carte 
three inches above the crown of the head, during the 
allongcuu'nt of the right foot. Kolamlo (ed. Forsyth). 
LOW carte, u thrust differing from high carte in that the 
wrW is raised only as high as the mouth, anil the point 
aimed at tlie pit of the stomach. Rolando (ed. Forsyth). 
carte blanche (kiirt blonsh). [F., = Sp. c/irta 
blanctt = P^. cttrtit brinicii = It. carta bianca, lit. 
blank paper: see canll and blanch 1 -.'] 1. A 
blank paper; specifically, a paper duly authen- 
ticated with signature, etc., and intrusted to a 
Eerson to be filled up at his discretion ; hence, 
guratively, permission or authority in a par- 
ticular matter, without condition or qualifica- 
tion; unrestricted power to act or decide. 
Lord Grey was armed with ... a carte, lilanrhr I" cre- 
ate any number of peers necessary to insure its success. 
Disraeli, Coningsby, i. 2. 
2. In the game of piquet, a hand without a 
king, queen, or knave. 
carte-de-visite (kart'de-vi-zef), n. [F., lit. a 
visiting-card: see card 1 - and visit.] A photo- 
graphic likeness mounted on a card, formerly 
of the size of a visiting-card. Also called card- 
picture and card. 
A carte-de-vixite portrait of the hon. member for Chelsea 
as lie appears when addressing the House of Commons. 
R. J. Hinton, Eng. Radical Leaders, p. 37. 
cartel (kar'tel), . [< F. cartel, < It. cartello 
= Sp. Pg. cartel, < ML. cartellus, equiv. to char- 
tula, dim. of charta, carta, a paper, a writing: 
see card' 1 , chart, and charter."] 1. A writing 
or an agreement between states, especially 
when at war, as for the exchange of prisoners, 
or for some mutual advantage. 
A cartel for the exchange of prisoners had been a subject 
of negotiation. J'mcott. 
2. A letter of defiance or challenge ; a chal- 
lenge to single combat. 
He is cowed at the very idea of a cartel, though it come 
but from a fool and a swine-herd. Scott, Ivanhoe, xxv. 
To the unknown libeller who had reflected on the origin 
of the Dudleys, ... Sir Philip Sydney, in the loftiest 
tone of chivalry, designed to send a cartel of defiance. 
/. D 'Israeli, Amen, of Lit., II. 102. 
Formerly also chartel. 
Cartel-ship', a ship employed in the exchange of prison- 
ers, or in communicating with an enemy, 
cartelt (kar'tel), v. t. [< cartel, .] To defy ; 
challenge to a duel. Also chartel. 
Come hither, you shall chartel him, I'll shew you a 
trick or two . . . you shall kill him with at pleasure. 
B. Jonson, Every Man iu his Humour, i. 4. 
carter (kar'ter), . [< ME. carter, carters; < 
cart + -er 1 .] If. A charioteer. 
The cartere overryden with his carte. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 1164. 
2. A man who drives a cart, or one whose oc- 
cupation is to drive a cart or transport goods 
in carts. 
Let me be no assistant for a state, and keep a farm, and 
carters. Sltak., Hamlet, ii. 2. 
3. A kind of fish. See whiff. 4f. A kind of 
insect. Kennett. (Halliwell.) 
Carteria (kiir-te'ri-a), n. [NL., named after 
H. J. Carter of Bombay, who wrote on the 
natural history of the lac-insect (1861).] A 
genus of scale-insects, family Coccidat. The East 
Indian C. lacca is of great commercial value, yielding the 
lac which is used for making varnishes, sealing-wax, etc. 
carterly (kar'tfer-li), a. [< carter + -ly l .~\ 
Eude, like a carter, or like a carter's occupa- 
tion. [Bare.] 
Aristippus a Philosopher, yet who more courtly? Dio- 
genes a Philosopher, yet who more carterly! 
Lyly, Euphues, Anat. of Wit, p. 40. 
A carterly or churlish trick. Cotgrave. 
Cartesian (kar-te'zian), a. and n. [< F. Car- 
tesien = Sp. Pg. It. Cartesiano, < Cartcsius, 
Latinized form of Cartes in the name Descartes 
(Des Cartes), of which the first element is a 
removable prefix.] I. a. Pertaining to the 
French philosopher Ken6 Descartes (1596- 
1650), to his philosophy, or to his geometrical 
method. In order to put philosophy on a sound basis, 
Descartes professed to begin by doubting all things. But 
the doubt, the thought, could not be doubted ; hence the 
fundamental proposition of his philosophy, Cogito, ergo 
sum (I think, therefore I am). This proposition (which is 
not a syllogism nor any formal mode of inference) means 
that, recognizing the fact that I think, I am irresistibly 
led to believe and clearly to discern that I exist, with- 
out being able to account for the inference. According 
to Descartes, the consideration that the conception of a 
deity involves the conception of a reality surpassing my 
own leads to the irresistible belief and clear perception of 
the existence of a God. Also, since veracity is an at- 
tribute of God, all that is clearly and distinctly appre- 
hended must be true. This is the so-called Cartesian 
criterion of truth. Substances, he taught, are of two rad- 
ically different kinds : the material, which are extended 
and not conscious, and the spiritual, which are conscious 
and not extended a doctrine which is called Cartesian 
dttalism. The Cartesian doctrine of divine assistance, or 
occasionalism, which was not fully developed by Des- 
cartes himself, is that whenever the soul makes a voli- 
836 
tion God intervenes to cause the corresponding motion 
of the body. He also taught that brutes are mere ma- 
chines without consciousness (the Cartesian automation), 
and that all space is filled with matter, which turns about 
in vortices, and so produces the motions of the heavenly 
bodies.- Cartesian coordinates, in geom., the lines in- 
troduced (HOT) by Rene Descartes for denning the posi- 
tions of points in a plane. Two straight lines, OX and 
OV, are adopted arbitrarily as axes 
of coordinates, to which all posi- 
tions are referred. Their point of 
intersection, O, is called the origin 
of coordinates. From any point, P, 
whose position is to be denned, a 
line, MP, is drawn parallel to OY, 
and meeting the axis OX in M. The 
length PM, or the ordinatr, and the 
length OM, or the abscissa, being given, the position of P 
is determined : these lines are called the Cartesian coordi- 
nates of the point P. The term is sometimes extended to a 
similar system for three dimensions. Cartesian curve. 
See II., -2. -Cartesian devil, 
Cartesian diver, or bottle- 
imp, a philosophical toy used 
to illustrate the principle of 
specific gravity. It consists of 
a hollow figure, usually in the 
fancied form of a demon, with 
a hole at some distance from 
the top. The figure is tilled 
with air in the upper part and 
with water in the lower, and 
floats in a tall glass vessel near- 
ly full of water and covered 
air-tight with india-rubber or 
a piece of bladder. When this 
cover is pressed down, the air 
underneath is compressed, and 
water enters the figure by the 
hole so as to bring the air with- 
in tlie figure to an equal degree 
of compression. The figure con- 
sequently sinks, and does not 
rise again until the pressure is 
removed. Cartesian geometry, geometry treated by 
means of coordinates ; analytical geometry. See Cartesian 
coordinates, above. Cartesian lens, a lens so shaped 
that there is no spherical aberration ; especially, a con- 
cavoconvex lens having one surface spherical and the other 
ellipsoidal. Such lenses were proposed by Descartes, but 
never successfully executed, and were shown later to be 
needless. Cartesian measure Of force, the measure 
of force as proportional to the velocity, founded on the 
observation that the same force is required to raise one 
pound two feet as to raise two pounds one foot. Owing 
to the confused notions of force of Descartes and his fol- 
lowers, it is impossible to say whether the principle as 
enunciated by them is correct or not ; but its errors ap- 
pear, at any rate, to have been corrected in the final de- 
velopment of the doctrine, though it is now superseded. 
Cartesian oval, a curve, the locus of a point whose dis- 
tances from two fixed points are connected by any given 
cartilage 
Cartesianism (kiir-te'zian-izm), n. [< F. Car- 
ti'sianixmr- = Sp. Pg. It. Cartesia-nismo : see Car- 
tesian and -ism.] The philosophy of Descartes 
as set forth by him, and as further developed 
by his followers. See Cartesian, a. 
cartful (kiirt'ful), n. [< cart + -J'til, 2.] As 
much as a cart will hold ; a cart-load. 
Cartesian Diver. 
Confocal Cartesian Ovals. 
F, /', F are the foci ; the ovals a and A form one quartic curve, 
likewise b and l>. c and C, d and D; x is the intermediate circle, y 
the orthogonal circle. 
linear equation. A Cartesian oval is a real branch of a 
Cartesian curve. These ovals were first imagined by Des- 
cartes in connection with the theory of optics. The evo- 
lute of a Cartesian oval is the diacaustic of a circle. 
II. n. 1. One who adopts the philosophy of 
Descartes; a follower of Descartes. 2. Any 
curve of the 
fourth order 
having two 
cusps on the 
absolute. There 
are three genera 
of Cartesians. The 
first consists of 
curves of the sixth 
class, composed of 
a pair of Cartesian 
ovals, one inside 
the other. The 
second genus con- 
sists of curves of 
the fourth class, 
Cartesians. which are lima- 
The full-line curve is a limacon: without cons. Curves of 
it and within the loop is a Cartesian of two this kind ffpnprnllv 
ovals. On the other side of the limacon is I 1 
a Cartesian having only one real oval. na \ e . an acnode 
which may become 
a crunode. The third genus consists of the cardioid, 
which is a curve of the third class with a real cusp. 
Every Cartesian has a single bitangent. Twisted Car- 
tesian, a curve in space, the locus of a point whose dis- 
tances from three fixed points are connected by two linear 
equations. 
Carthagena bark. See 
Carthaginian (kiir-tha-jin'i-aii), a. and n. 
[After equiv. L. Cariliar/inieiisis, < Carthago 
(Carthagin-), also Kartliago, Jiartayo (Gr. Kop- 
xqfiav), Carthage.] I. a. Pertaining to ancient 
Carthage, a city and state on the northern 
coast of Africa, near the modern Tunis, founded 
by the Phenicians of Tyre in the ninth century 
B.C. See Punic Carthaginian faith. See faith. 
II. n. An inhabitant or a native of Carthage. 
carthamic (kiir-tham'ik), a. [< cartliamin + 
-i'c.] Of or pertaining to carthamiu: as, "car- 
tliamic acid, a red colouring matter of saf- 
ilower," Ure, Diet,, I. 660. 
carthamin, carthamine (kar'tha-min), n. [< 
Carthamus + -i 2 , -iiie%; == F. carthamine = Sp. 
cartamina.] A preparation from safflower, Car- 
thamus tinctorius. In thin films it appears of a gold- 
green hue ; against the light it appears red. It is used for 
surface coloring or dyeing. When repeatedly dissolved and 
precipitated it becomes safflower-carmine. Mixed with 
r'lvm-h chalk it forms rouge, which is used as a cosmetic. 
Carthamus (kiir'tha-mus), . [NL. (> F. cur- 
thame = Sp. carta ni'o = Pg. It. cartamo), < Ar. 
qurtnm, qirtim, < qartama, paint: so called be- 
cause the flowers yield a fine color.] A small 
genus of annual plants, natural order C'nmposita:. 
The best-known species is C. tinctorius, safflower or bas- 
tard saffron, extensively cultivated for its yellow flowers, 
which are employed in dyeing. See sajjlmivr. 
cart-horse (kart'hors), n. [< ME. carthors, 
cartehora, < AS. cro!tehors, < cra't, cart, + hors, 
horse.] A horse that draws a cart, or is in- 
tended or suitable for such work. 
Carthusian (kitr-thu'zian), . and a. [= F. 
Chartreux. Sp. Cartujario, a., Cartitjo, n., Pg. 
Cartuxo, It. Certosano, Certosino ; cf. D. Kar- 
tltuizer, G. Karthauser, Dan. Karthetiser, < ML. 
Cartusiensis, also Carturiensis, Cartvnensis, a 
Carthusian, < Catorissium, Caturissiwm, Char- 
trousse, name of the village near which the 
first Carthusian monastery was built.] I. n. 1. 
One of a contemplative order of monks founded 
in 1086 by St. Bruno in the Grande Chartreuse, 
a wild mountain group in the diocese of Gre- 
noble in France. They are remarkable for their aus- 
terity. They support themselves by manual labor, men- 
dicancy being forbidden. Their habit is a haircloth shirt. 
a white tunic, and, when out of doors, a black cloak and 
a cowl. The order was introduced into England about 
1180, and built the Charterhouse (corruption of Chartreuse, 
used as the generic name of any Carthusian monastery) 
in London in 1371. The monks of Chartreuse now derive 
a considerable revenue from the sale of the well-known 
cordial, of their invention, which bears the name of the 
monastery. (See chartreuse, 2.) The Carthusian nuns 
originated about 1230, and, with some modifications, fol- 
low the rules of the Carthusian monks. 
2. A scholar of the Charterhouse in London. 
See Charterhouse. 
Here [in the chapel of the Charterhouse] is the handsome 
memorial of the Carthusians s}a\n in the wars, and on the 
walls is a commemorative tablet to Thackeray. 
The Century, XXVI. 834. 
II. a. Pertaining to the order of monks above 
named. 
cartilage (kar'ti-laj), . [< F. cartilage = Pr. 
cartilage = Sp. cartilago = Pg. cartilagem = It. 
cartilagine, < L. cartilago (cartilagin-), gristle; 
origin unknown.] A non-vascular animal tis- 
sue belonging to the connective-tissue group ; 
gristle. Typical hyaline cartilage is a translucent sub- 
stance, of firm elastic consistence, constructed of roundish 
cells embedded in a nearly homogeneous intercellular sub- 
stance. Fibrocartilage differs in that the intercellular sub- 
stance becomes nbrillated ; it thus approaches ordinary 
connective tissue. Rcticular, yellow, or elastic cartilage, 
as that constituting in man the epiglottis, the cornicula 
laryngis, the Eustachian tube, and gristly parts of the 
outer ear, contains interlacing clastic fibers in consider- 
able quantity. In the two latter forms the homogeneous 
substance remains unchanged in the immediate vicinity 
of the cells, forming their hyaline capsules. Chondrin, a 
substance resembling gelatin, may be extracted from car- 
tilage" by boiling. Cartilage usually persists in parts of 
the skeleton of adult vertebrates, as on the articular ends 
of bones, in the thorax, and in various passages which re- 
quire to be kept open, as the windpipe, nostrils, and ears. 
Alar cartilage. See alar. Articular cartilage, an 
incrustation of hyaline cartila.se on the articular ends or 
surfaces of bones, not covered by perichondrinm on its free 
surface, with a finely granular matrix and Finallcells, show- 
ing no tendency to ossify, its density, smoothness, and elas- 
ticity contributing to the free movement of the parts. 
Arytenoicl cartilages, two triangular pyiamidal carti- 
lages, seated, one on each side, on the summit of the poste- 
rior portion of the cricoid cartilage. To them are attached 
the posterior ends of the vocal cords. Cartilage Of 
Wrisberg, a small cartilage on either side in the aryteno- 
epiglottic fold. Also called cuneiform cartilage. Carti- 
