C A T
tifi ed with armour tbcmfelves, but having their horfes guarded with folid plates of brail or other metals, ul'ually lined with ikins, and wrought into plumes or other forms. P'ett. Arch.- Graec. I. 3. c. 3. p. i8.
The ufe of the cataphracli equites, w.:s to bear down all before them, to break in upon the enemies ranks, and fpread terror and havock wherever they came, as being thcmfelves invul- nerable and fecure from danger. But their foible was their unweildinefs, by which, if once unhorfetl, or on the ground, they were unable to rife, and thus fell a prey to the enemy.
Cataphractus pogge, in zoology. SeePooGE.
CATAPLASM (Cycl.) — Cataplasma Icymirh, the cummin feed cataplafm, a form of medicine prelcribed in the late Lon- don difpenfatory, and meant as a fubllitute for the theriaca Londinenfis, or London treacle, of former difpenfatories, which has of late been ufed only externally, and for fuch pur- pofes as it is thought this will better ferve for. The com- pofition is this : take cummin feeds half a pound ; bay- berries and leaves of fcordium dried, of each three ounces ; of cloves one ounce; honey, three times the weight of the whole ; mix all together into a cataplafm. Pcmbcrton's Lond. Difp. p. 378.
CATAPLASMA maturans, a form of medicine in the late London pharmacopoeia, ordered to he made in the following manner : take dried figs, four ounces ; yellow bafdicon, one ounce ; ftrained galbanurn, half an ounce: beat well the figs with a little wine,, or ftrong ftale beer, and then carefully mix in the ointment, firtt melted with the galbanurn. Pemliirt. Lond. Difp. p. 379.
CATAPOTiA, Kttraaro'nc, dry medicines, in a form fit to be (Wallowed whole ; otherwife called pills. Cafl. Lex. Med. p. t4s. voc. Catapefts. Junck. Confp. Form. Med. Tab. 3. p. 29.
CATAPULTA [Cycl.) — The word is originally Greek, K*T*H-=tfv;c, formed am T„ f srefcns, which according to Hefy- chius, denotes a fpear or dart. Hence it is fometimes alfo written catapelta. See Catapelta.
The catapelta were alfo denominated o|v0oXhc, in regard they threw fharp wooden weapons, whereas thofe cafl: by the ba- liftae were obtufe, viz. ftones. Fllii. Princ. del'Archit. p. 368. Perrault, Abr. of Vitruv. c. 5. art. 7. p. 156. IVolf.Lcx Math. p. 320.
The catapulta differed from the balirta, in that the latter threw ftones, the former darts and javelins. The authors of the mid- dle age, and even Csefar himfelf, ordinarily confound the two : ufing the word ballifla for what the antients called catapulta Z/py. Pollorcet. 3. 2. de Laet. Lex. Vitruv. p. 22. Pitifc. Lex.. Ant. T. 1. p. 379. See Balista.
The catapulta confined of two huge timbers, like mails of fhips, placed againft each other, and bent by an engine for the purpofe ; thefe being fuddenly unbent again by a itroke of an hammer, throw the javelins with incredible force. Its lrruflure, and the manner of working it, are defcribed by Vitruyius, and a figure of it is alfo given by Perrault ». M. Folard aliens, that the catapulta made infinitely more diforder in the ranks than our cannon loaden with cartridges b . — [ a Vid. Viinv. de Archit. 1. 10. c 15. & c. 18. PerrHot. ad eund. p. 335. Item, Abr. of Vitruv. c. 3. art. 7. p. ij6. t Folard Not. furPolyb. T. 2. p. 587. 592, fcq. 601. Fa-fch. Ing. Lex. p. 162.]
CATAPUTIA, in botany, the name of a fpecies of fpurgc, called alfo by fome lathyris, and didinguifhed among authors by the name tithjtnalus htifilius. See the article Tithy-
MALUS.
Some make two forts of cataputia, the major called alfo ricinus Americanus,and pahna Chrilti ; and the minor, which, as be- fore faid, is a fpecies of fpurge. Both agree in their purga- tive quality, which is fo violent, that they are rarely ordered, except by empirics', tbo' the college retains them both b . 'Tis a traditionary fable, tho' of great antiquity, that the leaves of cataputia being plucked upwards, work by vomit, and when plucked downwards, by ftool c . — [a Vid. <%uinc. Pharm. Left. 4. p. 49. Item, in Difpenf. P. 2. Sect. 8. n. 470. Junck. Confp. Tiler, p 42. & 67. 'Pharm. Coll. Keg. Med. Lond. p. 121. ' Brawn, Vulq. Err. 1. 2. c. 7. P-.«3-]
1 he leaves of the cataputia refcmble thofe of the plane-tree, but arc larger, blacker, and more glofly : Its branches, as well as trunk, are hollow like a reed. Oi its feed is made an oil commended againlt burns, and ufed in the compofition of fome pla.iff.ers. Savar. Diet. Coram, T. i. p. 590. CAT ARACT {Cycl.) — The cataract is now generally agreed to be, for the molt part, the cbryftalline humor rendered opaque. We have the hlitories of fome diflectiocs of cataracious eves, by Dr. Ircbeuchzer, in the Ad. Phyiic. Medic. Acad. j4at. cur. Tom. 3. Obf. 3.6. and by Dr May, in the Commerc. Norimb. 1733. Hebd.4. §_ 3. and by Dr. Agricola in 1735, Hebd. 18. tending to confirm this do&rine. Med. KIT. Ed. Abrid. Vol. 2. p. 438, 508.
W e have an account by Mr. Monro of an eye of a man who had had a tatarafl. The opaque chryftalline lens was not fo large as it commonly is in a found eye, and inftead of being circular, was of a triangular form. Its anterior convexity was fibrous and unequal, and of a yellow white colour Med. Kir Edinb. V0J..5. Art. 54.
KUFFL. Vol,. I. a
CAT
CATARACTA, in zoology, the name of a bird of the lams or fea-gull kind, very much approaching to the nature of our gannet, but Imallcr, and with fhorter and weaker claws. It much refembles the gofhawk. Its back and wings are va- riegated with brown, yellow, and white; its bread and belly are white, variegated with brown fpots ; its wings are long, and when folded, reach to the end of the tail ; its lens are grey, its feet webbed, and its claws crooked and fmafl. Aldrovand. de Avib. CA1ARACFES, in zoology, a name bv which fome authors have called the large fea-gull ; called in Cornwall, where it is very common, the gannet. See Gannet. CATARIA, catmint, in botany, the name of a genus of plant;, the characters of which are thefe : the flower "confiffs of one leaf, and is of the labiatcd kind ; the upper lip is roundifh, ercfl, and bifid ; the lower is divided into three Tegmenta, the middle one of which is hollowed like a fpoon, and the others unround like wings a remarkable orifice there is between the two lips : the piftil arifes from the cup, and is fixed in the manner of a nail to the hinder part of the flower; this is lurrounded by four embryos, which ripen into as many feeds of a roundifh figure, to which the flower-cup ferves as a capfule. The fpecies of catmint enumerated by Mr. Tournefort, are thefe: I. The common great catmint, i. The common fmaller catmint. 3. The common great narrow-leav'd catmint. 4. Thefmall alpine catmint. 5. The Idler narrow-leav'd cat- mint. 6. The narrow betony-Ieav'd catmint of Spain, with blue flowers. 7. The narrow betony-lcav'd carm'mt of Spain, with white flowers. £. The Portugal betony-Ieav'd catmint, with tuberous roots. 9. The fmallcr Portugal betony lcav'd catmint, with fibrofe roots, lourn. Inft. p. 20 1, feq. CATARRHS (Cycl.) are of as many fpecies as are the parts on which the rheum or matter falls. Hippocrates enumerates ciirht kinds of defluxions from the head, viz. on the eyes, nofc, ears, breaft, abdomen, fpinal marrow, vertebra:, and mufcl.s of the loins, and os factum. '1 he moderns only allow of three forts under the name of catarrhs ; the firft, wherein the mat- ter falls on the nofe, more properly called cor.za ; the fecond, on the fauces, called branches ; and the third on the thorax or breaft, more particularly denominated a catarrh. The fum of which is couched in the following diflich, Sif.uit ad Peltus dicatur RJieitiM Catanlms, Ad fauces liranchus, ad nans ejlo Caryia. Ca/l.Lac. Med. p. 146. Shaw, NewPradt Phyf. p. 31. See Cori za, &c' Slaw Catarrh, that wherein the peccant matter flows gently. Hajly Catarrh, that wherein it rufhes on the part with ve- hemence. Suffocative Catarrh, a rapid defluxion of a ferous humour from the head to the organs of refpiration. Sytv. Prax. iVied. c. 22. §. ir. Nent. Fund. Med. T. 2. tab. 80. p. 146. Sec Suffocative catarrh. PituUtms CATARRHS are afcribed by Sylvius to a vifcid food, and cold air- 1 . Helmont has a treadle exprefs de Deliramentis Ca- tarrharum, wherein he pleads for their being thrown out of the confideration of medicines, and left to nature alone b . — ['Sylv. loc. cit. c. 13. §. 14. 'Vid. Helm, de Dcliram. Catarrh. Item de Lithiafi. c. 1 J CATARRHALykw-, a fecondary or fymptomatic fever, by means whereof nature endeavours to correct the vitious quality of the lymph, and expel it the body. Nent. Fund. Med. T. 2. tab. 136. c 9. p. 525. Junck. Confp Med. tab. 48. p 309 See Fever.
There is alfo a malignant catarrhal fever, nearly akin to the petechial fever. Nent. loc. cit. c. 10. p. 5 53. Junck. ubi fupra, tab. 49. p. 317. CA FASARCA, Karwa^, in the Greek church, denotes the undermoft altar cloth, or that next the table. See Altar. Over the catafarca is the antimenfa. Da Gauge. Gloff. Gra-c. T. 1. p. 613. Schoet. Lex. Ant. p. 287, fcq. See Anti- mensa. CATASCOPIUM, in antiquity, an exploratory veffel, anfwer- ing in fome mcafure to a brigantine among us. Gyraid. de Navig. c. 18. Pitifc. Lex. Ant. T. 1. p. 380. See Bri- gantine.
We find eata/copium ufed in this fenfe by Cicero, ad Attic. 1. 5. ep. ri. CATASCOPUS, in antiquity, denotes a fpy. Hirt. de Bell. Afric. c. 26. Fab. Thef p 490. See Spy. In eccleiiaftical writers, catafcopus is faid fometimes to denote an archdeacon. Jac. Law Diet in voc. CATASTA, in antiquity, a wooden fcafFold, whereon flaves were placed for Tale naked, that thofe difpofed to purchafc, • might fee every limb and part. Pitifc. Lex. Ant. p. 380. Schoet. Lex. Ant. p. 28ft.
Some will have the catafia to have been a fort of flocks or oblong wooden frame, in which flaves for Tale were keot fait with chains, to prevent their flight. Pirn. Hift Nat. 1. 15. c. 18. Flardou. Not. ad loc. Calv. Lex. Jur. p. 154. The word was alfo ufed for an elevation, on which perfons were executed ; and for an engine of torture, otherwife called equuleus. Fair. Thef. p. 49c. See Eryjt'LFUS, Cycl The catajla does not appear to have been the fame with the equuleus, but rather a kind of frame or fcafFold, on which the equuleus was mounted, to render the executions mere oublic 6Q. ' ' and
