surface is very mountainous in parts, except the southern, where it stretches out into a large plain. The loftiest and best known of the mountains is the Sierra de Aconquija, which stretches from south to north, and attains in its culminating point near its southern extremity a height of more than 16,000 feet. The Santa Maria, flowing north to the Huachipas, is the only river of any importance, but as every valley has its mountain stream, the whole province is well watered. The soil is fertile, producing large crops of maize and wheat, and supporting large numbers of live stock, especially goats. The vine is also cultivated, and yields wine and spirits which bear a high name in the surrounding countries. The principal exports are beasts of burden, horned cattle, and hides and goatskins, raw or tanned. The principal mineral is iron, but gold, silver, and lead are also found. The capital is Catamarca. Pop. 99,000, chiefly of Indian extraction, with a considerable mixture of Spaniards.

Catamarca, Argentine Republic, the capital of the province of Catamarca, situated in a valley 82 miles northeast of Rioja. It is connected by rail with Rioja and all the chief towns of the republic, and is the trade centre of a fertile district. It was founded about 1680, and has a fine church and a college. Pop. 7,500.

Catamount, a short form of the phrase "cat of the mountain,» frequently found in the older books about America, and still occasionally used as a name for the lynx of the eastern United States, and sometimes for the puma, or "panther, once common in New England. The term is so indefinite that it is well that it has fallen into disuse.

Catanduanes, kä-tän-dwä'nēz, Philippines, an island lying northeast of the province of Albay, Luzon; its length is 44 miles north and south; width, 29 miles at the southern end; area, 704 square miles. The mountain system consists of three ranges that radiate from Mount Catilamong near the centre of the island; the rest of the surface is irregular, covered with low hills. The most important rivers are the Ocó and the Bató or Cabugao; there are also a number of smaller rivers, and the island is well watered. The soil is fertile, and rice, cotton, corn, and hemp are raised; indigo and cocoanuts are exported. The natives find gold, both dust and nuggets, in the gravel beds of many of the rivers. The largest town is Birac (pop. 5,832). The island does not form a province of itself, but is a constituent part of the province of Albay, and is included in the military department of Luzon. Pop. 33,300.

viving with great splendor, and has much more the features of a metropolis than Palermo. The principal streets are wide and well paved with lava. Most of the edifices have an air of magnificence unknown in other parts of the island, and the town has a title to rank among the elegant cities of Europe. An obelisk of red granite, placed on the back of an antique elephant of touchstone, stands in the centre of the great square, which is formed by the town hall, seminary, and cathedral. The cathedral, a fine building, was founded in 1091 by Count Roger, but required to be mostly rebuilt after the earthquake of 1693. It is dedicated to St. Agatha, the patroness of the city. The suppressed Benedictine monastery of St. Nicholas, comprising a church (with splendid organ), library, museum, and other extensive buildings, was long celebrated for wealth and splendor. The university was founded about 1445. The ruins of the amphitheatre, which was more extensive than the Coliseum at Rome, are still to be seen, as also the remains of the theatre, baths, aqueducts, sepulchral chambers, hippodrome, and several temples. The industries include the manufacture of silk and cotton goods, and the mining of sulphur. The harbor was formerly a good one, but by the eruption of 1669 its entrance was almost entirely choked up, and it is only in recent times that it has been improved, a considerable amount of money having been spent on it. The trade of Catania is of some importance, the principal export being sulphur, next to which come oranges and lemons, almonds and other fruits, and wine. Cereals, textiles, and other manufactures are the chief imports. The exports have an average annual value of about $5,000,000. A circular railway runs from Catania round the base of Mount Etna. Pop. 147,000.

Catanzaro, kä-tän-zä'rō (ancient CATACIUM), Italy, a city and capital of the southern province of the same name, on a height, eight miles from the Gulf of Squillace. It suffered severely from the great earthquake of 1783, but is still a place of some importance, defended by a citadel, and containing a cathedral and various other churches, an academy of sciences, one of the four great civil courts of the kingdom, a lyceum, and three hospitals. The manufactures consist chiefly of silk and velvet, and there is some trade in wheat, wine, oil, etc. Pop. about 30,000.

Cataphoresis, kåt-a fôr-e-sis, a method of introducing remedies into the body by means of electricity. While certain substances can be made to penetrate the skin by means of electrical currents, the general cataphoretic method has not found favor with conservative and care

ful observers.

Cataplasm. A paultic or plaster applied to sore parts to increase suppuration, relieve pain, stimulate the skin or some similar purpose. It may be composed of any moist and pulpy substance that will retain the water without dripping or soaking through the thin muslin covering in which it is usually wrapped. The linseedmeal poultice is the most easily made, and most satisfactory of all soothing applications. The meal is stirred gradually into a sufficient quantity of boiling water, placed in the bottom of a small basin or teacup, until a perfectly smooth pulp is formed of the proper consistence, and in quantity sufficient to cover completely, to the thickness of three-quarters of an inch, the whole, pained part. The pulp is then folded up in muslin or thin calico, and applied as soon as the heat will permit it to be borne. The bread and milk, or even bread and water poultice, is also very good; as is also the oatmeal-porridge poultice, to which a little butter may be added with advantage. A spoonful or two of yeast may be added, if there are foul discharges, or peat charcoal may be sprinkled on the surface of the poultice before it is applied. Hemlock poultices, made of the fresh leaves, or of the dried leaves, with the aid of some powder of the leaves, form a valuable sedative application in painful diseases; and poppy heads, or even opium, are sometimes infused in the water of which a poultice is made, for the same purpose. When considerable irritation of the skin in a short time is desirable, a mustard cataplasm or sinapism [sinapi, mustard] is used. The making of an effective poultice, however, is rather a delicate operation, since numerous little niceties must be considered and proper conditions observed before a desirable preparation is

obtained.

Catapult. An engine of war, now never used, that had considerable vogue among the ancients. It somewhat resembled a crossbow, and was operated by means of a string or rope, suddenly freed from great tension, which gave a powerful impluse to an arrow placed in a groove. There were various modifications of catapults, but in essential purpose and construction they were all alike. Thus, there were catapults fixed upon a scaffold with wheels, which were used for hurling huge stones in sieges; smaller machines that were readily portable were employed in field operations. A toy catapult was and still is used by boys at play for throwing stones or similar projectiles.

Cat'aract, in medicine, an opacity of the crystalline lens of the eye, or of its capsule, or both.

It is quite different from amaurosis, which is a disease of the retina, by which it is rendered unsusceptible to the action of light. In cataract the lens becomes opague, loses its transparency, and is no longer capable of transmitting the light. The causes of cataract are numerous. Inflammation or injury to the lens may produce it. Sometimes it is ascribed to a state of the vessels of the part which prevents a proper nourishment of the lens or its capsule. It is produced by various diseases, such as gout, rheumatism, diabetes, or scrofula, and often accompanies old age. Sometimes children are born with cataract. Its earliest approach is marked by a loss of the natural color of the pupil; this becoming turbid or slightly gray. Musca volitantes accompany this period. The opacity is not at first over the whole lens, but rost frequently first attacks the centre portion;

this being turbid and of a grayish color, while the surrounding portions remain transparent and of the usual black color. While it exists in this degree only, the person can see in an oblique direction. The color of the pupil is various; mostly grayish-white or pearl-colored; sometimes milk-white, or of a yellowish-gray; now and then of a grayish-brown, and even of a dark brown or dark gray.

The treatment of cataract is by a surgical operation on the eye, and different operations have been tried and recommended. They all consist in removing the diseased lens from its situation opposite the transparent cornea. By one of these operations the cataract is depressed, removed downward, and kept from rising by the vitreous humor. This is called couching. Another operation is extraction, and consists in making an incision of the cornea and of the capsule of the lens, by which the lens may be brought forward and through the cut in the cornea. The third operation is by absorption. This consists in wounding the capsule, breaking down the crystalline, and bringing the fragments into the anterior chamber of the eye, where they are exposed to the action of the aqueous humor, and are at length absorbed. This last operation has the name keratonyxis applied to it, and is chiefly employed in the case of children, because the lenses of their eyes are soft. The choice of the operation is determined by the character of the cataract. After the operation the patient is to be kept from the light, and from all means of irritation.

A

Cat'aracts (from Latin, Cataracta, a "water-fall"), one of the names given to sudden descents in streams of water, the more general English term being fall or falls. considerable declivity in the bed of a river produces rapids. When it shoots over a precipice it forms a cataract. If it falls from steep to steep, in successive cataracts, it is often called a cascade. In rocky countries rivers abound in falls and rapids. In alluvial districts, falls, of course, are very rare. Rapids and cataracts are often a blessing to rugged countries, since they furnish the cheapest means of driving machines in manufactories, etc. In recent times waterfalis have been utilized in the furnishing of electric power in addition to ordinary waterpower. Many cataracts are remarkable for their sublimity, the grandest known being Niagara Falls (q.v.), on the Niagara River, between lakes Erie and Ontario. Some others of note are mentioned below.

The Montmorency River, which joins the St. Lawrence a few miles below Quebec, forms a magnificent cataract, 250 feet high. The Missouri, in the upper part of its course, descends 357 feet in 161⁄2 miles. There are four cataracts, one of 87, one of 19, one of 47, and one of 26 feet high. The Yosemite River in California forms a series of magnificent falls, with a total descent of 2,600 feet. The first of them is a plunge of 1,500 feet, and is followed, after a series of beautiful cascades, by a final plunge of about 400 feet. Fully 200 miles from the mouth of the Hamilton River in Labrador there is a magnificent series of cataracts known as the Grand Falls, the largest having a height of over 300 feet. In Colombia, South America, a great cataract, that of Tequendama, is formed by the Bogotá River. The river precipitates itself through a narrow chasm, about 36 feet broad, to the depth of over 600 feet. On the Potaro

River in British Guiana, the Kaieteur Fall, 740 feet high, and about 370 broad, is a splendid spectacle, and just below it is a second fall of 88 feet.

The most remarkable waterfall of Africa is one with which Dr. Livingstone's missionary travels first made us acquainted. This is a cataract on the Zambesi, called by the natives Mosioatunya ("smoke sounds here"), named by him Victoria Falls. The stream, about 1,860 yards broad, flowing over a bed of basaltic rock, is suddenly precipitated into a tremendous fissure, extending across the bed of the river from the right to the left bank, to the depth of about 370 feet. The breadth of this fissure or crack is only from 80 to 90 yards, and the pent-up waters, from which immense columns of vapor are continually ascending, are then hurried through a prolongation of the chasm to the left with furious violence. The so-called Cataracts of the Nile are not, properly speaking, cataracts. A more correct designation for them would be "rapids." The Stanley Falls on the Congo comprise seven cataracts. On the Tugela River in Natal there are the Tugela Falls. On the Umgeni River, in the same country, are the falls of the Great Umgeni (364 feet) and the Kar Kloof Falls (350). There seem to be no waterfalls of more note in Asia than those of the Cavery River of India.

One of the grandest falls in Europe is that of the Ruikanfoss ("smoking fall"), on the Maan River in Norway. The height of the cataract is 805 feet. In Sweden, on the Gotha River, a few miles below its outlet from Lake Wener, are the celebrated falls of Trollhätta, which have a height of over 100 feet. The cascade of Gavarnie, in the Pyrenees, is reputed the loftiest in Europe, being over 1,300 feet high. Its volume of water, however, is so small that it is converted into spray before reaching the bottom of the fall. Another waterfall in the Pyrenees is that of Seculéjo, in the neighborhood of Bagnères-de-Luchon. It ascends from the Lac d'Espingo, into the Lac de Seculéjo, or d'Oo, a singularly romantic mountain reservoir, from a height of 820 feet, and is the most copious of the Pyrenean waterfalls. The Swiss Alps likewise contain some falls of great sublimity. At Lauterbrunnen, in addition to numerous other cascades, is the renowned fall of the Staubbach, about 870 feet high, which, however, from its small volume of water, has none of the terrific adjuncts of a cataract, and resembles, in front, a beautiful lace veil suspended from the summit of the precipice. Near Martigny is the picturesque waterfall of the Sellesche or Pissevache, the final leap of the cascade being 128 feet. The falls of the Rhine at Schaffhausen are renowned over Europe. They are 300 feet broad, and nearly 100 feet high. In Italy the falls of Terni, or the Cascate del Marmore on the Velino, have been immortalized by Lord Byron, and though artificial, are justly regarded as among the finest and most picturesque in Europe. They consist of three falls, the aggregate height of which may be estimated at 550 feet. The falls of the Anio or Teverone, at Tivoli, are likewise very beautiful. They, too, are artificial, and have a fall of about 80 feet.

Catarman, kä-tär-män', Philippines, a town on the north coast of the Island of Samar, situated on the Catarman River, 55 miles north

northeast of Catbalogan. It has a good anchorage ground. In 1871 the town was destroyed by a volcano which burst forth in July from low land on the west side of island, and in two months had thrown up a hill two thirds of a mile long, one third of a mile wide, and about 450 feet high, destroying all vegetation for miles around. At the time of the visit of the Challenger, January 1875, the volcano had attained height of 1,950 feet, and was still active, there being visible columns of smoke by day and series of small fires at its summit by night. Pop. 10,482.

Catarrh, ka-tär', a flow from a mucous membrane. It is a symptom purely, and not a disease, and any mucous membrane of the body may be affected by an acute or chronic inflammation, usually entitled an acute or chronic catarrh; as, catarrh of the nasal mucous membrane, of the pharynx, larynx, stomach, intestines, rectum, bladder, vagina, etc. The word has general significance only, but it is much used by vendors of nostrums. See NOSE AND THROAT.

Catawba, Wateree', or Santee', a river rising in the Blue Mountains, N. C., near Morgantown. It runs east and then south into South Carolina, where it is known for some distance as the Wateree, but after the confluence of the Broad River, it takes the name of Santee, then runs east by south, and after a course of 270 miles falls by two mouths into the sea between Charleston and Georgetown. This river gives its name to a wine, the grape from which it is made having been first discovered near its

sources.

Catawba, a light sparkling wine, of rich Muscatine flavor, produced in several parts of the United States. It is made from the Catawba grape, first found growing on the banks of the Catawba River in the Carolinas. This wine is now in extensive use, and is gradually superseding Rhenish and French sparkling wines, to which, in general character, it bears a resemblance. See WINES.

Catbalogan, kat-bä-lō-gän, Philippines, capital of the province of Samar, situated on a small bay at the mouth of the Antigas River on the west coast. It is protected by a number of islands, Daram being the largest. The anchorage ground is not safe during the monsoon weather; Parasan Island Bay, 10 miles west, is The town has a then the refuge for vessels. large trade in hemp and cocoanut-oil with Manila, and steamers from Manila call ever two weeks. Pop. 6,459.

Catch, a short piece of music written generally in three or four parts. It is a sort of short canon, the second voice taking up the theme when the first has completed the first phrase, the third following the second in same manner. These compositions are most frequently of a humorous and bacchanalian character, and have been from Purcell's time very popular in England.

Catch'fly, any one of several plants of various genera. The name is perhaps most commonly applied to species of Silene of the natural order Caryophyllacea, since their calyces and stems exude a clammy, sticky substance which attracts flies and holds and kills those that alight. Certain species of Lychnis, especially L. viscaria, a closely related genus, are also popularly called by this name. Sometimes,