other means 
of conveyance. 
Thefe Pigeons, however, are not now foftered 
with fo much care as formerly, when they were 
fent from governors in befieged cities to generals 
who were coming to relieve them without, dif^ 
patched by princes to their fubjecls with the news 
of fome fortunate event, or from lovers to their 
miftreffes with expreflions of their pafiion. The 
principal ufe now made of them in this country, 
is that of expediting the tidings of public execu- 
tions to fitch perfons as are concerned in them;- 
much in the fame manner as, wlien fome ancient 
hero was about to be interred, an eagle was let ofi-"" 
from the funeral-pile, in order to complete his 
apotheofis. 
If we inveftigate the caufes which produce this 
extraordinary quality in the Carrier Pigeon, we 
iliall find them proceeding from it's attachment to 
it's native place, and particularly to that fpot where 
it has nourifhed it's young. The bird is brought 
from tlie place where it v/as bred, and whither it is 
to be fent back for information. A letter is tied 
under it's wing, and the Pigeon is then emanci- 
pated. The little animal no iboncr finds itfelf at 
liberty, than it's pafTion for it's native habitation 
directs all. it's motions. It inftantly mounts into 
CAS 
the clouds to an am^azing height; and then, witfi 
the greatcft certainty and exadlnefs, dire6ls it's' 
courfe, by fome furprizing inftindl, towards the 
place of it's abode^, though at the diftance of many 
miles. By what marks it is capable of difcover- 
ing the place, or by what chart it is guided in a 
proper line, is to us utterly unknown: certain 
however it is that, in the fpace of half an hour, 
the Carrier Pigeon can perform a journey of forty 
miles, which is a degree of difpatch three times 
greater than the fleeteft quadruped can accompHlh.- 
CARTILAGINOUS FISHES. A pardcu- 
lar clafs of fiflies, in which the fpine or back-bone 
is of the confiftence of a cartilage, being hollow 
within, and containing m.edulla. 
Cartilaginous Fiflies are of two kinds.; fiat, as' 
the raia or fKate; and long and round, as the afel- 
lus or cod. 
_ CARYOCATACTES. A bird of the mag- 
pie kind, of a brownifh colour, beautifully varie- 
gated with white triangular Ipots, and very full of 
white feathers about the anus and the origin of the 
tail. It is very common in the mountainous parts 
of Germany. 
CASPARGUS. A name borrowed from ^^lian, 
and applied by Salvian to the fifh commonlvcalkxl 
fparus by naturaliils. It is diftinguilhed by Ar- 
tedi under the name of the plain yellowifh IparuSj 
with a large annular fpot near the tail. 
CASQUE. A name fom.etimes given to a kind 
of murex, called the helmet-fnell. There are fe- 
veral I'pecies, all approaching fomewhat to a trian- 
gular figure, and flirioother than the reft of the fa- 
mily of murices; and they are farther diftinguilhed 
by having a fort of tubercles near the lip. 
CASSANDRA. An elegant fea-fliell, of the 
concha globofa, or dolium kind, more ufually 
known by the name of the lyra, or harp-fhelL 
There are three fpecies ; and they are fuppofed to-- 
receive the name of Caffandra from their being- 
found on the ftiores of the Ifle of Cafl"an. 
CASSAON. A fmall fifti of the fliark kind^ 
but infinitely lefs mifchievous; called cucuri by 
the Brazilians. 
CASSIDA. A genus of beetles, comprehended, 
by I^annfiEus under the order of coleoptera in the- 
clafs of infe6ls. 
Under this genus are comprehended ail the cly- 
peated beetles^ or thofe covered with a hard cruft, 
of which there are many fpecies; but the moft re- 
markable are the following. 
Cassida Black, or Shield-Beetle. This- 
fpecies, which has briftly feelers and a fmall roundifli> 
body, is of a duflcy black colour. The cafes of the 
wings are oblong, and flightly ftreaked with feve- 
rai fmall and very hollow fpots. The ftiield is 
roundifn, being ibmewhat broader than long, and 
rough on the upper-part, with a cruciated prominenr 
edge; and fometimes there are two fpots on the fide* 
towards the hinder-part, covered with yellow hair.. 
The belly is black; but, when viewed in different 
lights, appears to have a filvery glofs. This beetle 
is fovmd in country-houfes, where it is very mif- 
chievous, frequently eating holes in woollen cloths- 
and ftufi^s. When touched, though ever fo gentlvj. 
it draws ivp it's head and wings under it's body. 
Cassida O'val, Pale Clouded, wnth an un- 
divided ftiiekl covering the head. The body of 
this fmall infeft is of an oval ftiape, and a pale 
brown colour fpotted aJid clouded all over with a 
more dufl<y liue, refembling in fome meafure the 
Iheli of a tortoife. The fhidd is femi-kmated, and 
