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as the prickly pear and the night-blooming cereus. See Cereus. They usually have leafless stems and branches, often beset with clustered thorns, and are mostly natives of the warmer parts of America. Cactus wren (Zoöl.), an American wren of the genus Campylorhynchus, of several species.

A system of government in which unrestricted power is exercised by a single person, to whom, as Cæsar or emperor, it has been committed by the popular will; imperialism; also, advocacy or support of such a system of government.

tail or Scouring Rush family) but sometimes attaining the height of trees, and having the stem more or less woody within. See Acrogen, and Asterophyllite.

carbonate of lime. Calciferouse epoch (Geol.), and epoch in the American lower Silurian system, immediately succeeding the Cambrian period. The name alludes to the peculiar mixture of calcareous and siliceous characteristics in many of the beds. See the Diagram under Grology.

calculation; to fit or prepare by the adaptation of means to an end; as, to calculate a system of laws for the government and protection of a free people. [Religion] is . . . calculated for our benefit. Abp. Tillotson.

d stamens adnate to the calyx; -- applied to a subclass of dicotyledonous plants in the system of the French botanist Candolle.

nutritive juice, formerly supposed to orgiginate in the blood, to repair losses of the system, and to promote its increase. Dunglison.

bitant of Canada. Canadian period (Geol.), A subdivision of the American Lower Silurian system embracing the calciferous, Quebec, and Chazy epochs. This period immediately follows the primordial or Cambrian period, and is by many geologists regarded as the beginning of the Silurian age, See the Diagram, under Geology.…

eral peculiar palms, species of Calamus and Dæmanorops, having very long, smooth flexible stems, commonly called rattans.

Search; exploration; solicitation; systematic effort to obtain votes, subscribers, etc. No previous canvass was made for me. Burke.

ar, taken as a unit of computation, as in computing the average travel of each car of a system during a given period.

The affection of the system with cancer.

Without thought or purpose; without due care; without attention to rule or system; unstudied; inconsiderate; spontaneouse; rash; as, a careless throw; a careless expression. He framed the careless rhyme. Beatie.

Of a fleshy consistence; -- applied to succulent leaves, stems, etc.

n. Cartesian coördinates (Geom), distance of a point from lines or planes; -- used in a system of representing geometric quantities, invented by Descartes. -- Cartesian devil, a small hollow glass figure, used in connection with a jar of water having an elastic top, to illustrate the effect of the compression or expan…

en or expected; accidental; fortuitous; coming by chance. Casual breaks, in the general system. W. Irving.

long, glat leaves, and having its flowers in a close cylindrical spike at the top of the stem. The leaves are frequently used for seating chairs, making mats, etc. See Catkin.

An event producing a subversion of the order or system of things; a final event, usually of a calamitous or disastrous nature; hence, sudden calamity; great misfortune. The strange catastrophe of affairs now at London. Bp. Buret. The most horrible and portentous catastrophe that nature ever yet saw. Woodward.…

A plant with the joints of the stem, and sometimes other parts, covered with a viscid secretion to which small insects adhere. The species of Silene are examples of the catchfly.

objects of knowledge or thought can be reduced, and by which they can be arranged in a system; an ultimate or undecomposable conception; a predicament. The categories or predicaments -- the former a Greek word, the latter its literal translation in the Latin language -- were intended by Aristotle and his followers as…