| ATRA. 
CATALEPSY. 
keen relish which cattle and water-fowl show for 
their foliage. Their root is fibrous and peren- 
nial; their culm, in its lower part, is decumbent 
and strikes root at the joints,—in its middle part, 
is oblique,—and in its upper part is erect; the 
young leaves and the portions of the culm which 
are covered by the sheaths of the leaves, are very 
tender, and have a sweet liquorice-like taste; 
the leaves are broad and long, and terminate 
abruptly at the point; the panicle is upright, 
and has horizontal, whorled, spreading branches; 
and the glumes are unequal, membranaceous, and 
broadly ovate, and contain two beardless florets, 
of much greater length than themselves.—The 
aquatic species, Catabrosa aquatica, grows natur- 
ally in Britain, in such rivulets, marshy ponds, 
and other situations as are usually inhabited by 
the floating glyceria. It is called by Sowerby 
and Smith, and by older botanists, Avra aquatica, 
and has already been partly noticed in our article 
It closely resembles the floating glyceria 
in general habit; but differs in the stiff branch- 
ing form of its panicle, and in containing only 
two florets in its spikelets, while glyceria con- 
tains from five to eleven. This sweet and deli- 
| cious grass thrives well on some of the irrigated 
meadows in the vicinity of Edinburgh ; and might 
| be very advantageously made part of the herbage 
|, of all irrigated meadows.—The greenish species, 
Caiabrosa viridula, grows to only two-thirds of 
the height of the aquatic species, and usually 
| flowers about a month later. 
CATALIPSY. A spasmodic disease, by some 
regarded as a species of tetanus. It affects the 
whole body, so as to render it immoveable, as if 
dead. Tetanus differs from catalepsy in its sub- 
jects and causes. Females are most liable to the 
last, while the first is equally produced in both 
sexes by appropriate causes. Tetanus is most 
frequently produced by punctured wounds of 
tendinous textures, and most readily in hot wea- 
ther. Sometimes, however, it occurs, like cata- 
lepsy, independently of wounds. The spasm is 
more limited in tetanus; sometimes being most 
severe in the muscles of the face, producing lock- 
jaw ; now it attacks the muscles of the trunk, on 
the fore part, and now the muscles of the back 
part, producing curvature of the trunk back- 
wards. During all this, the natural temperature 
may remain, the pulse be perfectly natural, and 
the senses unimpaired. Under the most active 
| and varied treatment, tetanus has always been a 
very fatal malady.—Catalepsy is a universal spas- 
modic disease of the organs of locomotion. The 
body remains in the position in which it may 
have been when attacked with the fit, and the 
limbs preserve any situation in which they may 
be placed. The senses are obliterated, and the 
mind totally inactive, nothing being able to 
rouse the patient. The pulse and temperature 
remain natural. The fit is of uncertain length ; 
according to some writers, not lasting more than 
a quarter of an hour, though known by others to 
———————— 
CATAPLASM. 
be much longer. This disease is an obstinate 
one, and is very liable to recur, even when the 
patient seems in the least respect liable to a re- 
currence. It is, for the most part, a consequence 
of some other disease. This may be a local affec- 
tion ; but it more frequently occurs in a generally 
enfeebled constitution, induced by some grave 
malady, or one which has been caused by the 
gradual operation of unobserved morbid causes. 
CATALPA. A small genus of magnificent or- 
namental trees, of the trumpet-flower tribe. 
syringa-leaved species, Catalpa syringifolia, is a 
native of Carolina, and was introduced to Britain 
in 1726. It attains a height of forty feet in 
America, but seldom more than seven or eight in 
England; yet when raised from seed, and not 
from layers, it can rise to nearly its natural 
height on our lawns; and as it has an upright 
stem and very superb foliage, it might figure as 
a magnificent standard in many a sheltered 
opening. Next to the magnolia grandiflora, it is 
the most gorgeously flowering tree which has 
ever been introduced to the shrubberies or plea- 
sure grounds of Britain; and it will grow in al- 
most any soil, and produce a gate post which | 
will last through two or three lifetimes. Its 
timber is a deep yellow, and probably as durable 
as that of the locust-tree; its bark is smooth and 
brown ; its leaves are cordate, about half a foot 
long, nearly half a foot broad, and of a bluish 
cast of colour, and they stand by threes at the 
joints, and are not produced till late in spring ; 
and its flowers are tubulous, and have a white 
colour, with purple spots and yellowish stripes | 
on the inside, and are in bloom from June till 
the latter part of August.—Two other species, C. 
longissima and C. microphylla, have been intro- 
duced to Britain; but both are tropical plants | 
and evergreens. 
CATANANCHE. A small genus of hardy, or- 
namental, herbaceous plants, of the succory divi- 
sion of the composite family. The azure species, 
CO. cerulea, was brought to Britain from the south 
of Europe, toward the close of the 16th century. 
Its root is perennial; its flower-stems grow in 
The | 
429 
groups of from three to ten, according to the © 
size and strength of the root, and rise to the 
height of about a yard, and ramify into small 
branches adorned with minor leaves ; its principal 
leaves lie flat on the ground, turning their points 
upwards, and are numerous, narrow, hairy, and — 
jagged; and its flowers have a fine blue colour, 
and a beautiful appearance, and are produced in | 
single heads at the top of the stems, and appear | 
from July till October. 
This plant is a powerful | 
incentive, and was formerly used in philtres— | 
The yellow-flowering species, Catananche lutea, is | 
an annual of about ten inches in height; and | 
was introduced from Candia about the middle of | 
the 17th century. 
CATAPHAGUS. See Wire-Worm. 
CATAPLASM. Any kind of poultice intended 
to be applied to the surface of the body. Cata- || 
