CAB 
CAB 
single sight of its sacred walls, without any 
particular act of devotion, is as meritorious, 
in the sight of God, as the most careful 
discharge of one’s duty, for the space of a 
whole year, in any otlier temple. 
C.4B, on Hebrew dry measure equal to 
oi pints of our corn measure. 
‘cabbage. See Brassica. 
Cabbage tree. See, Akeca. 
CABBAGING, among gardeners, a term 
used for the knitting of cabbages into round 
heads. 
CABBALA, properly signifies tradition, 
and is the name of a mysterious kind of 
science, thought to have been delivered by 
revelation to the ancient Jews, and trans- 
mitted by oral tradition to those of oar 
times ; serving for the interpretation of the 
books both of nature and scripture. 
The Cabbala is properly the oral law of 
tlie Jews, delivered down by w'ord of mouth 
from father to son ; and it is to these inter- 
pretations of the written law, that our Savi- 
our’s censure is to be applied, when he re- 
proves the Jews for malting the commands 
of God of none effect, through their tradi- 
tions. 
CABBALISTS, the Jewish doctors, who 
profess the study of the cabbala. In the 
opinion of these men, there is not a word, 
letter, or accent in the law, witliout some 
mystery in it. The Jews are divided into 
two general sects ; the Karaites, who refuse 
to receive either tradition or the talmud, or 
any thing but the pure text of scripture ; 
and the rabbinists, or talmudists, who, be- 
sides this, receive the traditions of the an- 
cients, and follow the talmud. The latter 
are again divided into two other sects ; pure 
rabbinists, who explain the scripture, in its 
natural sense, by grammar, history, and 
tradition ; and cabbalists, who, to discover 
hidden mystical senses, which they suppose 
God to have couched therein, make use of 
the cabbala, and the mystical methods 
above mentioned. 
C.ABECA, or Cabesse, a name given to 
the finest silks in the East Indies. 
CABIN, in tlie sea language, a small 
room or apaitment, whereof there are a 
great many in several parts of a ship ; par- 
ticularly on the quarter-deck, and on each 
side of the steerage, for the officers of the 
ship to lie in. The great cabin is the chief 
of all, and that which properly belongs to 
the captain or chief commander. 
CABINET, the most retired place in the 
finest part of a building, set apart for writ- 
ing, studying, or preserving any thing that 
is precious. A complete apartment con- 
sists of a hall, anti-chamber, chamber, and 
cabmet, with a galleiy on one side. 
Hence w^e say a cabinet of paintings, curio- 
sities, &c. 
Cabinet, in natural history. This term 
is applied with some latitude to any small 
or select collection of natural curiosities, 
without regarding whether the articles it 
comprises be contained within a cabinet 
or not. Thus, for instance, it is not un- 
frequent with us to speak of cabinets of 
animals, cabinets of birds, of fishes, rep- 
tiles, and other similar articles, as a mode 
of expressing such an assemblage of natu- 
ral history as may not be of sufficient im- 
portance to deserve the epithet of a mu- 
seum. The w'ord cabinet, in its usual ac- 
ceptation with the naturalist, is not there- 
fore confined solely to the boxes, press, or 
chest of drawers, in wiiich articles of cu- 
riosity are contained, but implies at once 
both the repositoi-y itself, and the; articles ar- 
ranged in it. 
Cabinets of fossils, shells, and corals have 
the drawers sometimes divided for this pur- 
pose into small compartments, by means of 
an inner frame work, that lets into the bot- 
tom of the drawer ; but trays of various 
sizes, made either of card or pasteboard, 
have a much neater appearance, and are 
preferred by many as being more commo- 
dious, and more easily shifted from one part 
of the drawer to another, as the addition of 
new acquisitions in any particular tribe or 
genus may require. Nothing can be more 
desirable than to have the cabinets well 
made, that the drawers may slide with per- 
fect ease in their proper recesses in the 
press. The drawers should fit so close, 
when shut up, as to preclude the entrance 
of dust of any kind. The cabinet itself 
should be also placed in a dry situation, as 
there are few articles of natural history that 
are not affected in a greater or less degree 
by an excess of damp, or even heat. The 
drawers are uniformly made shallow, the 
bottom of each is lined with cork, and the 
top is covered with glass, through wdiich the 
insect may be seen without being exposed 
to the air, or accidents that would arise 
from their being touched by the incautious 
spectator. 
Cabinets for insects are built of various 
sizes, from those which contain ten or a 
dozen drawers to others that include above 
an hundred. They are usually of mahogany, 
but it is immaterial whether they be made 
of mahogany or wainscot ; some have them 
