CAV 
racter ; corolla radiated, in the disk ; male , 
petals inflex-emarginate ; fruit hispid with 
bristles ; involucres entire. There are nine 
species These plants are all annual, or at most 
biennial, and are seldom cultivated, except 
in botanic gardens. Tliey will rise readily 
from, seeds, where they are permitted to 
scatter, and will grovv in any soil and situ- 
ation. 
CAVEAR, Caveer, or Caviary, the 
spawn, or hard roes of sturgeon, made into 
small cakes, an inch thick, and of an hand’s 
breadth, salted and dried in the snn. 
The French and Italians get the cavear 
from Archangel, but they seldom get it at 
the first hand, for they commonly buy it of 
the English and Dutch. 
CAVEAT, in law, a kind of process in 
the spiritual courts to stop the proving of a 
will, the granting letters of administration, 
&c. to the prejudice of another. It is also 
used to stop the institution of a clerk to a 
benefice. A caveat stands in force for 
three months. 
The entering acaveat being at the instance 
of the party, is for the benefit of the ordinary 
that he may do no wrong; it is a cautionary 
act for his better information, to which the 
temporal courts have no regard : therefore 
if after a caveat entered the ordinary should 
grant administration, or probate of a will, 
it is not void by our law, though it is by 
the canon law ; but our law takes notice 
of a caveat. 
CAVERNOSE, among anatomists, an 
appellation given to several parts of the 
body on account of their spongy structure : 
thus the cavernosa corpora are two spongy 
bodies, made up of a number of small ca- 
verns or cells. 
CAVIA, the cai'y, in natural history, a 
genus of Mammalia, of the order Glires. 
Generic chai'acter : two w'edge-shaped front 
teeth ; eight grinders ; from four to five 
toes on the fore-feet, from three to five on 
the hind-feet ; tail very short, or none ; no 
clavicles. There are seven species, of which 
those that follow are most deserving at- 
tention; 
C. cobaya, or the guinea pig. This animal 
is a native of South America, and found 
particularly in Brazil. It is tamed with 
great facility, and is inoffensive, timorous, 
and particularly cleanly ; it does not, how- 
ever, appear susceptible of strong attach- 
ments to its benefactors, nor is it remarkable 
for docility. It is one of the most prolific 
of animals, and Bufifon calculates that, in 
1? months only, 1000 might be produced 
CAV 
t 
from a single pair, as the female has been 
known to bring forth young when two 
months old only ; and the time of gestation 
is only three weeks ; and she will produce 
at least every two months. They are six 
or seven months before they arrive at their 
maturity of growth, but within the short 
period of twelve hours from their birth are 
nearly as alert and active as those fully 
grown, and therefore require parental assi- 
duity only for a little time. Vegetables 
form their food, and on a great variety of 
these they will flourish and fatten ; very 
succulent food of this description, however, 
is injurious, and, with sow'-thistles and cab- 
bage, should be employed for them nourish- 
ment of more consistency, such as grain and 
bread. They drink but little, appear, after 
eating, to ruminate, and are extremely apt 
to be affected by cold. They are in some 
places used as articles of food, and even 
considered as delicacies. They are uncom- 
monly cleanly in their habitations, and are 
often to be seen smoothing and cleansing 
their fur with particular attention and per- 
severance. In contests they not only bite 
but kick. It is a curious circumstance, if 
it may be depended upon as true, and it is 
stated by authentic reporters, that the male 
and female seldom sleep at the same time, 
but exercise over each other alternate vigi- 
lance. See Mammalia, Plate VII. fig. 2. 
C. paca, or the spotted cavy of Pennant, 
is clumsily formed : a native, like the for- 
mer, of South America ; is highly esteemed 
by the inhabitants of this quarter of the 
world for its food ; is particularly fond of 
fruits and of sugar ; and, continuing in its 
hole during the day, devotes the night to 
activity and refreshment. See Mammalia, 
Plate VII. fig. 3. 
C. capybara, or the river cavy, inhabits 
particularly the eastern parts of South 
America ; and when full grown weighs about 
a hundred pounds ; it lives not only upon 
vegetables but also upon fish, which, as it 
swims and dives extremely well, it procui'es 
with facility, but which it brings to land 
before it devours ; it is of a mild disposition 
and easily familiarised by man ; its pursuit 
of prey is generally engaged in by night ; it 
frequents, principally, marshes and the 
banks of rivers. These animals are report- 
ed to associate only in pairs. The female 
produces only one young at a time. Their 
flesh is praised by some as exquisite, but 
others represent it as rank and fishy. 
C. aguti, the long-nosed cavy. These 
animals move like hares and grunt like pigs ; 
