CATECHU n.
extract, obtained by decoction and evaporation from the Acacia catechu, and several other plants growing in India. It contains a large portion of tannin or tannic acid, and is used in medicine and in the arts. It is also known by the names terra japonica, cutch, gambier, etc. Ure. Dunglison.
CATERPILLAR n.
A plant of the genus Scorpiurus, with pods resembling caterpillars. Caterpillar catcher, or Caterpillar eater (Zoöl.), a bird belonging to the family of Shrikes, which feeds on caterpillars. The name is also given to several other birds. -- Caterpillar hunter (Zoöl.), any species of beetles of the genus Callosoma and…
CELLULAR a.
Consisting of, or containing, cells; of or pertaining to a cell or cells. Cellular plants, Cellular cryptogams (Bot.), those flowerless plants which have no ducts or fiber in their tissue, as mosses, fungi, lichens, and algæ. -- Cellular theory, or Cell theory (Biol.), a theory, according to which the essential elemen…
CELLULOSE n.
The substance which constitutes the essential part of the solid framework of plants, of ordinary wood, linen, paper, etc. It is also found to a slight extent in certain animals, as the tunicates. It is a carbohydrate, (C6H10O5)n, isomeric with starch, and is convertible into starches and sugars by the action of heat an…