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occidentale) of the same family which the sumac. It is native in tropical America, but is now naturalized in all tropical countries. Its fruit, a kidney-shaped nut, grows at the extremity of an edible, pear-shaped hypocarp, about three inches long. Casbew nut, the large, kidney-shaped fruit of the cashew, which is edib…

of varying permanence, consisting of impure lignite. It was found originally near Cassel (now Kassel), Germany.

A hat, esp. one made of beaver fur; a beaver. I have always been known for the jaunty manner in which I wear my castor. Sir W. Scott.

A genus of American and East Indian trees, of which the best know species are the Catalpa bignonioides, a large, ornamental North American tree, with spotted white flowers and long cylindrical pods, and the C. speciosa, of the Mississipi valley; -- called also Indian bean.

certain agents which were formerly believed to exert an influence by mere contact. It is now believed that such reactions are attended with the formation of an intermediate compound or compounds, so that by alternate composition and decomposition the agent is apparenty left unchanged; as, the catalysis of making ether…

rous 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 well known light red variety of American grape.

ge 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.

One of the highest classes to which the 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 inte…

other. I have . . . in no case sought to construct those catenæ of games, which it seems now the fashion of commentators to link together. C. J. Ellicott.

Emanating from the chair of office, as of a pope or bishop; official; authoritative. Now, what solemnity can be more required for the pope to make a cathedral determination of an article! Jer. Taylor.

A well-know plant of the genus Nepeta (N. Cataria), somewhat like mint, having a string scent, and sometimes used in medicine. It is so called because cats have a peculiar fondness for it.

lody of simpler form than the aria; a song without a second part and a da capo; -- a term now variously and vaguely used.

s a cave. Tylor. -- Cave hyena (Zoöl.), a fossil hyena found abundanty in British caves, now usually regarded as a large variety of the living African spotted hyena. -- Cave lion (Zoöl.), a fossil lion found in the caves of Europe, believed to be a large variety of the African lion. -- Bone cave. See under Bone.…

Having celebrity; distinguished; renowned. Celebrated for the politeness of his manners. Macaulay.

The state or condition of being celebrated; fame; renown; as, the celebrity of Washington. An event of great celebrity in the history of astronomy. Whewell.

A United States coin, the hundredth part of a dollar, formerly made of copper, now of copper, tin, and zinc.

One of the generic names of the gigantic ray (Manta birostris), known as devilfish and sea devil. It is common on the coasts of South Carolina, Florida, and farther south. Some of them grow to enormous size, becoming twenty feet of more across the body, and weighing more than a ton.

A genus of ganoid fishes, of the order Dipnoi, first known as Mesozoic fossil fishes; but recently two living species have been discovered in Australian rivers. They have lungs so well developed that they can leave the water and breathe in air. In Australia they are called salmon and baramunda. See Dipnoi, and Archipte…

ak. Al ceremonies are in themselves very silly things; but yet a man of the world should know them. Chesterfield.