OF UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE. BEING A REPRINT ENTIRE OF THE LAST (1879) EDINBURGH AND LONDON EDITION A Mctionary of Universal Knowledge for the Yeople. WITH VERY ARGE ADDITIONS UPON TOPICS OF SPECIAL IN TWENTY VOLUMES. VOL 4. NEW YORK: AMERICAN BOOK EXCHANGE. No. 55 BEEKMAN STREET, 1879. BoLab 910879 Potan, Lab 1898 June 23 HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY TRANSFERRED FROM BOTANICAL MUSEUM LIBRARY FEB. 26, 1934 له LIBRARY OF UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE. CA'TGUT is employed in the fabrication of the strings of violins, harps, guitars, and other musical instruments; as also in the cords used by clockmakers, in the bows of archers, and in whip-cord. It is generally prepared from the intestines of the sheep, rarely from those of the horse, ass, or mule, and not those of the cat. The first stage in the operation, is the thorough cleansing of the intestines from adherent feculent and fatty matters; after which they are steeped in water for several days, so as to loosen the external membrane, which can then be removed by scraping with a blunt knife. The material which is thus scraped off is employed for the cords of battle-doors and rackets, and also as thread in sewing the ends of intestines together. The scraped intestines are then steeped in water, and scraped again, when the large intestines are cut and placed in tubs with salt, to preserve. them for the sausage-maker; and the smaller intestines are steeped in water, thereafter treated with a dilute solution of alkali (4 oz. potash, 4 oz. carbonate of potash, and 3 to 4 gallons of water, with occasionally a little alum) and are lastly drawn through a perforated brass thimble, and assorted into their respective sizes. In order to destroy any adherent animal matter, which would lead to putrefaction, and the consequent development of offensive odors, it is customary to subject the C. to the fumes of burning sulphur-sulphurous acid, which acts as an antiseptic (q. v.), and arrests decomposition. The best strings are used for musical instruments; and those which come from Italy, and are known as "Roman strings," are the strongest. They are remarkable for their clearness and transparency. Cord for clockmakers is made from the smallest of the intestines, and occasionally from larger ones, which have been split longitudinally into several lengths. Whip-cord is fabricated from C. which has been twisted in a manner somewhat similar to single-corded ropes. The C. obtained from the intestines of horses, asses, and mules is principally made in France, and is employed instead of leather-belts for driving machinery. CA'THA, a genus of the natural order Calastraceae. The fruit is a three-cornered capsule.-C. edulis, sometimes called ARABIAN TEA, the KHAT of the Arabians, is a shrub with erect smooth_branches, elliptical obtusely serrated leaves, and small flowers in axillary cymes. It is a native of Arabia, and the Arabs ascribe to its leaves, even carried about the person, extraordinary virtues as a preventive of plague, with probably about as much reason as our forefathers had for esteeming the rowan tree formidable to witches. When fresh, they are stimulant, narcotic, and intoxicating, and are eaten with greediness by the Arabs. They are very antisoporific, so that a man, after using them, may keep watch for a whole night without drowsiness. CA'THARI or Ca'tharists (Gr. pure), a name very generally given to various sects which appeared in the Church during the middle ages. It appears to have been sometimes assumed in profession of a purity of doctrine and morals superior to that which generally prevailed in the church, sometimes bestowed ironically in ridicule of such a profession, and perhaps was first used as a designation of the Paulicians (q. v.). It became a common appellation of sects which appeared in Lombardy in the beginning of the 11th c., and afterwards in France and the west of Germany. Having some connection with the Bulgarian Paulicians, they were some¬ (1) |