\^A
C A A
CAB
i A ABA, a fquare ftone edifice in the temple of Mecca, ftippofed to have been built by Abraham and his fon Ifhmael ; being the part principally reverenced by the Mahometans, and to which they always direcl: themfelves in prayer. See Keela, Cyd. The word is Arabic, caaba, and caabab, a denomination which fome will have given to this building, on account of its height, which furpafles that of the other buildings in Mecca; but others, with more probability, derive the name from the qua- drangular form of this Structure.
The caaba, or al caaba, is alfo called allah-leit, i. e. the houfe of God, as being hallowed or fet apart for his worfhip. Vide Sale, Prelim. Difc. to Koran, feci:. 4. p. 1 1 4, feq. The Mahometans will have the caaba to have been a place of worfhip in Adam's days ; atfirft it was only a tent, which had been fent down from heaven, as a proper place wherein to worfhip the true God. It was accordingly often vifited by Adam on that account, as well as by Seth his fon, who firft built a ftone temple on the fpot. This having been demolished by the deluge, was afterwards rebuilt by Abraham and Ifhmael. The tradition adds, that it was on occafion of Abraham's facrl- fice of his fon Ifhmael, that tins edifice was raifed by order of God hiinfelf; and that the horns of the ram, which had been facrificcd in Ifhmael's place, were faftened to the golden fpout of the caaba, where they continued to the time of Mahomet, who took them away, to remove from the Arabs all occafion of idolatry. D'Herbel. Bibl. Orient, p. 219, feq. The length of the caaba is about 24 cubits, its breadth twenty three,and height 27 cubits ;thedoor which is on the eaft-fide,be- Ing four cubits from the ground, and the floor level with the bot- tom of the door. In the corner next this door, is the famous black ftone, which is fet in filver, and exceedingly refpected by the Mahometans. The pilgrims kifs it with great devotion, and it is by fome called the right-hand of God on earth. 'Tis fabled to be one of the precious Stones of Paradife, which fell down to the earth with Adam, and being taken up again at the deluge, was brought back by the angel Gabriel to Abra- ham when he was building the caaba. It was at firft whiter than milk, but grew black long ago; fome fay by the touch of a menftruous woman, others by the fins of mankind, others by the numerous kiffes of the devotees. On the north-fide of the caaba, within a femicircular inclofure, lies the white ftone, faid to be the fepulchre of Ifhmael, which receives the rain- water that falls off the caaba, by a fpout formerly of wood, but now of gold. The caaba has a double roof, Supported within by three octangular pillars of aloes wood, between which, on a bar of iron, hang fome filver lamps. The out-fide is covered with rich black damafk, adorned with an embroidered border of gold, which is changed every year, and was formerly fent by the caliphs, afterwards by the Sultans of Egypt, but now pro- vided by theTurkifh emperors. At a fmall diftance from the caaba, on the eaft-fide is the fiat ion or place of Abraham, where is another ftone wherein they pretend to fhew the footfteps of that patriarch, fuppofed to have been made when he flood on it in building the caaba, where it Served him for a Scaffold, with this peculiar advantage, that it roSe and fell of itfelf as he had occafion. Sale, loc. cit. Rcland. deRelig. Mahom. 1. 1. c. 12. p. 118, feq. CAAMINI, in botany, a name given by the Spaniards and others to the fin eft Sort of the Paraguay tea. It is the leaves of afhrub which grows on the mountains of Maracaya, and is ufed in Chili and Peru as the tea is with us. The mountains, where the trees which produce this valuable leaf grow naturally, are far from the inhabited parts of Paraguay ; but the people of the place know fo well the value and ufe of it, that they con ftantly furnifh themfelves with great quantities of it from thi fpot. 1 hey uSed to go out on thefe expeditions many thoufands together, and their country is left to the infults of their enemies in the meantime, and many ofthemperifh with the fatigue. To remedy theSe inconveniences, they have of late planted the trees about their habitations ; but the leaves of thefe cultivated trees have not the fine flavour or the virtues of the wild ones. The king of Spain has permitted the Indians of Paraguay to bring to the town of Santfoy twelve thoufand arobes of the leaves of this tree every year ; but they are not able to procure
fo much of the wild leaves annually ; about half the quantity is the utmoft they bring of this ; the other half is made up of the leaves of the trees in their own plantations, and this Sells at a lower price, and is called pales. The arobe is about five and twenty pound weight, the general price is four piaftres for the arobe, and the money is always divided equally among the people of the colony. Obferv. fur les Coutumes de 1'Arne- rique, c. 1. p. 374.
CAAPIBA, in botany, the name given by Plumier to a genus of plants, called afterwards by Linnaeus ajfamprios. Phonier, p. 29. See the article Cissampelos.
CAA-APIA, in botany, the name of a Brafilian plant, de- fcrlbed by Marcgrave, Pifo, and others ; the root of which fo much refembles the ipecacuanha in its virtues, that Some have erroneoufly called it by the Same name. It is an aftringent and emetic, as the ipecacuanha, but it poffefTes both thefe qualities in a much weaker degree, and is therefore necefTarily given in a much larger dofe, a dram being the qu intity commonly given at once. The BraSdians bruiSe the whole plant, and express the juice, which they take internally, and alSo apply it exter- nally to wounds made by poifoned arrows, and by the bites of Serpents. Some have fuppofed the root of this plant to be the white ipecacuanha; but this is an error, that being little dif- ferent from the grey. Mem. Acad. Par. ami. 1700.
CAB, or Kab, denotes a Hebrew meafure of capacity, equal to the Sixth part of the feah, or an eighteenth of the epha. Ho/?. de Veter. Menf. & Pond. 1. 1. p. 122. Cumbcrl. EST. Jew. MeaS. c. 3. p. 86, & 137. Bcverin. Synt. deMenSur. p. 133, feq. - Arbutb. Tab. Ant. Coins, &c. ft. 14, & 15. See the ar- ticle Epha, Cycl.
Thecal of wine contained two Englifh pints; the cab of corn, 2 ■§ pints corn meafure.
At the fiege of Samaria, the famine was fo great, that a cab of pigeons dung was fold for five pieces of filver; that is, five fhekels, equivalent to about eleven millings and fix-pence Ster- ling. 2 Kings vi. 25.
We alfo find mention of the cab as a dry meafure, in Grecian and Roman writers : fome make it equal to the Grecian chce- nix, and afTert it to be the quantity of what a labourer eats per day, as affigned by Cato. Snid. Lex. in voc. K*j3®-, Pollux^ Onomaff. 1. 6. Cat. de Re Pvuft. c. 56. Trev.Dicl Univ. T.i. p. 13CO. Hoft, loc. cit. Seethe article Choenix.
CABAL, a name given to a fort of drink made of dried faifins. The manner in which the Portuguefe make cabal is this; they take out the ftones of about twenty pounds of raifins, and then bruifingthe raifins a little, they put them into a barrel of white wine, in the month of January or February, and let them ftand till about Eafter. It is then very clear and rich, lufcious and palatable to the tafte. It is recommended to flop coughs, and give ftrength to the ftomach. It is worth while to try the experiment with the fame proportion of raifins to the fame quantity of our Englifh cyder, which would probably prove a fine drink. Phil. TranS. N° 157.
CABALA vein, in natural hiftory, a name given by our SufTex miners to one kind of the iron-tire commonly wrought In that country. It is a Stony ore, of a brownifh colour, with a blufh of red, which is more or lefs confpicuous in different parts of the fame maffes. It is ufually found in thin Strata, lying not far from the furface, and is not very rich in iron, but it runs very readily in the fire. Waod-w. Cat. Foil*. V. 1, p 225.
CABALATAR, in natural hiftory, a name given by fome of the chemical writers to nitre, called alfo cerbcrus chemkus and fal hifernalts.
CABALLI, among myftic philoSophers, denote the fliades, or aftral bodies of men who died any Sudden or violent death, be- fore the expiration of their predeftinated term of life. The cabalh, called alfo cabal's and cobales, are SuppoSedto wan- der as goblins or ghofts over the face of the earth, till their deftined term is accomplished ; being doomed to live out the time as fpirits, which they ought to have Seen in. the fleih. Rid. Lex. Alch. p. 108. Gaji. Lex, Med. p. uS.
CABALLINE, Caballinus, Something relating to, or partaking
of the nature and qualities of a horfe. Aloe Caballina, is a denomination given to the coaricft and rankeft kind of aloes, as being little ufed unlets for purging
horfes.
