CAT 
CAT 
C AT^lRPlLL AR . Every butterfly muft pafs 
through the Caterpillar ftate before it arrives at it's 
beauty and perfeftion ; and, in the fame manner, 
all the known winged animals, except the puceron, 
undergo a reptile ftate, none of ^hem being pro- 
duced in a winged form. 
For a defcription of the common Caterpillars, 
which produce butterflies and moths, fee the article 
Butterfly. 
Caterpillar, Water. It may perhaps fcem 
incredible to many, that Caterpillars fhould be ca- 
pable of exifting entirely under water ; but expe- 
rience and oblervation prove to a demonftration, 
that they not only live in that element, but that 
thev devour aquatic plants in the fame manner as 
their kindred tribes do land ones. Nor is the ap- 
pellation given to thefe infe£ls an improper one, as 
is frequently the cafe with refpeft to larger aquatic 
animals; but they in every fenfe juftify their title, 
as they do not refpire after the manner of the fifti 
tribe, but by their ftigmata, like other Caterpil- 
lars. 
The penetrating Reaumur, in his obfervations, 
met with two fpecies of thefe infefts ; the one on 
the potamogiton, or pond-weed ; and the other on 
the lenticula, or duck-meat. Both of thefe appeared 
to be very induftrious animals; but the firft being 
the largeft, it's operations were diftinguifhed with 
greater facility than thofe of the laft. Though 
truely an aquatic animal, it fwims but very indif- 
ferently, and feems rather averfe to the element in 
which it refides. 
The parent butterfly lays her eggs on a leaf of 
the potamogiton ; and, as foon as the young Cater- 
pillar is hatched, it gnaws out a piece of the leaf, 
of a roundifli figure, which it carries to another part 
of the fame leaf, and lays it in fuch a manner that 
there may be an interftice left in which it may lodge 
itfelf. It then affixes this fragment to the larger 
leaf, by means of filk of it's own fpinning, only 
leaving a hole from which it can protrude it's head 
and confume the furrounding leaves. Though 
this aperture is very fmall, it eafily difengages it- 
felf, fince a little exertion bends the upper as well 
as lower leaves, both being flexile; and, when 
the creature quits it's cell, it has a fort of down 
which defends it from rain; and the natural elafti- 
city of the leaves and filk clofe the aperture again, 
_fo that no water can penetrate. The leaves of this 
kind of plant are alfo very flippery, and refift the 
wet in the fame manner as if they were oiled. How- 
ever, it foon happens that this habitation becomes 
too fmall for the animal ; in which cafe it forms ano- 
ther, and, at proper intervals, others adapted to 
it's fize. The fubfequent changes into the chry- 
falis and butterfly ftates are efftfted in the ufual 
way. The butterfly quits it's laft fhell, which was 
placed on the furface of the water; and the light- 
nefs of the animal eafily fuftains it on the liquid 
clement till it's wings are dried, when it becomes a 
denizen of the fky. 
Caterpillar, Wood. A genus of inle6ts liv- 
ing in a different mkliner from thofe which fubfift on 
leaves and plants ; being concealed under the bark, 
roots, trunks, branches, and even fruits of trees. 
They are eafily diftinguifhed from thofe worms 
and maggots which are commonly found in roots 
and fruits, and owe their origin to a different kind 
of flics; but they arc liable to be confounded with 
a fpecies of animals, called by Reaumur falfe or 
baftard Caterpillars, which very much relemble the 
real Caterpillars, except that they have a greater 
number of legs, and are finally transformed into 
four-winged flies, which are different from the real 
butterflies. 
The winged infefts whicli give birth to thofe 
Caterpillars that live immured in trees or fruits, 
lay their eggs on the furface ; and the young Ca- 
terpillars, as foon as hatclied, begin to eat their way 
into the fubftance. But, what appears moft Angu- 
lar, is, that there is ufually no more than one Ca- 
terpillar in a fruit, though it be large enough to af- 
ford food for feveral ; and if two of thefe creatures 
are fometimes found enclofed in it, one of them is 
commonly a Caterpillar, and the other an animal 
of fomc other kind. The reafon of this feems to 
be, that the operation of penetrating into the fruit 
is fo difficult to the young animal, that it feidom 
fucceeds; and though the butterfly depofits a great 
number of eggs on each fruit, and thefe are in ge- 
neral hatched, the rind is commonly too ftrong for 
the infedl to perforate. 
When once lodged in their prifon, thefe animals 
confume the fubftance which inclofes them at their 
leifure, leaving the outer fliells uninjured; and 
this is frequently the cafe in grains of corn, where 
the mealy fubftance ferves as aliment, and the ex- 
terior fkins become fij-m coverings for the ani- 
mals. The mealy fubftances, in this refpecfl, ufually 
prove fufficient for the animals in their Cater- 
pillar ftate ; but Hiould they prove deficient, the 
creatures have recourfe to the very fingular expe- 
dient of devouring their own excrements, and 
thus feparating nourifhment from that very matter 
which had before paffed off from their ftomachs 
in an undigefted ftate. 
Some Caterpillars of this kind quit their re- 
treats, in order to change into their chryfalis, and 
thence into their butterfly ftate; but the greater 
number remain there, and pafs through all their 
changes in confinement. Thefe Caterpillars, like 
all the other kinds, find veiy formidable and de- 
ftru6live enemies in a certain tribe of v/orms ; and, 
on opening the excavated fruit, inftead of the ex- 
pected Caterpillar, it is not unufual to find a fly 
juft" ready to fally out, which has been produced 
from the chryfalis of a worm that had previoufly 
found it's way into the fruit, and devoured the Ca- 
terpillar, it's original inhabitant. 
CATERPILLAR EATERS. A name given 
by fome authors to a fpecies of worms bred in the 
bodies of Caterpillars which devour their fubftance, 
Thefe worms originate from certain flies which de- 
pofit their eggs in thefe animals; and after the ulual 
transformations, affume the parental form. 
Reaumur, in his Hiftory of Infe£ls, has given 
a very curious account of thefe little worms ; to 
v/hich he gives the name of the ichneumon of Ca- 
terpillars. 
CATHETOPLATEUS. A term, with it's 
oppofite, Plagiplateus, frequently ufed by Artedi, 
and others who have adopted his fyftem, in the de- 
fcription of fiflies : they are expreffed in Englifli by 
the two familiar words, Compreffed and Depreffed , 
The heads of fiflies are the principal parts charac- 
terized by thefe diftinctions. 
CATOCYSTUS. The name of one of the 
general divifions of the cchinodermata, or fea 
hedge-hogs, which have the aperture of the anus 
in fome part of the bafe; whereas the anocyfti have 
it at the top of the ftiell. 
For the more accurately diftinguiihing them into 
genera, the bafes of the fliells are to be divided into 
regular, and irregular. The regular are thofe 
which 
