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CARA, in botany, a name given by the old Roman authors to a plant with large and efculent roots. We are told that the foldiers of Csefar, in fome of their marches, when diftrefled for proviflons, made a fort of bread of the root of the ea- rn. And we learn from Paulus-i TEgineta, and Diofco- rides, that this plant was of the paitinacha or parfnip kind. It was probably the elaphobofcum, or wild parfnip, which has roots long and thick, and of as good a taire as the garden parfnip, only that they are not fo tender ; Pliny tells us that the bears, as foon as they are able to crawl out of their den, eat up the leaves and roots of this plant, to give them ftrength, and clear their inteftines from any thing that may be in them. Pliny tells us, that the plant is arum; but the acrid nature of arum is too great to let it be eaten by any animal, fo that the eara is certainly the plant here meant, that being the word Handing in many manufcripts of this author. It is fuppofed by fome that our word carrot is de- rived from this cara. Some of the copies alfo have it ta- mus inflead of cara. This tamus is in another part of Pli- ny's works mentioned as a plant growing fpontaneoufly in Italy, and it feems to be the fame with our tamnus, or black bryony.
CARA BE, a name given to amber. See the article Succinum.
CARACALLA, in antiquity, a long garment, having a fort of capuchin, or hood a-top, and reaching to the heels j worn equally among the Romans by the men and the wo- men, in the city and the camp. Trev. Diet. Univ. T. I. p. 1429.
Spartian and Xipbilin reprefent the emperor Caracalla as the inventor of this garment, and hence fuppofes the ap- pellation caracalla was ffrff. given him 1 . Others with more probability make the caracalla originally a Gallic habit, and only brought to Rome by the emperor above-mentioned b , who firft enjoined thefoldiery to wear it. The people called it antminian, from the fame prince, who had borrowed the name of Antoninus, — [ a Spart. in Caracallam. c. 9. b B'tngh. Grig. Ecclcf 1. 6. c. 4. §.2o.J
The caracalla was a fort of caflbek, or furtout. Salmafius, Sca- liger, and after them Du Cange even take the name cafaque^ to have been formed from that of caraque, for cara- calla a . This is certain from St.Jerom, that the caracalla, with a retrenchment of the capuchin, became an ecclefiaftical gar- ment b . It is defcribed as made of feveral pieces cut and few- cd together, and hanging down to the feet ; but 'tis more than probable there were fome madefhorter, efpecially out of Rome, otherwife we do not fee how it could have fitted the foldiers purpofes c . — [ 3 Sca/ig. ad Spart. loc. cit. Du Cange, GlofT. Lat. T. I. p. 830. b Hieron. de veft. facerdot. ap. Eucher. aft. fanct. T. 4. p. 148. B'tngh, loc. cit. Magr. Not.Vocab. Ecclef. p. 56. c Ttftem. ap. Trev. Diet, ubi fupra. Pitijc, Lex. Ant. T. 1. p. 360, feq. Fab. Thef p. 467.]
CARACARA, in zoology, the name of a Brafilian bird of the genus of the hawk, called by the Portuguefe gavicaou. It is properly of the fparrow hawk kind, but of the fize of a kite. It is of a greyifh yellow colour, variegated with white and yellow fpots ; its tail is variegated with white and brown ; its beak is confiderably large and black ; its legs yellow, and its claws extremely fharp ; the belly and breaft in fome of the birds has been obferved to be white. They are great deftroyers of the poultry. See Tab. of birds, N" 4. Marg- grave's Hift:. Braf.
CARACOLI, in commerce, a factitious metal whereof the natives of the Caribbee iflands make a kind of ornament, in form of a half moon, which is called by the fame name. The metal is brought from the terra firma ; and the com- mon opinion is, that it is compofed of gold, filver, and cop- per, but the mixture is Co perfect that a metal refults from the whole which never rufts nor tarniftj.es how long foever kept either in the fea or the ground. The Englifh and French goldfmiths have made frequent attempts to imitate it. Thofe who have fucceeded beft, ufe fix parts of fdver, three of purified copper, and one of gold. But the curious . find all the imitations much inferior in beauty to the original metal of the favages.
M. Hauterire, procurer general of Martinlco, makes the cara- coll to be a compound of gold only with a fort of copper found in the terra firma of America. The Spaniards reprefent It as a fpecific againit megrims, or head-achs a . F. Labat takes it for a native, or fimple metal. The Americans alfo make rings, buckles, cane-heads, and the Uke of caracoli b . — [« Hift. Acad. Scienc, an. 1724. p. 26. b Savar. Di£t. Comm. Supp. p. 11?.]
CARACT (Cycl.) -The Arabs flill call the fruit filiqua, men- tioned in the Cyclopaedia, keratb*, a denomination which they alfo give to a weight, which is half their danek, or ~ of their dirhem b Tn Latin writers, we alfo 6nd caratium ufed for the 24th part of an ounce, otherwife called a fcruple c . — [ a Cajl. Lex. Med p. 1 58. voc. ceratiwn. b D' Herbei Bibl. Orient. p. 959. \-oc. keratb. c V\d^PanciroL Not. Dignit. c. 75. Pi~ tifc. Lex. Ant. T. 1. p. 361.]
The grains of the jewel caraEi are fomewhat heavier than thofc ufed on other occafions. According to Sir Jonas Moor, 20 ca- rat! grains are equal to 24 grains troy weight 8 . The great Suppl. Vol. I.
CAR
mogul's diamond is faid by Tavcrnier to weigh 279 caraili « ; Eighty eight carails make an hundred rutte?s =. — [' Mo^t Math. Compend. c. 2. p. 16. » Dia. Trev. in voc. < Coins; weights, &c. ufed in India, p. 4.]
CARAGUATA, a Brafilian name, by which fome authors have called the common great aloe. Marggr p. 27. Pifi, p. 103. From an incifion made in the (hoots of this plant, there flows a great quantity of liquor, whereof the Brafilians make wine, vinegar, honey and fugar. Vid. Boyle's works, abr. Vol. 1 p 5 '(.feq. r
CARANDA, in the materia medica, a name ufed by fome au- thors for the tamarind tree. Bont p. 24.
CARANNA (Cyd.) — This gum, called alfo carcigna and harag- rur, both in figure and virtue bears a near refemblance to the tacamabaca. Cajl. Lex. Med. p. 135. See TAc/>MA- HACA, Cycl.
It oozes from a tree refembling the palm; and is at firft white* but with keeping turns browniih, bordering on green, and is imported in lumps wrapt up in leaves. The beft fort is foftifli, of an agreeable aromatic fmell, and the whiter the better. It is laid to be excellent againft head-achs, and good alfo againft pains of the joints, infomuch that 'tis become a proverb among the Spaniards, Whatever tacamabaca has not cured, caranna will cure'. Afrtongus, its internal ufe is much diminiihed; and
it is given chiefly as a topic agairift tumors, aches, &c. b [»
Savar. Dia. Comm. T. I. p. 55 6 feq. b Quinc. Pharmac. Pi 2. Seft. 4. n. 278. Trev. Dia. Univ. T. 1. p. 1433. V oc. caragtie.
CARANTIA, in the materia medica, a name given by fome au- thors to thecarob, or filiqua dulcis, the fweet pipe, See Ca- rob. Dale, Ph2rmac. p. 340.
CARAPO, in zoology, the name of a fifti,of which there are two: kinds caught in many parts of the lakes of America. The firft has a long and thin body, of the fliape.of a knife blade, the back being thick, the belly very thin and narrow ; the tail is pointed, and the ufual fize of the fifh is a foot in length, and two fingers broad in the broadeft part ; the head is flat and pointed, and the lower jaw runs out a little frrther than the upper; the mouth is very narrow, and the bottowjaw is furnifhed with very fmall and fharp teeth ; the upper is tooth- lefs ; its eyes are very fmall ; and it is covered with little fcales.
It is of a brown colour, with a faint admixture of red, and the back and head are forriewhat bjackifh ; there runs a dufky line all along the fides in their middle, and under this the fifh is fpeckled with black fpots of the fize of a feed of muftard. The fecond kind no way differs from the firft, but that it is much narrower in proportion to its length, and has no fpots. They are both eatable. Marggrave's Hift. Braf. p. 1,3.
CARAPOPEBA, in zoology, the name of a fmall fpecies of li- zard common in the Bralils, and efteemed a poifonous animal; Its body is of a liver colour, and has feveral white fpots. There are marks of white on the tail, variegated with fome fmall quantity of yellow; the eyes are remarkably bright and vivid. Ray's Syn. Quad. p. 267.
CARARA, a weight at Leghorn, and in other parts of Italyj ufed in the fale of wool and codfifh, equivalent to fixty pounds of that country. Savar. Difl. Comm. T. 1. p. 557.
CARASSIUS, in zoology, the name of a genus of leather-mouth- ed fifties of the carp cr bream kind, of which there are three fpecies, no better diftinguiftied by names among authors, than by thofe of Gefner, the firft, fecond, and third fpecies, or ra- rajfu prima, fecunda, and tenia fpecies ; the Iaft of thefe is the more common kind, and is ufually {imply called carajjiut. It is a fmall frefh water fifh, of about three, four, or five inches long, with a flatted body, and a rifing back ; it refembles the bream indeed in fhape very nearly, but is fomewhat thicker; its colour is a pale yellow, and its belly of a deeper yellow, without any rednefs. The mouth is fmall and round, and the eyes fmall, and funk in their orbit. IViUugbby, Hift. Fife. p. 2<;o.
The firft fpecies of Gefner and other authors, is fmaller than this, and thinner, and is of ayeilowifh blue, with a mixture of brown upon the back ; the tail and back fin are of a plain brown; the reft of the fins have a redifhnefs mixed with the brown in them. This fpecies feldom exceeds four inches iri length, and principally inhabits weedy and muddy ftanding waters.
The fecond fpecies of thefe authors is longer and thicker than either of the others, and is lefs broad ; it has a blacknefs alfo mixt with its yellow. Thefe love ftanding waters, but fome- times pafs out of lakes or ponds into rivers of a flow current; All the fpecies are eaten, and their flefh looks yellow, and is of a vifcous nature. Gejher's Paralipon p. 1275.
CARATH, in the materia medica, a name given by the Arabian writers to the acacia. The word feems formed upon the Greek word eeration, which was given by that nation to the carob tree or filiqua dulcis,on account of the fruit beins a pod fome- what refembling a horn, «.».(. The Arabians ufed their name charnub both for the carob and the acacia tree, and probably they ufed this word caratb originally for both ; but We find it in the works of thofe authors handed down to us, only given for the acacia. 6 L CARAVAN
