CÁCERES-CACIQUE Cáceres was obliged to resign the Presidency, CÁCERES, Spain, a town in Estremadura, CÁCERES NUEVA. See NUEVA Cáceres. CACHAR, kä-chär', a district of Assam, India, bounded east by Manipur and the Naga Hills, south by the Lushai Hills, west by Sylhet and the Jaintia Hills, and north by Nowgong district. It comprises a series of fertile valleys diversified by low hills and almost surrounded by mountain ranges. The Barak River flows through the district, its course here being about 130 miles. Lignite and petroleum have been found. Salt is manufactured in small quantities. The forests are of great extent, and constitute the chief natural wealth of the district. Rice and tea are extensively cultivated. Area, 2,472 square miles; pop. 467,300. The chief town is Silchar. CACHE, käsh, the name of (1) a river in Arkansas, flowing northwest about 150 miles into the White River, near Clarendon, Monroe County; (2) a peak of the Rocky Mountains in Idaho, height 10,451 feet; (3) a fertile valley in the Wasatch Mountains in Utah and Idaho. It is 60 miles long and from 10 to 20 miles wide, and has an altitude of 5,000 feet. It is watered by the Bear River, and has several villages, of which Logan is the largest. CACHE, a hole in the ground for hiding and preserving provisions which it is inconvenient to carry; used by settlers or travelers in unsettled parts of North America and by Arctic explorers. In the case of the latter the caches are well marked so that they may be discerned from a distance. In pioneer days in the West the traders or explorers dug holes_to_a depth of several feet and in these placed the articles which they intended for their use on the return journey. The hole was next covered in and the surface replaced so as to leave no trace of any excavation. It was later found by means of some landmark, as a jutting rock, tree, bend in the stream, etc. CACHEO, ka-shã'oo, or CACHEU, Portuguese Guinea, West Africa, a fortified town founded in 1588, and situated 10 miles inland on VOL. 5 9 the Cacheu River. Ivory and gold dust are the CACHET, Lettres de, lětr dė kä-shā', a CACHEXY, ka-kěk'si, or CACHEXIA, narrow CACHOEIRA, ka-shwa'e-ra, Brazil, town in the state and 62 miles northwest of Bahia. It stands on the Paraguassu, which divides it into two unequal parts and has often injured it by inundations, and is the entrepôt for the traffic of a large extent of surrounding country. Tobacco and cigars are manufactured, the best brand in Brazil being named from the suburb of Saint Felix. The chief exports are coffee, sugar, fruit, cotton and tobacco. Pop. 15,000. CACHOLONG, kåsh'o-long, a mineral of the opal division of the quartz family. It is often called pearl-opal. It is usually milk-white, sometimes bluish or yellowish white, or reddish, opaque or slightly translucent at the edges. Its composition is of silica, like quartz, and its symbol is SiO2. Some authorities add a varying to the symbol n H2O, to express amount of water usually found in its composition. Other authorities regard the water content as not characteristic. It often envelops common chalcedony, the two minerals being united by insensible shades. It also associates with flint and semi-opal. CACHOU, kǎ-shoo', an aromatic sweetmeat in the form of a silvered pill, used for giving an agreeable odor to the breath. CACHUCHA, kä-choo'chą, an Andalusian dance, resembling the bolero, performed to a graceful air in 3-4 time and with a strongly marked accent. It is usually danced with castanets, and was introduced on the stage by Fanny Elssler in the ballet of 'Le diable boiteux.' CACIQUE, kä-sēk', or CAZIQUE, a title borne by, or a designation given to, the chiefs of Indian tribes in Central and South America, Cuba, Haiti, etc. The term was formed by the Spaniards from a native Haitian word. Among the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, there are two tribal divisions summer and winter. Different caciques preside over each. Their office has religious powers, chiefly; on them also devolves the appointment of the annual government officials. The caciques are appointed for life. CAÇIQUE, one of several South American icterine birds, forming the genus Cassicus, and closely related to the Baltimore oriole. They are sometimes uniform black, sometimes black relieved by chestnut, yellow, green or scarlet; the bill is frequently white instead of the usual black or brown. The caçiques are noted for their intricately woven, pouch-like nests, composed of thin bark and grasses, several of which, sometimes a yard in length, hang from the outer twigs of a single branch of some large tree, usually overhanging the water, as an extra precaution of safety against monkeys and snakes. CACODYLE, or CACODYL, kǎk'o-dil, -dil (Gr., "having a bad smell"), in chemistry, a monad radical having the formula As (CH3)2, and known as dimethyl arsine oxide. It is of special interest to the chemist because it was the first radical known in which a metal or a metalloid (in this case, arsenic) is combined with an organic base. The compound As,(CH3). which was discovered by Bunsen in 1837, and which can exist in the free state, is often called cacodyle, but it is more correctly known as dicacodyle since its molecule consists of two cacodyle radicals. Dicacodyle is obtained in the pure state by heating cacodyle chloride with zinc in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide, but a mixture of cacodyle oxide and dicacodyle (known formerly as Cadet's fuming liquid) may be obtained by distilling potassium acetate with an equal weight of arsenic trioxide. As thus prepared it is liable to spontaneous combustion. Mercuric oxide (HgO) converts both of the constituents of Cadet's liquid into cacodylic acid, (CH3)2ASO(OH); and this, in turn, is converted into cacodyle chloride, As(CH)2Cl, by the action of corrosive sublimate and fuming hydrochloric acid. Cacodyle oxide (known also as alkarsin) may be obtained in the pure state by distilling the chloride with an aqueous solution of caustic potash in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide. Dicacodyle is a colorless oily liquid, heavier than water, boiling at 338° F., very poisonous, and characterized by an intensely disagreeable smell suggestive of garlic. Dicacodyle is known to the chemist as tetra-methyl di-arsenid. CACOMISTLE, kǎk'ō-mis-ël, a small Mexican animal (Bassariscus astutus), closely related to the raccoon found in Mexico and neighboring parts of the United States. It is slender, about 16 inches long, with a sharp, fox-like face, large bright eyes surrounded with light patches, and erect ears. The long, soft fur is light brown above, darker along the back; the under parts are white, and the bushy tail has six broad white rings running around it. In habits it resembles the raccoon. It feeds on smaller mammals, birds and insects. It is frequently tamed by miners and is known to them as the American civet cat. CACOMITE, kǎ-kō-me'-tā, a plant in Mexico and Central America from which an edible flour is made. It is called in the Nahua tongue oceloxochitl (tiger flower) on account of the appearance of its very handsome and showy blossoms. CACONGO, kä-kong'go, or KAKONGO, a former district of Guinea, Africa, extending along the south Atlantic Ocean, in lat. 5° S., just north of the mouth of the Kongo. The Cacongo River enters the sea in lat. 5° 12' S. This territory was claimed by the Portuguese, and Cabinda, the northern part of it, they still retain; the south and east of the Kongo have been absorbed in the Kongo Free State. CACTACEAE. See CACTUS. CACTUS, the common name for all members of the family Cactaceae, a group of dicotyledons, found in luxuriance in the arid sections of North and South America. Like the watermelon, they have the faculty of absorbing a vast bulk of water, making the stems most succulent. Giant Cactus or Shuaro Cactus near Phoenix, Arizona. The economic uses of the cacti are many, especially among primitive peoples. One or two species of the genus Anhalonium yield alkaloids which are used in medicine and which were known and used to produce intoxication by the Indians before the advent of the whites, and are still so used to a limited extent. The peculiar reticulations of the vascular or wood systems of many species render them very useful in the manufacture of art goods, otherwise known as curios in many sections. The various species are of most importance as articles of food for man and beast. In the semi-tropiIcal and tropical regions of America a large group of the plants belonging to the genus Cereus and its allies furnish edible fruits known to the Spanish-American as pitahayas. These 1. Leaf-cactus (Phyllocactus anguliger). 2. Stapelia (simulating a cactus). 3. A Cereus (Cereus dasycanthus). 4. Globe-cactus (Echinocactus horizonthalonius). 5. Wart-cactus (Mammilaria pectinata). 6. Hairy Opuntia (Opuntia filipendula)-a. the blossom, enlarged. 7. Melon-cactus (Melocactus communis). 8. Giant Cactus (Cereus giganteus)-a, blossom, enlarged; b fruit, enlarged. 9. Mexican Opuntia (Opuntia coccinellifera)-a, the fruit ("prickly pear"), enlarged. |