| varying in height from 6 to 30 feet. 
CHSARIAN OPERATION. 
the leguminous tribe. About twenty species 
have been introduced to the hothouses of Bri- 
tain, from the Hast Indies, the West Indies, 
Mexico, and Brazil; and about a dozen other 
species have been scientifically described. The 
stems of all are arborescent and more or less 
prickly ; their leaves are abruptly pinnated; and 
their flowers are showy, and for the most part 
yellow, but in some instances inclining to orange 
and white. One of the introduced species, C. 
scandens, is a climber of about 20 feet in height ; 
and the others are arborescent shrubs and trees, 
Two intro- 
duced species from the West Indies, CO. brasiliensis 
and C. crista, and one introduced species from Bra- 
| ail, C.echinata, yield most of the beautiful Brazil- 
| wood of commerce. See the article Brazit-Woop. 
An introduced species from the Hast Indies, C. 
Sappan, yields a valuable red dye-wood to the in- 
habitants of Hindostan and Sumatra. An unin- 
troduced species in India, C. pulcherrima, derives 
_ its specific name of ‘ most beautiful’ from the 
supposed resemblance of its flower to the tail of 
a peacock. And an unintroduced species in 
Curacoa and Carthagena, called popularly Divi- 
divi, and scientifically C. cortaria, produces pods 
which are remarkably rich in tannin, and are 
used by the natives of Curacoa and Carthagena 
for making leather, and might advantageously 
be imported to Britain as a substitute for oak 
bark and nut galls. The soluble matter of the 
pods is comparatively large in quantity, and pos- 
sesses so great an affinity for water, and yields 
itself thence so readily to hides, that the rude 
leather of Curacoa and Carthagena is manufac- 
tured by means of it in the brief space of two 
days. ‘The per-centage of tannin in these pods 
is 51168, in nut-galls 35°458, and in oak-bark 
13417; and the proportion of 60 grains of the 
pods soluble in 5 ounces of water is 45°75, of 
nut-galls 35:5, and of oak-bark 18. 
CHISARIAN OPERATION. The artificial 
extraction of a foetus, by opening the side of the 
mother. This operation has been occasionally 
performed on cows, but very rarely with the effect 
of saving the life of either the cow or the calf. 
It is never justifiable except when, from large 
hard tumour in the womb or any similar ob- 
struction, natural parturition is absolutely im- 
possible; and it can be attempted only by a very 
experienced veterinary surgeon, who, of course, 
understands its nature better than could be ex- 
pressed by any brief description of ours. 
CAFFEIN. The peculiar chemical principle 
of coffee. It was obtained in a separate state, 
first in 1820 by Runge, and very soon after by 
Pelletier and Caventon. When obtained by the 
cooling of a strong solution, it forms slender, 
flexible, opaque, silky, filamentous crystals re- 
sembling amianthus ; but when obtained by slow 
spontaneous evaporation, it forms long, fine, 
transparent, and but slightly flexible prisms. 
It is volatile, and has a slightly bitter and dis- 
ja oe = mange et od 
@) 
cw) 
CAIRN. 61 
agreeable taste. It consists of 8 equivalents of 
carbon, 5 of hydrogen, 2 of nitrogen, and 2 of 
oxygen; yet though containing a larger propor- 
tion of nitrogen than occurs in most animal sub- 
stances, it is not subject, under any circum- 
stances, to the putrefactive fermentation. In 
100 parts of Martinique coffee, the quantity of 
caffein, according to Robiquet, is 64; in Java 
coffee, 4°4; in Mocha coffee, 4°; in St. Domingo 
coffee, 3°2.—Another proximate element of coffee 
is cuffeic acid. This is obtained in the form of 
brown translucent scales; it has the aromatic 
odour of burnt coffee; and it consists of 29°1 per 
cent. of carbon, 69 of hydrogen, and 6:4 of oxy- 
gen.—A concentrated preparation of coffee figures 
in the pharmacy of the new homeopathic school. 
CAGEH-GATEH. A small gate traversing be- 
tween two shutting-posts, and subtended by a 
small angular space enclosed with paling. It is 
comparatively expensive in construction; yet it 
is specially convenient for the transit of infirm 
or careless persons, as it cannot be so left open as 
to permit the passage of a cow or sheep. 
CAHUCHU. See Caovurcnovc. 
CAINITO,—botanically Chrysophyllum Cainito. 
A species of evergreen West-Indian and South- 
American fruit-tree, of the star-apple genus, and 
sapota tribe. Four varieties of it exist in the 
hothouses of Britain, the normal kind, the Ja- 
maica variety, the blue-fruited, and the small- 
leaved; and the first usually attains a height of 
50 feet, the second and the third 40 feet, and the 
fourth 30 feet. Their branches are numerous and 
slender; their leaves are spear-shaped, their upper- 
surface deep green, and their under-surface shin- 
ing like satin; their flowers have a white colour, 
are produced in bunches from the wings of the 
leaves and the extremity of the branches; and 
their fruit is round, pulpy, and about the size of 
a golden pippin,—at first very rough and astrin- 
gent, but afterwards becoming mellow like the 
medlar. Their timber is used in buildings, and 
for shingles to cover houses. 
CAIRN. A heap of stones thrown together in | 
a conical form. Cairns seem to differ from bar- 
rows, only in regard to the materials of which 
they are composed: they both seem to have been 
designed for the same purposes; and accidental 
circumstances directed the ene to be constructed 
of stones, and the other of accumulated earth. 
In Scotland and Wales, cairns are more common, 
because the materials are everywhere to be found 
in abundance. In England, barrows are more 
frequent, because stones are not so easily pro- | 
cured for the construction of these monuments. 
It is in vain that we attempt to trace the history 
of cairns, or to deduce their origin from any par- | 
ticular nation; they evidently originate in prin- | 
ciples common to human nature, and were the 
first rude monuments of events which men were 
desirous to commemorate. 
a pillar or a stone set up as “a memorial,” we 
seé the origin of the cairn, and the principle 
Wherever we read of | 
