capibara 
or 4 feet long, has a massive body, a heavy flat head, lux tad 
obtuse iuii//U>, small e.ves and ears, short stout legs with 
hoof-like claws, a mere stump of a tail, eoarse pelage, and 
lirownisll coloration, and weighs about 100 pounds. It 
abounds in tropical rivers, and is especially common in 
C.ipih.tra, or Water-cavy (Hydrecfttxrus capibara}. 
Brazil and among the islands of the La Plata, living gen- 
erally in small companies in the heavy vegetation of the 
banks, and on alarm taking to the water, in which it 
swims and dives with ease. It is mild and inoffensive in 
disposition, and is easily tamed. The flesh is edible. Also 
called water-hog and water-pig. Also written capybara, 
capibar, capioara. 
In shaded nooks beneath the boughs, the capybarax, 
rabbits as large as sheep, went paddling sleepily round 
and round. Kingsley, Westward Ho, p. 356. 
capidgi (kap'i-ji), n. [< Turk, qapiji, lit. a por- 
ter, doorkeeper, < qapi, door, gate.] An execu- 
tioner in Turkey and Persia. 
In Turkey and Persia, when the enemies of a great man 
have sufficient influence to procure a warrant for his death, 
a capitlyi or executioner is despatched with it to the vic- 
tim, who quietly submits to his fate. 
T. n. Home, Introcl. to Study of Holy Script., III. 140. 
capillaceous (kap-i-la'shius), a. [< L. capilla- 
ceus, hair-like, of hair, < capillus, hair: see 
capillary.'] Hair-like in dimensions or appear- 
ance ; capillary. 
capillaire (kap-i-lar'), n. [F., the maidenhair 
fern ( = E. capillary, n. , 3), and a syrup made from 
it, < LL. capillaris (se. herba, herb), maidenhair: 
see capillary.] 1. The maidenhair fern, Aclian- 
tum Capillus-Veneris. 2. A kind of syrup pre- 
pared with maidenhair fern ; also, by extension, 
any simple syrup, as of sugar or honey, flavored 
with orange-flowers or orange-flower water. 
capillament (ka-pil'a-ment), M. [< L. capilla- 
mcntum, the hair, hairy fibers of plants, < ca- 
pillus, hair : see capillary.'] A filament or fine 
fiber; specifically, in hot., the filament form- 
ing the stalk of the stamen; a small fine thread 
like a hair. 
The solid capillauientu of the nerves. 
Bp. Berkeley, Siris, 224. 
capillarimeter (kap*i-la-rim'e-ter), . [< L. 
capillaris (see capillary) + melrum, measure.] 
A device for testing oils by the size of the 
drops which fall from a point of standard size 
under fixed conditions of temperature, etc. 
capillariness (kap'i-la-ri-nes orka-pil'a-ri-nes), 
. The state of being capillary; capillarity. 
[Rare.] 
capillarity (kap-i-lar'i-ti), n. [< L. capillaris 
(see capillary) + -zfy.] The state or condition 
of being capillary ; capillary attraction. 
I was already perfectly familiar with the notion of a 
skin upon the surface of liquids, and I had been taught by 
means of it to work out problems in capillarity. 
W. K. Clifford, Lectures, I. 147. 
capillary (kap'i-la-ri or ka-pil'a-ri), . and n. 
[< L. capillaris, pertaining to 'the hair (LL. 
herba capillaris, maidenhair fern), < capillus, 
the hair, prop, of the head (for *capitlus^), < 
caput (capit-), head: see caput.] I. a. 1. Per- 
taining to or resembling hair: as, a capillary 
lotion j capillary fibers or threads. 2. Specifi- 
cally, in bot., resembling hair in the manner of 
growth: applied in this sense by Bay, Boer- 
haave, and other early botanists to ferns. 
Capillary or capillaceous plants are such as have no 
main stalk or stem, but grow to the ground, as hairs on 
the head ; and which bear their seeds in little tufts or 
protuberances on the backside of their leaves. Quincy. 
3. Resembling a single hair ; specifically, in 
anat., having (as a tube) so small a bore that 
water cannot be poured into it, and will not 
run through it. 4. Pertaining to a capillary 
or to capillaries : as, capillary circulation. 
The quickness with which a withered slip revives on 
being placed in water, shows us the part which rapillant 
action plays. //. Spencer, Prin. of Biol., 12. 
5. Pertaining to the phenomena of the rise 
of fluids in tubes and chinks, and, more gen- 
erally, to the collecting of liquids in drops, 
804 
their spreading over surfaces (as oil on water), 
and various other phenomena explicable proxi- 
mately by surface-tension and ultimately by 
cohesion and adhesion, considered as forces 
acting at finite but insensible distances. 6. 
In surg., linear: descriptive of a fracture of 
the skull without separation of the parts of 
the injured bones. Capillary antennae, in entom., 
antenna; in which the joints are long, slender, and very 
loosely articulated, the outer ones being generally a lit- 
tle longer; this is regarded as a modification of the cla- 
vatc type. Capillary attraction, capillary repul- 
sion, the excess or deficiency of the attraction of one of 
two fluids (the other being generally air) for the wall 
of a vessel with which they have a common line of con- 
tact. The common surface of the wall and of the more 
attracted fluid makes the acuter angle with the common 
surface of the fluids. Capillary attraction is proximately 
accounted for by surface-tension ; but the latter has to be 
explained by the attractions between the molecules of the 
fluids. See capillary tubes, below. Capillary bottle, 
a bottle with a dropping-tube, used in preparing objects 
for the microscope. Capillary bronchitis. See bron- 
chitis. Capillary electrometer. See electro-capillary. 
Capillary filter, a simple water-filter, consisting of 
a cord of loose fiber, as a cotton candle-wick, one end of 
which is placed in the water, while the other end hangs 
over the edge of the vessel. The water is drawn through 
the cord by capillary action, without its impurities. Ca- 
pillary pyrites, in mineral. See millerite. Capillary 
repulsion. See capillary attraction, above. Capillary 
tubes, tubes with very small bores, of which the diameter 
is only a half, a third, a fourth, etc., of a line. If a tube 
of this sort, open at both ends, is taken and one of its 
ends immersed in water, the water will rise within the tube 
to a sensible height above the surface of the water in the 
vessel, the height being inversely as the diameter of the 
bore ; that is, the smaller the bore the greater the height. 
Different liquids rise in capillary tubes to different heights. 
The rise is explained by the action of cohesion as a force 
acting at insensible distances (hence called capillary at- 
traction), which produces a tension of the superficial film 
of the liquid (see surface-tension) that exerts a pull up- 
ward where the surface is concave, as when the tube is 
moistened by the liquid (as glass or metal by water, alco- 
hol, etc.), but a pressure downward where tile surface is 
convex ; consequently, those liquids which do not adhere 
to or wet the surface of the tube immersed in them stand 
lower within than without. Mercury, for example, is de- 
pressed in a glass tube, but rises in one of tin, to which it 
can adhere. The oil rises in the wick of a lamp or candle 
by this principle. Capillary vessels, in anat. , the capil- 
laries. 
II. n. ; pi. capillaries (-riz). 1. A tube with 
a small bore. Specifically 2. In anat.: (a) 
One of the minute blood-vessels which form 
a network between the terminations of the 
arteries and the beginnings of the veins. They 
are formed of a single endothelial coat, and the finer ones 
may be no larger in diameter than is sufficient to allow 
the passage of a blood-corpuscle. ( J) One of the mi- 
nute lymphatic ducts, (c) One of the intercel- 
lular passages in the liver which unite to form 
the bile-ducts. 3f. In bot., a fern: especially 
applied to such ferns as grow like tufts of hair 
on walls. Sir T. Browne. See I., 2. 
capillationt (kap-i-la'shon), . [< L. capilla- 
tio(n-), prop, being hairy, < capittatun, hairy, < 
capillus, hair: see capillary.] 1. A blood-ves- 
sel like a hair; a capillary. Sir T. Browne. 
2. Hairiness; a making a thing hairy. Bailey, 
1727. 
capillaturet (ka-pil'a-tur), . [< L. capillatura, 
the hair, esp. false hair, < capiUatus, hairy : see 
capillation.] A bush of hair; frizzling of the 
hair. [Rare.] 
capilli (ka-pil'i), n. pi. [L. (NL.), pi. of cajnl- 
lus, hair: see capillary.] In entom., hairs on 
the upper part or front and vertex of an in- 
sect's head. 
capillifolious (ka-pil-i-fo'li-us), a. [< L. capil- 
lus, hair, + folium, leaf : see folio.] Having 
hair-like leaves. 
capilliform (ka-pil'i-form), a. [< L. capillus, 
hair, + forma, form.] In the shape or form of 
a hair or hairs : as, a capilliform fiber. 
capillitium (kap-i-lish'i-um), n. [L., the hair 
collectively, < capillus, hair : see capillary.] In 
bot.: (a) The variously constituted intricate 
filamentous structure which together with the 
spores fills the spore-case of many of the low- 
er fungi, especially the Myxomycetes. (b) The 
thready or hair-like filaments developed with- 
in the spore-capsules or sporangia of certain 
Mycetozoa. 
capillose (kap'i-los), a. [< L. capillosus, < ca- 
pillus, hair: see capillary."] Hairy; abounding 
with hair. 
capirote (kap'i-rot), n. A name of the com- 
mon blackcap warbler of Europe, Sylvia atri- 
capilla. 
capistra, n. Plural of capislruni. 
capistrate (ka-pis'trat), a. [< L. captKtrutus, 
pp. of capistrare, tie with a halter, bind, fas- 
ten, < capistrum, a halter: see riipixtrmii.] In 
ornith., cowled or hooded; masked; having the 
capital 
front of the head covered, as if by a mask, witli 
marked color. 
capistrum (ka-pis'trum), >i. ; pi. aipistra (-tra). 
[L., a halter, a muzzle, a band, < capers, holcl : 
see capable.] 1. A bandage worn by ancient 
flute-players to prevent the undue distention of 
the cheeks in blowing their instruments. 2. In 
surg., a bandage for the head. 3. In ornith.: 
(a) Properly, the face of a bird; the part of 
the head about the bill, especially when dis- 
tinguished in any way, as by a mask of color. 
Suntlevall. (ft) A mask of color enveloping more 
or less of the head like a hood, as in the hooded 
gull, Larus capistratus. 
capita, n. Latin plural of caput. 
capitaine (kap'i-tan), . [F. capitaine, a cap- 
tain.] A labroid fish, Lachnolatmus maximum 
or falcatus, better known as hogftsh. See cut 
under hogjish. 
capital 1 (kap'i-tal), a. and n. [< ME. capital, < 
OF. and F. capital (AS. capital, in comp. capi- 
tol-nuesse, first mass) = Pr. Sp. Pg. capital = 
It. capitale, < L. capitalis, relating to the head, 
and hence to life, dangerous, capital, also chief, 
preeminent, < caput (capit-), head: see caput.] 
1. a. If. Relating to the head; situated on the 
head. 
Needs must the serpent now his capital bruise 
Expect with mortal pain. Hilton, P. L., xii. 383. 
2. Used at the head or beginning, as of a sen- 
tence, line, or word. See capital letters, below. 
3. Affecting the head or life; incurring or 
involving the forfeiture of life; punishable 
with death : as, treason and murder are capital 
offenses or crimes; hence, fatal; most serious: 
as, a capital mistake. 
By the lawea of all kingdomes it is a capitall crime to 
devise or purpose the death of the king. 
Spenser, State of Ireland. 
The law which made forgery capital in England was 
passed without the smallest reference to the state of so- 
ciety in India. Macaulaii, Warren Hastings. 
4. First in importance ; chief ; principal. 
This had been 
Perhaps thy capital seat, from whence had spread 
All generations. Milton, P. L., xi. 343. 
Whatever is capital and essential in Christianity. 
Is. Taylor. 
The capital peculiarity of the eloquence of all times of 
revolution ... is that the actions it persuades to are the 
highest and most heroic which men can do. 
R. Choate, Addresses, p. 173. 
A ministry which has been once defeated on a capital 
question rarely recovers its moral force. 
Lecky, Eng. in ISth Cent., i. 
5. Very good; excellent; first-class: as, a 
capital singer or player; a capital dinner; a 
capital fellow. 
When the reading was over, nobody said capital, or even 
good, or even tolerable. T. Ilook, Gilbert Gurney, I. ii. 
In a dirty little inn, ill-kept by friendly, simple people, 
I had a capital breakfast. 
C. D. Warner, Roundabout Journey, p. 52. 
Capital cross. See crotsi. Capital letters (capital A, 
B, C, etc.), in irritint/ and printing, letters of a larger face 
than, and differing more or less in form from, the letters 
constituting the bulk of the text (small or lower-case let- 
ters), and corresponding iii the main (especially in print- 
ing) to the majuscules of ancient inscriptions and manu- 
scripts, which were wholly written in such letters: so 
called because used in headings, and at the beginning or 
head of sentences, lines of poetry, proper names, etc. 
Capital manset. See manse. Capital offense, crime, 
or felony, a crime or offense which involves the penalty 
of death. All the more serious offenses against society 
were punishable with death until comparatively recent 
times (the number in England in Blackstone's time, 
without benefit of clergy, being 160) ; but now the only 
civil crimes generally treated as capital are murder, pi- 
racy, and treason, to which rape, arson, and one or two 
others are added in some countries or states. Capital 
Stock. See capital?, n., and stock. =Syn. 4. Leading, 
prominent, important, essential. 6. Prime, splendid, per- 
fect. 
II. n. 1. The city or town which is the of- 
ficial seat of government in a country, state, 
or province, or of justice in a county. 2. A 
capital letter (which see, under I.). Abbre- 
viated cap. Rustic capitals, in early Roman manu- 
scripts, a form of letters difl'ering from the square capitals 
in that the lines are more free and tile forms more slender 
and less angular. Square capitals, in early Roman 
manuscripts, a form of letters in which the horizontal 
lines are carefully made at right angles with the vertical 
strokes. The forms are based on those of the lapidary 
inscriptions. The rustic and square capitals were used 
contemporaneously, and were generally superseded by the 
uncial characters as early as the sixth century. 
capital 2 (kap'i-tal), . [= D. ttapttadl = G. 
Dan. {capital = SV. capital. < F. capital = Sp. 
Pg. c<ipital=lt. capitale, < ML. eu/iitutt. wealth, 
stock (whence also ult. the earlier E. forms 
chattel and rattle, q. v.), prop. neut. of L. capi- 
talift, principal, chief: see oapttaP-.] 1. In j>o- 
lit. ccoii.. that part of the produce of industry 
which, in the form either of national or of in- 
