292 CAM 
and more debased with earth, than the 
onyxes. 
1. One species of the camsa is the dull- 
looking onyx, with broad black and white 
zones ; and is the camaea of the moderns, 
and the Arabian onyx: this species is found 
m Egypt Arabia, Persia, and the East in- 
dies. 2. Another species of the cama'a is the 
ull, broad -zoned, green and white camaa, 
or the jaspi-cameo of the Italians : it is found 
in the East Indies, and in some parts of Ame- 
iica. 3. I lie third is the hard camaa, with 
broad white and chesnut -coloured veins. 4. 
Ehe ha id camaa, with bluish, white, and 
flesh-coloured broad veins, being the sardo- 
mx ot Pliny’s time, only brought from the 
East Indies. 
CAMALDLLIANS, a religious order 
founded by St. Romuald, in a little plain, on 
the mount Apennine, called Cainaldali si- 
tuated in the state of Florence. 
1 he manner of life first enjoined this or- 
• r was ’ ^ 1; it they dwelt in separate cells, 
and met together only at the time of prayer : 
some of them, during the two Lents of the 
yeai, observed an inviolable silence; and 
others for the space of a hundred days. Gn 
Sundays and Thursdays they fed on herbs, 
and the rest of the week only' on bread and 
water. These constitutions were, however, 
a little moderated some time afterwards. This 
hermitage is now accounted very opulent. 
CAMAX, in botany, a genus of the class 
siiCt oi ciGr pcntcindrici monogy 11121 . Thccsson- 
tial character is, corolla wheel-shaped ; fila- 
ments inserted between the segments of the 
corolla ; berry four-celled, many-seeded. 
r l here is one species, a native of Guiana. 
CAMBER-BEAM, among builders, a 
piece of timber in an edifice, cut archwise, or 
with an obtuse angle in the middle, com- 
monly used in platforms, as church-leads, 
and on other occasions where long and strong 
beams are required. 
CAMBLET, or camlet, a plain stuff, com- 
posed of a warp and woof, which is manufac- 
tured on a loom, with two treadles, as linens 
are. There are camblets of several sorts : 
some of goat’s hair, both in the warp and 
woof; others, in which the warp is of hair, 
and the woof half hair and half silk ; others 
again, in which both the warp and the woof 
are of wool ; and lastly, some of which the 
warp, is of wool and ' the woof of thread ; 
some are striped, some waved or watered* 
and’ some figured. 
CAMBOG1A, in botany, a genus of the 
monogynia order in the polyandria class of 
plants, and in the natural method ranking 
under the 39th order, tricoccae. The corolla 
is tetrapetalous ; the calyx tetraphyllous ; 
and the fruit is a pome with eight cells, and 
solitary seeds, d here is but one species, viz. 
Cambogia gutta, a native of India. It 
yields the gum resin known by the name of 
gamboge. 
CAMBRICS, a species of very fine white 
linen, made of flax at Cambray. 
Ot so much repute are French cambrics, 
that for many years more than 200,000/. per 
annum was expended in them by the inha- 
bitants of this country* Parliament inter 
fered, and the wearing and selling of foreigr 
cambrics are prohibited under heavy penal 
ties. The cambrics now allowed in thi: 
country are chiefly manufactured in Scot 
land and Ireland. 
CAM 
CAMELLIA, in botany, a genus of the mo- 
nadeiphia polyandria class, and in the natural 
method ranking under the 37th order, co- 
lumniterae. The calyx is imbricated and 
polyphyllous, with the interior leaves larger 
than the exterior. There are three species, 
natives of China and Japan. Thunberg, in 
his Flora Japonica, describes it as growing 
every where in the groves and gardens of 
Japan ; where it becomes a prodigiously large 
and tall tree, highly esteemed by the natives 
for tlie elegance ot its large and very varia- 
ble blossoms, and its evergreen leaves. It is 
there found with single and double flowers, 
white, red, and purple, produced from April 
to October. Representations of this flower 
are frequently met with in Chinese paintings. 
With us the camellia is generally treated as a 
greenhouse plant, and propagated by layers. 
At some future time it may, perhaps, not be 
uncommon to treat it as a laurustinus or 
magnolia: the high price at which it lias 
hitherto been sold," has probably prevented 
its being hazarded in this way. The blos- 
soms are of a firm texture, but apt to fall off 
long before they have lost their brilliancy. 
CAMELOPARDALIS, a genus of the 
order of pecora. The generic character 
is; horns permanent, bony, covered with 
a bristly skin; front teeth in the lower 
jaw eight ; the exterior one on each side 
deeply bilobate. If height alone constituted 
precedency among quadrupeds, the giraffe, 
or Camelopardalis, (see Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 
77) would undoubtedly claim the first rank; 
measuring, when full-grown, near seventeen 
feet from the top of the head, to the fore feet. 
The female, however, is lower than the male, 
and the measure abovementioned must be 
understood to relate to the animal when ar- 
rived at the utmost limits of its tallest growth, 
the generality of those described bv travellers 
not exceeding fifteen or sixteen feet. Not- 
withstanding the unusual proportions of tins 
animal, its general form is in the highest de- 
gree elegant and picturesque : the 'head be- 
ing small, the aspectmild, the neck extreme- 
ly long and tapering; the fore parts much 
higher than the hinder ; and the disposition 
of the colours singular and pleasing. At 
first view, the fore legs seem nearly twice 
the length of the hind ; but this difference, 
on accurate examination, appears to result 
chiefly from the extraordinary height of the 
shoulders, compared with that of the thighs. 
r Ihe horns of the Camelopardalis differ in 
texture from those of all other horned qua- 
drupeds, forming a part of the skull, and 
consisting of a porous bony substance, co- 
vered externally with short coarse bristly 
hair: they terminate abruptly, in a flatfish 
or slightly convex head, but little wider than 
the other part of the horn, and edged with 
stiff bristles all round the outline. On the 
middle of the forehead rises a considerable 
protuberance, owing to an elevation or bony 
rising on that part of the skull. From the 
head to the middle of the back runs a short 
stiffish mane. The tail is of moderate 
length, and of a cylindrical form, gradually 
tapering towards the end, and terminating 
in a tifft of long hair. 1 he hoofs are mo- 
derately large and black. The fore part of 
the body is very thick and muscular, and the 
hind part thin and meagre. The ground co- 
lour of the animal is whitish, variegated on 
all parts with numerous, moderately large, 
CAM 
and somewhat squarish spots ; which in the 
male are brown, and in the female ferrugin- 
ous. In the younger animals they are some- 
times of a bright reddish yellow. These 
marks or spots are of a somewhat less regular 
shape on the sides than on the neck and 
shoulders. 
The Camelopardalis is a native of Ethiopia, 
and some other parts of Africa ; where it is 
chiefly found in forests, living on herbage of 
various kinds, but principally on the foliage 
of trees, and particularly on some species of 
mimosa. When grazing on the surface of 
the ground, it is observed to spread its fore 
legs very considerably, in order to enable it 
to reach the ground with greater facility. It 
is an animal ot a mild and harmless disposi- 
tion, and when attacked, endeavours merely 
to save itself by flight ; running with great 
swiftness, though in a somewhat peculiar 
and awkward style, on account of the length, 
ot its neck, and breadth of its fore parts com- 
pared with the hind. 
'1 he male and female Camelopardalis re- 
semble each other when young -/but as the 
animal advances in age, the spots on the 
male become dark brown, while those of the 
female continue of a ferruginous cast. In 
both, however, some occasional differences 
ot shade take place ; and the female, when 
very old, is said to acquire the dusky shades 
of the male. The female has also a less con- 
spicuous tubercle on the forehead, and has 
four teats, as in a cow. 
1 hese animals are sometimes seen in small 
groupes, to the number of six or seven to- 
gether, and when disturbed run off' with great 
celerity. When seen in front, at some tittle 
distance, the animal might be mistaken for a 
decayed tree, and thus be easily passed by 
without particular notice. 
Camelopardalis, in astronomy, anew 
constellation ot the northern hemisphere, 
formed by Hevelius, consisting of 32 stars, 
first observed by him, situated between Ce- 
plieus, Cassiopeia, Perseus, the two Bears, 
and Draco. It contains about 58 stars in the 
British catalogue. 
CAM ELLA, camel, a genus of quadru- 
peds of the order of pecora. The generic 
character is, horns none ; front teeth in the 
lower jaw six, somewhat thin and broad ; 
canine teeth distant, in the upper jaw three, 
in the lower two ; upper lip divided. There 
are seven species. 
1. C. arqmedarius, Arabian camel, or 
dromedary, is found in the warmer parts of 
Asia, and in the upper regions of Africa. In 
Asia it is said not to be found farther north 
than l ersia, and in Africa not farther south 
than Ethiopia. It is common in most parts 
of India. See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 74. 
'1 he general height of the Arabian camel, 
measured from the top of the dorsal bunch to 
the ground, is about six feet and a half; but 
from the top of the head, when the animal 
elevates it, not much less than nine feet : the 
head, however, is generally so carried as to 
be nearly on a level with the bunch, or rather 
below it, the animal bending the neck ex- 
tremely in its general posture : the head is 
small, the neck very long, the body of a lono- 
and meagre shape, the legs rather slender 5 
and the tail, which is slightly tufted at the 
end, reaches to the joints of the hind legs ■ 
the feet are very large, and are hoofed in a 
peculiar style, being divided above into two 
