CAM 
camphor of the shops is prepared, being a 
species of laurel. See Laorcs. 
CAMPHORASMA, in botany, from 
caniphora, a genus of the Tetrandria Mono- 
gynia class and order. Natural order of 
Holoraceae. Atriplices, Jussieu. Essential 
character: calyx pitcher-form, two of the 
teeth opposite, and the alternate ones very 
small; corolla none; capsule one-seeded. 
There are five species, of which C. monspe- 
liaca, hairy camphorosma, is an annual plant, 
with trailing branches, extending a foot or 
more in length ; leaves linear ; tlie flowers 
are produced Irom the joints, and are so 
small as to be scarcely perceptible. Na- 
tive of France and Spain. The whole plant 
smells of camphor ; it abounds in a volatile 
oily salt, and is warm and stimulating. 
CAMUS, (Charles Stephen Lewis) 
in biography, a celebrated French mathe- 
matician, was born at Cressy en Brie, the 
25th of August, 1699. His early ingenuity 
in mechanics and his own intreaties induced 
his parents to send him to study at a college 
in Paris, at 10 years of age ; where in the 
space of two yeeirs his progress was so great 
that he was able to give lessons in mathe- 
matics, and thus to defray his own expenses 
at the college without any farther charge to 
his friends. By the assistance of the cele- 
brated Varignon this youth soon ran through 
the course of the higher mathematics, and 
acquired a name among the learned. He 
made hiniself more particularly knovra to 
the Academy of Sciences in 1727, by his 
memoir upon the subject of the prize which 
they had proposed for that year, viz. “ To 
determine the most advantageous way of 
masting ships ;” in consequence of which lie 
was named, that year, Adjoint-Mechanician 
to the Academy; and in 1730 he was ap- 
pointed Professor of .Architecture. In less 
than three years after he was honoured with 
the secretaryship of the same ; and the 18th 
of April, 1733, he obtained the degree of 
Associate in the Academ}', where he distin- 
guished himself greatly by his memoirs upon 
living foi ces, or bodies in motion acted upon 
by forces, on the figure of the teeth of 
wheels and pinions, on pump work, and 
several other ingenious memoirs. 
In 1736 he was sent, in company with 
Messrs. Clairaut, Maupertuis, and Monnier, 
upon the celebrated expedition to measure 
a degree at the north polar circle ; in which 
he rendered himself highly useful, not only 
as a mathematician, but also as a mechani- 
cian and an artist, branches for which he 
had a remarkable talent. 
CAN 
In 1741, he invented a gauging rod and 
sliding rule, by which the contents of all 
kinds of casks might be immediately ascer- 
tained. He was employed in works of im- 
portance in his own country, and elected 
Geometrician in the French Academy. In 
1765 he was chosen a Fellow of the Royal 
Society of London. On the 4th of May, 
1768, he died in his 69th year, and was suc- 
ceeded in his office of Geometrician to the 
Academy by D’Alembert. His works are 
numerous and of great reputation : the prin- 
cipal are “ A Course of Mathematics,” 
“ Elements of Mechanics,” and “ Elements 
of Arithtnetic.” 
CANAL, an aqueduct made for the pur- 
poses of inland navigation. This great im- 
provement in the conveyanca of commodi- 
ties has arrived at a high degree of perfec- 
tion, and enables us to transport them even 
over mountains where it would appear im- 
possible to preserve a communication, or 
rather a continuity of water carriage with 
the subjacent plains. . This is effected by 
the means of locks built of masonry, each of 
which serves as the conjunction of two dif- 
ferent levels. The locks are made only 
large enough to admit the vessels employed 
in the business, and have two gates, one at 
each end. When a vessel should ascend to 
a superior level, the upper gate is shut, and 
the vessel being brought within the lock, 
the lower gate Ls also closed, and the upper 
one opened. By this means the water 
flows in, and the vessel is raised to tlie in- 
tended height. The upper gate is closed as 
soon as the vessel has passed, but the water 
in the lock is preserved for the purpose of 
letting a vessel down, which is done by 
shutting the upper gate after she is in the 
lock, and opening the lower one ; so that 
she is lowered gradually to the next level. 
The water in all cases is let in or out by 
means of a small hatch, making its rise and 
fall very gradual; else the gates would be 
torn from their hinges by the rush of so large 
a body, and the vessel would be endanger-' 
ed. We have instances of about twenty 
-locks all in half a mile’s distance; but there 
require very powerful springs to supply a 
due quantity of water. Sometimes canals 
are raised above the level of the counti-y ; 
and we have instances where one canal 
passes over another. 
The particular operations necessary for 
making artificial navigations, depend upon 
a number of circumstances. The situation 
of the ground ; its vicinity or connection 
witli rivers; the ease or difficulty with 
