vacea, Jussieu. Essential character: monogynous; calyx simple, tubular, truncate; petals ensiform; pome five-grooved, two-celled. There are two species, of which C. princeps is a large thornless tree. Leaves alternate; stipules two, short, caducous. Flowers solitary, very large and beautiful; petals yellow. The fruit has the appearance of that of the chocolate, or of cucumber, with seeds like almonds; native of Guiana.

CAROLUS, an ancient English broad piece of gold, struck under Charles I. Its value has of late been at tweny-three shillings sterling, though at the time it was coined it is said to have been rated at only twenty shillings.

CAROLUS, a small copper coin, with a little silver mixed with it, struck under Charles VIII, of France

CAROTIDS, in anatomy, two arteries of the neck, which convey the blood from the aorta to the brain, one called the right carotid, and the other the left. See ANA

TOMY.

CAROXYLON, in botany, a genus of the Pentandria Monogynia class and order. Essential character: corolla fivepetalled; nectary five-leaved, converging, inserted into the corolla; seed clothed. There is but one species, viz. C. salsola; has a perennial root; stem arborescent, erect, very branching, naked. Leaves on the branchlets, frequent, imbricate, sessile, subglobular, ovate, concave within and smooth; axils loaded with other leaves. In Africa they use the ashes with mutton suet to make soap.

CARPENTRY, the art of cutting, framing, and joining pieces of wood, for the uses of building. It is one of the sciences subservient to architecture, and is divided into house carpentry and shipcarpentry; the first is employed in raising, roofing, flooring of houses, &c. and the second in the building of ships, barges, &c. The rules in carpentry are much the same with those of joinery; the only difference is, that carpentry is used in building, and joinery in furniture.

CARPESIUM, in botany, a genus of the Syngenesia Polygamia Superflua class and order. Natural order of Compound flowers; division of Discoidea. Corymbiferæ, Jussieu. Essential character: calyx imbricate; the outer scales reflex; down none; receptacle naked. There are swo species, viz. C. cernuum, droop. ing carpesium, is a native of the south of France, Italy, Carniola, Austria, Switzerland, and Japan; and C. abrotanoides is a native of China and Japan.

CARPET: this beautiful covering for

floors is of several descriptions, being made of various materials, and various forms. The Turkey, Persia, and Brussels carpets, are chiefly made of silk; the two former, owing to the vivid colours with which the materials are dyed, and the fineness of the texture, are peculiarly rich and beautiful. We have various extensive manufactories, of which those at Wilton and Kidderminster may be accounted the principal. Carpets are there made in large pieces, suited to the full extent of apartments; while the Scotch carpetting, being made in breadths of not more than four feet, affords the convenience of making up to any size; but it is not so lasting. The great carpets are made on frames and rollers, not unlike those for tapestry, and under similar guidance, where the pattern is intricate Carpet-making supports many thousands of the industrious poor of this country; and being almost wholly founded on the produce of our own island, is of great importance as a national benefit.

CARPHALEA, in botany, a genus of the Tetrandria Monogynia class and order: corolla one-petalled, funnel-form, hairy within; calyx four-cleft, with spatulate scarious segments; capsule two-celled, two-valved, many-seeded. One species, C. corymbosa, found in Madagascar.

CARPINUS, in botany, English hornbeam, a genus of the Monoecia Polyandria class and order. Natural order of Amentaceæ. Essential character; calyx oneleafed, with a ciliate scale; corolla none; male stamens twenty; female germs two, with two styles on each; nut ovate. There are four species, of which C. betulus, horn-beam, is very common in many parts of England, but is rarely suffered to grow as a timber tree, being generally reduced to pollards by the country peo ple; but where the young trees have been properly treated, they have grown to a large size, nearly seventy feet in height, with large fine stems perfectly straight and sound.

CARPODETUS, in botany, a genus of the Pentandria Monogynia class and order. Essential character; calyx fivetoothed, fastened to the germ; corolla five-petalled; stigma flat-headed; berry globular, five-celled. There is but one species, viz. C. serratus, a native of New Zealand.

CARR, among the ancients, a kind of throne, mounted on wheels, and used in triumphs and other solemn occasions. The carr on medals, drawn by horses, lions, or elephants, signifies a triumph, or an

apotheosis; sometimes a procession of the images of the gods at a solemn snpplication; and sometimes of those of some illustrious families at a funeral. The carr, covered and drawn by mules, only signifies a consecration, and the honour done any one of having his image carried at the games of the circus.

CARRIAGE, letter or bill of, a writing given to a carrier, or the master of any carriage, containing the number and quality of the pieces, bales, &c. of merchandises, which he is intrusted with, that he may demand the payment of the carriage, and that the person to whom they are addressed may see whether they are delivered in the same number, and in as good condition as they were given to the carrier. CARRIAGE of a cannon, the frame or timber-work on which it is mounted, serving to point it for shooting, or to carry it from one place to another. It is made of two planks of wood, commonly one half the length of the gun, called the cheeks, and joinedbythree wooden transoms,strengthened with three bolts of iron. It is mounted on two wheels; but on a march has two fore-wheels, with limbers added. The principal parts of a carriage are, the cheeks, transoms, bolts, plates, train bands, bridge, bed, hooks, trunnion holes, and capsquare.

CARRIAGES. This subject, in detail, would form many an ample volume. The great variety of opinions, the imperious demands of locality, and the appropriation to particular purposes, must inevitably create a curious diversity in the practices of a nation. Confining ourselves to general principles, we shall discuss only those points which serve as a general guide, and may prove useful in giving the reader some idea as to the several properties of the vehicles now in use.

1. We consider ease of draught as indispensible. For this purpose the forewheels of a carriage should always be sufficiently large to bring the centre of the axle to an angle, of about fifteen degrees, with that part of the haime, or collar-frame, on which the trace fixes; that being ascertained to be the best relative position between the animal and what he has to draw at.

2. We look to proximity of rotation, that is, the place where the wheel touches the ground, and its relation to a perpendicular draft from the croup of the horse, as being an essential matter: for the draft will assuredly be more oppressive in proportion as the point of rotation is removed. Hence long shafts, great space between the fore and bind wheels, and all the re

presentatives of those primary errors, should be, in toto, abolished.

3. We judge the size of wheels, that is, the length of lever, by which they are moved around their axis, to be of the greatest moment.

4. Where a road is firm, we hold it expedient to reduce the bearing point, namely, the edge of the wheel, into as small a diameter as may be found capable of sustaining the incumbent pressure.

5. Where roads are soft and quaggy, we deem the broad tire to be preferable; both because it bears up the load, and allows of less sinking, whereby considerable opposition would be created; and that such a construction is more favourable to the track in which the carriage may have often to travel.

6. The axis of every wheel ought to move with as little friction as possible: this may be effected by making the spindle as small and as short as circumstances may allow; taking care to lubricate the connecting parts well, so as not to allow of the smallest tendency to adhesion. Wheels intended for travelling over unequal surfaces should be dished, so that the spokes may successively be upright whenever they come under the axle. The bend of each end of the axle downwards is a convenience, and contributes to the foregoing effect, while it causes the upper parts of the wheels to diverge, and gives more scope for the body of the machine: in some instances, where light but bulky burthens are in question, this is a desideratum; though it contracts the space between the points of rotation, and renders the machine more liable to overturn. The load should generally be carried more in the centre of four-wheeled carriages than is usually done. Carmen have a great partiality for burthening the fore-wheels: this is a most absurd practice, because they, being less in diameter, are more subject to be impeded by low obstacles than the hind wheels, which, being larger, travel over ruts and clods with much more facility. In regard to the height of loads, it is proper to state, that whenever a line drawn perpendicular to the horizon, and touching the corner of a square load, touches the ground on the outside of the tire of the opposite wheel, the carriage must overset, the line of gravity then becoming exterior to the support; and vice versa. From this we see, that loads carried low are in general very safe; while such as are injudiciously elevated, which too many of our stagecoaches are, teem with danger. In two wheel carriages, the load in going down

hill bears extremely heavy on the shafthorse this should be obviated by cocking the cart backwards, according to the practice in the west of England.

CARRIER, laws relating to. Every person carrying goods for hire is deemed a carrier, and as such is liable in law for any loss or damage that may happen to them whilst in his custody. Waggoners, captains of ships, lightermen, &c. are therefore carriers; but a stage-coachman is not within the custom as a carrier: neither are hackney-coachmen carriers with in the custom of the realm, so as to be chargeable for the loss of goods, unless they are expressly paid for that purpose, for their undertaking is only to carry the person. If a person take hire for carrying goods, although he be not a common carrier, he may nevertheless be charged upon a special assumpsit; for where hire is taken, a promise is implied; and where goods are delivered to a carrier, and he is robbed of them, he shall be charged and answer for them, on account of the hire; and the carrier can be no loser, as he may recover against the hundred.

Goods sent by a carrier cannot be distrained for rent; and any person carrying goods for all persons indifferently is to be deemed a common carrier, as far as relates to this privilege. A delivery to a servant is a delivery to the master, and if goods are delivered to a carrier's porter, and lost, an action will lie against the carrier.

Where a carrier gives notice by printed proposals that he will not be responsible for certain valuable goods if lost, if more than the value of a sum specified, unless entered and paid for as such, and valuable goods of that description are delivered to him, by a person who knows the conditions, but, concealing the value, pays no more than the ordinary price of carriage and booking, the carrier is, under such circumstances, neither responsible to the sum specified, nor liable to repay the sum paid for carriage and booking.

A carrier, who undertakes for hire to earry goods, is bound to deliver them at all events, unless damaged and destroyed by the act of God, or the king's enemies; and if any accident, however inevitable, happen through the intervention of human means, a carrier becomes responsible. CARRONADE, a cannon of peculiar construction, being much shorter and lighter than the common cannon, and having a chamber for the powder like a mortar; they are generally of a large ca

libre, and carried on the upper works, as the poop and forecastle. They are named from Carron in Scotland, the town in which they were first made.

CARTES (RENES DES,) in biography. Few persons have a higher claim to distinction than this philosopher; we shall, therefore, in the present article, interweave an account of his system with that of his life.

Des Cartes was a native of Touraine, in France, and born in 1596. While a child, he discovered an eager curiosity to inquire into the nature and causes of things, which procured him the appellation of the young philosopher. At eight years of age he was committed to the care of a Jesuit, under whom he made very uncommon proficiency. He soon began to discover defects in existing sys tems, and hoped to be the means of giving to science a new and more pleasing aspect. After spending five years in the study of the languages and polite literature in general, he entered upon a course of mathematics, logic, and morals, according to the methods by which they were then taught. With these he was so much disgusted, that he determined to frame for himself a brief system of rules or canons of reasoning, in which he followed the strict method of the geometricians. He pursued the same plan with respect to morals. After all, however, he was so little satisfied with his own attainments, that he left college, lamenting that the fruits of eight years' study were only the full conviction, that as yet he knew nothing with perfect clearness and certainty. He even threw aside his books, with a resolution to pursue no other knowledge, than that which he could find within himself and in the great volume of nature. At the age of seventeen he was sent to Paris, where the love of pleasure, for a moment, seemed to overcome all desire of philosophical distinction, but an introduction to some learned men recalled his attention to mathematical studies: these he again prosecuted in solitude and silence for the space of two years, after which he enter ed as a volunteer in the Dutch army, in order that he might study the living world as well as read books. In this situation he wrote a dissertation to prove that brutes are automata. From the Dutch army Des Cartes passed over to the Bavarian service, but wherever he went he conversed with learned men, and rather appeared in the character of a philosopher than that of a soldier. In 1622 he quitted the army, returned to his own country, with no

other profit, he said, than that he had freed himself from many prejudices, and rendered his mind more fit for the reception of truth. He fixed his residence at Paris, and began to study the mathematics, in hopes of discovering general principles of relations, measures, and proportions, applicable to all subjects, by means of which truth might with certainty be investigated, and the limits of knowledge enlarged. From mathematics he turned his attention to ethical inquiries, and attempted to raise a superstructure of morals upon the foundation of natural science, conceiving that there could be no better means of discovering the true principles and rules of action, than by contemplating our own nature, and the nature of the world around us. As the result of these inquiries, he wrote a treatise on the passions. After some time spent in Italy, whither he went in pursuit of knowledge, he returned again to Paris, and from thence he went to Holland, with a view of raising a new system of philosophy. Here he chose retirement, as the best means of forwarding the plans which he hoped to execute. He employed himself in investigating a proof from reason, independently of revelation, of the fundamental principles of religion, and published "Philosophical Meditations on the First Philosophy." At the same time he pursued his physical inquiries, and published a treatise "On Meteors." He paid considerable attention to medicine, anatomy, and chemistry; and wrote also an astronomical treatise on the system of the world, which he suppressed, upon hear ing of the vile and infamous treatment that Galileo had met with for his discussions on the same subject. See GA

LILEO.

The Cartesian philosophy was first taught in the schools of Deventer, 1633: it attracted many zealous admirers, and excited against him a host of opponents. The system of Des Cartes obtained so much credit in Great Britain, that the inventor was invited to settle in England, as well by the king as by some of the principal nobility. This invitation he would probably have accepted, had not the civil wars prevented Charles I. from being able to render the philosopher all the patronage which he had formerly tendered him. At this period he was forced into many disputes, in the course of which, as well as by his collateral conduct, he displayed an eager desire to be considered the father of a sect, and disco

vers more jealousy and ambition than became a philosopher.

During Des Cartes's residence in Holland, he went occasionally to his native country, where, in 1643, he published an abstract of his philosophy, under the title of" Philosophical Specimens." He was promised, on one of these visits, an annual pension of 3000 livres, which he never received. He was now invited by Christina, Queen of Sweden, to visit Stockholm. That learned princess had read with delight his treatise "On the Passions," and was earnestly desirous to be instructed by him in the principles of philosophy. Des Cartes arrived at Stockholm in 1649, where he received a most friendly and respectfulreception from the enlightened queen, who urged him to settle in her kingdom, and assist her in establishing an academy of sciences. He had, however, been scarcely four months in that severe climate, when, in his visits to the sovereign, whom he instructed in the principles of philosophy, he caught a cold, which brought on an inflammation in his lungs, that put a period to his life, in 1650. His remains were interred in the cemetery for foreigners, and a long eulogium inscribed on his tomb but in 1666 his bones were transported to France, and placed, with all the circumstances of pomp, in the church of St. Genevieve. Such was the life of this great man: his writings and system require a more detailed account.

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On the subject of logic, he says, nothing is ever to be admitted as true,which is not certainly and evidently known to be so, and which cannot be possibly doubted. In proving any truth, the ideas are always to be brought forward in a certain order, beginning from things the most simple, and advancing by regular steps to those which are more complex and difficult. With regard to metaphysics, Des Cartes says, that since man is under the influence of prejudice, he ought, once in his life, to doubt of every thing; even whether sensible objects have a real existence; and also of the truth of mathematical axioms. The first principle of the Cartesian philosophy is this, "I THINK, THEREFORE I AM" this is the foundation of Des Cartes's metaphysics: that on which his physics is built is, "THAT NOTHING EXISTS BUT SUBSTANCES." Substance he makes of two kinds; the one that thinks, the other is extended: so that actual thought and actual extension make the essence of

substance. The essence of matter being thus fixed in extension, Des Cartes concludes that there is no vacuum, nor any possibility of it in nature, but that the universe is absolutely full: by this principle mere space is quite excluded; for extension being implied in the idea of space, matter is so too.

Des Cartes defines motion to be the translation of a body from the neighbour. hood of others that are in contact with it, and considered as at rest, to the neighbourhood of other bodies; by which he destroys the distinction between motion that is absolute or real, and that which is relative or apparent. He maintains, that the same quantity of motion is always preserved in the universe, because God must be supposed to act in the most constant and immutable manner and hence also he deduces his three laws of motion.

Upon these principles Des Cartes explains mechanically how the world was formed, and how the present phenomena of nature came to arise. He supposes that God created matter of an indefinite extension, which he separated into small square portions or masses, full of angles; that he impressed two motions on this matter; the one, by which each part revolved about its own centre; and another, by which an assemblage or system of them turned round a common centre. From whence arose as many different vortices, or eddies, as there were different masses of matter thus moving about com-" mon centres.

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The consequence of these motions in each vortex, according to Des Cartes, is as follows: the parts of matter could not thus move and revolve amongst one another, without having their angles gradually broken and this continual friction of parts and angles must produce three elements: the first of these, an infinitely fine dust formed of the angles broken off; the second, the spheres remaining, after all the angular parts are thus removed; and those particles not yet rendered smooth and spherical, but still retaining some of their angles, and hamous parts, form the third element.

Now the first or subtilest element, according to the laws of motion, must occupy the centre of each system, or vortex, by reason of the smallness of its parts; and this is the matter which constitutes the sun and the fixed stars above, and the fire below. The second element, made up of spheres, forms the atmosphere, and all the matter between the earth and

the fixed stars: in such sort, that the largest spheres are always next the cir cumference of the vortex, and the smallest next its centre. The third element, formed of the irregular particles, is the matter that composes the earth, and all terrestrial bodies, together with comets, spots in the sun, &c.

He accounts for the gravity of terrestrial bodies from the centrifugal force of the ether revolving round the earth: and upon the same general principles he pretends to explain the phenomena of the magnet, and to account for all the other operations in nature.

Of this great man many eulogia have been published, by persons very capable of appreciating his worth and his talents. We shall mention the opinion entertained of him by two or thee of our own countrymen.

Dr. Barrow, in his "Opuscula," observes, that Des Cartes was doubtless a very ingenious man, and a real philosopher, and one who seems to have brought those assistances to that part of philoso phy relating to matter and motion, which perhaps no one had done before; namely, a great skill in mathematics; a mind habituated, both by nature and custom, to profound meditation; a judgment exempt from all prejudices and popular errors, and furnished with a good number of certain and select experiments; a great deal of leisure; an entire disengagement, by his own choice, from the reading of useless books,and the avocations of life: with an incomparable acuteness of wit, and an excellent talent of thinking clearly and distinctly, and of expressing his thoughts with the utmost perspicuity.

Dr. Halley, in a paper concerning op tics, affirms that Des Cartes was the first, who, in modern times, discovered the laws of refraction, and brought dioptrics to a science. And Dr. Keil says, that Des Cartes was so far from applying geometry and observations to natural philo. sophy, that his whole system is but one continued blunder, on account of his ne gligence in that point; which he could easily prove, by showing that his theory of the vortices, upon which his system is founded, is absolutely false, for that Newton has shewn that the periodical times of all bodies that swim in vortices must be directly as the squares of their dis tances from the centre of them; but it is evident, from observations, that the planets, in moving round the sun, observe a law quite different from this; for the squares of their periodical times are