CARNEGIE, ANDREW CASAMARI
CARNEGIE CASANOVA DE SEINGALT, GIOVANNI JACOPO
CARNELIAN CASAS GRANDES
CARNESECCHI, PIETRO CASAUBON, FLORENCE ESTIENNE MERIC
CARNIOLA CASAUBON, ISAAC
CARNIVAL CASCADE MOUNTAINS
CARNIVORA CASE, JOHN
CARNOT, LAZARE HIPPOLYTE CASE
CARNOT, LAZARE MARGUERITE CASEMATE
CARNOT, MARIE FRANCOIS SADI CASEMENT
CARNOT, SADI NICOLAS LEONHARD CASERTA
CARNOUSTIE CASE-SHOT
CARNUNTUM CASH
CARNUTES CASHEL
CARO, ANNIBALE CASHEW NUT
CARO, ELME MARIE CASHIBO
CAROL CASHIER
CAROLINE CASH REGISTER
CAROLINE AMELIA AUGUSTA CASILINUM
CAROLINE ISLANDS CASIMIR III
CAROLINGIANS CASIMIR IV
CAROLUS-DURAN CASIMIR-PERIER, JEAN PAUL PIERRE
CARORA CASINO
CARP CASINUM
CARPACCIO, VITTORIO CASIRI, MIGUEL
CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS CASKET
CARPATHUS CASKET LETTERS
CARPEAUX, JEAN BAPTISTE CASLON
CARPENTARIA, GULF OF CASPARI, KARL PAUL
CARPENTER, LANT CASPIAN SEA
CARPENTER, MARY CASS, LEWIS
CARPENTER, WILLIAM BENJAMIN CASSABA
CARPENTRAS CASSAGNAC, BERNARD ADOLPHE GRANIER DE
CARPENTRY CASSANA, NICCOLO
CARPET CASSANDER
CARPET-BAGGER CASSANDER, GEORGE
CARPET-KNIGHT CASSANDRA
CARPI, GIROLAMO DA CASSANO ALL' IONIO
CARPI, UGO DA CASSAVA
CARPI (Dacian tribe) CASSEL (town of France)
CARPI (town of Italy) CASSEL (city of Germany)
CARPINI, JOANNES DE PLANO CASSELL, JOHN
CARPOCRATES CASSIA
CARPZOV CASSIA, VIA
CARRANZA, BARTOLOME CASSIANUS, JOANNES EREMITA
CARRARA (family of Longobard) CASSINI
CARRARA (town of Tuscany, Italy) CASSIODORUS
CARREL, JEAN BAPTISTE ARMAND CASSIOPEIA
CARRERA, JOSE MIGUEL CASSITERIDES
CARRIAGE CASSITERITE
CARRICKFERGUS CASSIUS (ancient Roman family)
CARRICKMACROSS CASSIUS, AVIDIUS
CARRICK-ON-SHANNON CASSIUS, GAIUS
CARRICK-ON-SUIR CASSIVELAUNUS
CARRIER, JEAN BAPTISTE CASSOCK
CARRIER CASSONE
CARRIERE, MORITZ CASSOWARY
CARRINGTON, WYNN-CARINGTON CAST
CARRINGTON, RICHARD CHRISTOPHER CASTAGNO, ANDREA DEL
CARROCCIO CASTALIA
CARRODUS, JOHN TIPLADY CASTANETS
CARROLL, CHARLES CASTE
CARROLL, JOHN CASTEL, LOUIS BERTRAND
CARRONADE CASTELAR Y RIPOLL, EMILIO
CARROT CASTELFRANCO NELL' EMILIA
CARRYING OVER CASTELFRANCO VENETO
CARSIOLI CASTELL, EDMUND
CARSON, CHRISTOPHER CASTELLAMMARE DI STABIA
CARSON CITY CASTELLESI, ADRIANO
CARSTARES, WILLIAM CASTELLI, IGNAZ FRANZ
CARSTENS, ARMUS JACOB CASTELLO, BERNARDO
CARSULAE CASTELLO, GIOVANNI BATTISTA
CART CASTELLO, VALERIO
CARTAGENA (city of Colombia) CASTELLO BRANCO, CAMILLO
CARTAGENA (seaport of Spain) CASTELLO BRANCO
CARTAGO CASTELLON DE LA PLANA
CARTE, THOMAS CASTELLON DE LA PLANA
CARTER, ELIZABETH CASTELNAU, MICHEL DE
CARTERET, SIR GEORGE CASTELNAUDARY
CARTESIANISM CASTELSARRASIN
CARTHAGE (ancient city) CASTI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA
CARTHAGE (city of U.S.A.) CASTIGLIONE, BALDASSARE
CARTHAGE, SYNODS OF CASTIGLIONE, CARLO OTTAVIO
CARTHUSIANS CASTIGLIONE, GIOVANNI BENEDETTO
CARTIER, SIR GEORGES ETIENNE CASTIGLIONE DELLE STIVIERE
CARTIER, JACQUES CASTIGLIONE OLONA
CARTILAGE CASTILE
CARTOON CASTILHO, ANTONIO FELICIANO DE
CARTOUCHE CASTILLEJO, CRISTOBAL DE
CARTRIDGE CASTILLO SOLORZANO, ALONSO DE
CARTWRIGHT, EDMUND CASTLE
CARTWRIGHT, JOHN CASTLEBAR
CARTWRIGHT, PETER CASTLECONNELL
CARTWRIGHT, SIR RICHARD JOHN CASTLE DONINGTON
CARTWRIGHT, THOMAS CASTLE DOUGLAS
CARTWRIGHT, WILLIAM CASTLEFORD
CARUCATE CASTLE-GUARD
CARUPANO CASTLEMAINE
CARUS, KARL GUSTAV CASTLE RISING
CARUS, MARCUS AURELIUS CASTLETON
CARVACROL CASTLETOWN
CARVAJAL, ANTONIO FERNANDEZ CASTOR and POLLUX
CARVAJAL, LUISA DE CASTOR OIL
CARVER, JOHN CASTREN, MATTHIAS ALEXANDER
CARVER, JONATHAN CASTRENSIS, PAULUS
CARVING CASTRES
CARVING AND GILDING CASTRO, INEZ DE
CARY, ALICE, and PHOEBE CASTRO, JOAO DE
CARY, ANNIE LOUISE CASTROGIOVANNI
CARY, HENRY FRANCIS CASTRO URDIALES
CARYATIDES CASTRO Y BELLVIS, GUILLEN DE
CARYL, JOSEPH CASTRUCCIO DEGLI ANTELMINELLI
CARYOPHYLLACEAE CASTRUM MINERVAE
CASABIANCA, RAPHAEL CASUARINA
CASABLANCA CASUISTRY
CASALE MONFERRATO CASUS BELLI
CARNEGIE, ANDREW (1837- ), American "captain of industry" and
benefactor, was born in humble circumstances in Dunfermline, Scotland,
on the 25th of November 1837. In 1848 his father, who had been a
Chartist, emigrated to America, settling in Allegheny City,
Pennsylvania. The raw Scots lad started work at an early age as a
bobbin-boy in a cotton factory, and a few years later was engaged as a
telegraph clerk and operator. His capacity was perceived by Mr T.A.
Scott of the Pennsylvania railway, who employed him as a secretary; and
in 1859, when Scott became vice-president of the company, he made
Carnegie superintendent of the western division of the line. In this
post he was responsible for several improvements in the service; and
when the Civil War opened he accompanied Scott, then assistant secretary
of war, to the front. The first sources of the enormous wealth he
subsequently attained were his introduction of sleeping-cars for
railways, and his purchase (1864) of Storey Farm on Oil Creek, where a
large profit was secured from the oil-wells. But this was only a
preliminary to the success attending his development of the iron and
steel industries at Pittsburg. Foreseeing the extent to which the demand
would grow in America for iron and steel, he started the Keystone Bridge
works, built the Edgar Thomson steel-rail mill, bought out the rival
Homestead steel works, and by 1888 had under his control an extensive
plant served by tributary coal and iron fields, a railway 425 m. long,
and a line of lake steamships. As years went by, the various Carnegie
companies represented in this industry prospered to such an extent that
in 1901, when they were incorporated in the United States Steel
Corporation, a trust organized by Mr J. Pierpont Morgan, and Mr Carnegie
himself retired from business, he was bought out at a figure equivalent
to a capital of approximately L100,000,000.
From this time forward public attention was turned from the shrewd
business capacity which had enabled him to accumulate such a fortune to
the public-spirited way in which he devoted himself to utilizing it on
philanthropic objects. His views on social subjects, and the
responsibilities which great wealth involved, were already known in a
book entitled _Triumphant Democracy_, published in 1886, and in his
_Gospel of Wealth_ (1900). He acquired Skibo Castle, in Sutherlandshire,
Scotland, and made his home partly there and partly in New York; and he
devoted his life to the work of providing the capital for purposes of
public interest, and social and educational advancement. Among these the
provision of public libraries in the United States and United Kingdom
(and similarly in other English-speaking countries) was especially
prominent, and "Carnegie libraries" gradually sprang up on all sides,
his method being to build and equip, but only on condition that the
local authority provided site and maintenance, and thus to secure local
interest and responsibility. By the end of 1908 he had distributed over
L10,000,000 for founding libraries alone. He gave L2,000,000 in 1901 to
start the Carnegie Institute at Pittsburg, and the same amount (1902) to
found the Carnegie Institution at Washington, and in both of these, and
other, cases he added later to the original endowment. In Scotland he
gave L2,000,000 in 1901 to establish a trust for providing funds for
assisting education at the Scottish universities, a benefaction which
resulted in his being elected lord rector of St Andrews University. He
was a large benefactor of the Tuskegee Institute under Booker Washington
for negro education. He also established large pension funds--in 1901
for his former employes at Homestead, and in 1905 for American college
professors. His benefactions in the shape of buildings and endowments
for education and research are too numerous for detailed enumeration,
and are noted in this work under the headings of the various localities.
But mention must also be made of his founding of Carnegie Hero Fund
commissions, in America (1904) and in the United Kingdom (1908), for the
recognition of deeds of heroism; his contribution of L500,000 in 1903
for the erection of a Temple of Peace at The Hague, and of L150,000 for
a Pan-American Palace in Washington as a home for the International
Bureau of American republics. In all his ideas he was dominated by an
intense belief in the future and influence of the English-speaking
people, in their democratic government and alliance for the purpose of
peace and the abolition of war, and in the progress of education on
unsectarian lines. He was a powerful supporter of the movement for
spelling reform, as a means of promoting the spread of the English
language. Mr Carnegie married in 1887 and had one daughter. Among other
publications by him were _An American Four-in-hand in Britain_ (1883),
_Round the World_ (1884), _The Empire of Business_ (1902), a _Life of
James Watt_ (1905) and _Problems of To-day_ (1908).
CARNEGIE, a borough of Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., 6 m. S.W.
of Pittsburg. Pop. (1900) 7330 (1816 being foreign-born); (1910) 10,009.
It is served by the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis, the
Pittsburg, Chartiers & Youghiogheny, and the Wabash Pittsburg Terminal
railways, and the Pittsburg street railway. Carnegie is situated in the
beautiful valley of Chartiers Creek, and is in one of the coal and
natural gas districts of the state. In the borough are a Carnegie
library and St Paul's orphan asylum. Among the borough's manufactures
are steel, lead, glass, ploughs and enamel- and tin-ware. There are
alkaline and lithia mineral springs here. In 1894 Carnegie, named in
honour of Andrew Carnegie, was formed by the union of the boroughs
Chartiers and Mansfield.
CARNELIAN, a red variety of chalcedony, much used as an ornamental
stone, especially for seals. The old name was cornelian, said to have
been given in reference either to the horny appearance of the stone
(Lat. _cornu_, "horn") or to its resemblance in colour to the berry of
the cornel; but the original word was corrupted to carnelian, probably
in allusion to its reddish colour (_carneus_, "flesh-coloured"). Some
carnelian, however, is brown, yellow or even white. Certain kinds of
brown and bright red chalcedony, much resembling carnelian, pass under
the name of sard (q.v.). The Hebrew _odem_ was probably a red stone,
either carnelian, sard or jasper. All carnelian is translucent and is
thus distinguished from jasper of similar colour, which is always
opaque. The red colour of typical carnelian is due to the presence of
ferric oxide. This is often developed artificially by exposure to
sunshine, or to artificial heat, whereby any ferric hydrate in the stone
becomes more or less dehydrated; or the stone is treated with a solution
of an iron salt, like ferrous sulphate, and then heated, when ferric
oxide is formed in the pores of the stone. An opaque white surface is
sometimes produced artificially on a red carnelian: this is said to be
done by coating the stone with carbonate of soda and then placing it on
a red-hot iron; or by using a mixture of potash, white lead and certain
vegetable juices, and heating it on charcoal. Inscriptions and figures
in white on red carnelian ("burnt carnelian") are well known from the
East. Much carnelian comes from India, being mostly derived from
agate-gravels, resulting from the disintegration of the Deccan traps, in
the neighbourhood of Ratanpur, near Broach. A good deal of the carnelian
now sold, however, is Brazilian agate, artificially stained. (See
AGATE.)
CARNESECCHI, PIETRO (1508-1567), Italian humanist, was the son of a
Florentine merchant, who under the patronage of the Medici, and
especially of Giovanni de' Medici as Pope Clement VII., rapidly rose to
high office at the papal court. He came into touch with the new learning
at the house of his maternal uncle, Cardinal Bernardo Dovizzi, in Rome.
At the age of twenty-five he held several rich livings, had been notary
and protonotary to the Curia, and was first secretary to the pope, in
which capacity he conducted the correspondence with the nuncios (among
them Pier Paolo Bergerio in Germany) and a host of other duties. By his
conduct at the conference with Francis I. at Marseilles he won the
favour of Catherine de' Medici and other influential personages at the
French court, who in later days befriended him. He made the acquaintance
of the Spanish reformer Juan de Valdes at Rome, and got to know him as a
theologian at Naples, being especially drawn to him through the
appreciation expressed by Bernardino Ochino, and through their mutual
friendship with the Lady Julia Gonzaga, whose spiritual adviser he
became after the death of Valdes. He became a leading spirit in the
literary and religious circle that gathered round Valdes in Naples, and
that aimed at effecting from within the spiritual reformation of the
church. Under Valdes' influence he whole-heartedly accepted Luther's
doctrine of justification by faith, though he repudiated a policy of
schism. When the movement of suppression began, Carnesecchi was
implicated. For a time he found shelter with his friends in Paris, and
from 1552 he was in Venice leading the party of reform in that city. In
1557 he was cited (for the second time) before the tribunal in Rome, but
refused to appear. The death of Paul IV. and the accession of Pius IV.
in 1559 made his position easier, and he came to live in Rome. With the
accession of Pius V. (Michael Ghislieri) in 1565 the Inquisition renewed
its activities with fiercer zeal than ever. Carnesecchi was in Venice
when the news reached him, and betook himself to Florence, where,
thinking himself safe, he was betrayed by Cosimo, the duke, who wished
to curry favour with the pope. From July 1566 he lay in prison over a
year. On the 21st of September 1567 sentence of degradation and death
was passed on him and sixteen others, ambassadors from Florence vainly
kneeling to the pope for some mitigation, and on the 1st of October he
was publicly beheaded and then burned.
CARNIOLA (Ger. _Krain_), a duchy and crown-land of Austria, bounded N.
by Carinthia, N.E. by Styria, S.E. and S. by Croatia, and W. by Gorz and
Gradisca, Trieste and Istria. It has an area of 3856 sq. m. Carniola is
for the most part a mountainous region, occupied in the N. by the Alps,
and in the S. by the Karst (q.v.) or Carso Mountains. It is traversed by
the Julian Alps, the Karawankas and the Steiner Alps, which belong all
to the southern zone of the Eastern Alps. The highest point in the
Julian Alps is formed by the three sugar-loaf peaks of the Triglav or
Terglou (9394 ft.), which offers one of the finest views in the whole of
the Alps, and which bears on its northern declivity the only glacier in
the province. The Triglav is the dividing range between the Alps and the
Karst Mountains, and its huge mass also forms the barrier between three
races: the German, the Slavonic and the Italian. Other high peaks are
the Mangart (8784 ft.) and the Jaluz (8708 ft.). The Karawankas, which
form the boundary between Carinthia and Carniola, have as their highest
peak the Stou or Stuhlberg (7344 ft.), and are traversed by the Loibl
Pass (4492 ft.). They are continued by the Steiner or Santhaler Alps,
which have as their highest peak the Grintouz or Grintovc (8393 ft.).
This peak is situated on the threefold boundary of Carinthia, Carniola
and Styria, and affords a magnificent view of the whole Alpine
neighbouring region. The southern part of Carniola is occupied by the
following divisions of the northern ramifications of the Karst
Mountains: the Birnbaumer Wald with the highest peak, the Nanos (4275
ft.), and the Krainer Schneeberg (5890 ft.); the Hornwald with the
highest peak, the Hornbuchl (3608 ft.), and the Uskokengebirge (3874
ft.). The portion of Carniola belonging to the Karst region presents a
great number of caves, subterranean streams, funnels and similar
phenomena. Amongst the best-known are the grottos of Adelsberg, the
larger ones of Planina and the Kreuzberghohle near Laas.
With the exception of the Idria and the Wippach, which as tributaries of
the Isonzo belong to the basin of the Adriatic, Carniola belongs to the
watershed of the Save. The Save or Sau rises within the duchy, and is
formed by the junction at Radmannsdorf of its two head-streams the
Wurzener Save and the Wocheiner Save. Its principal affluents are the
Kanker and the Steiner Feistritz on the left, and the Zeyer or Sora, the
Laibach and the Gurk on the right. The most remarkable of these rivers
is the Laibach, which rises in the Karst region under the name of Poik,
takes afterwards a subterranean course and traverses the Adelsberg
grotto, and appears again on the surface near Planina under the name of
Unz. Shortly after this it takes for the second time a subterranean
course, to appear finally on the surface near Oberlaibach. The small
torrent of Rothwein, which flows into the Wurzener Save, forms near
Veldes the splendid series of cascades known as the Rothwein Fall.
Amongst the principal lakes are the Wochein, the Weissenfels, the
Veldes, and the seven small lakes of the Triglav; while in the Karst
region lies the famous periodical lake of Zirknitz, known to the Romans
as _Lacus Lugens_ or _Lugea Palus._
The climate is rather severe, and the southern part is exposed to the
cold north-eastern wind, known as the Bora. The mean annual temperature
at Laibach is 48.4 deg. F., and the rainfall amounts to 72 ins. Of the
total area only 14.8% is under cultivation, and the crops do not suffice
for the needs of the province; forests occupy 44.4%, 17.2% are meadows,
15.7% are pastures, and 1.17% of the soil is covered by vineyards. Large
quantities of flax are grown, while the timber trade is of considerable
importance. Fish and game are plentiful, and the silkworm is bred in the
warmer districts. The principal mining product is mercury, extracted at
Idria, while iron and copper ore, zinc and coal are also found. The
industry is not well developed, but the weaving of linen and lace is
pursued as a household industry.
Carniola had in 1900 a population of 508,348, which corresponds to 132
inhabitants per sq. m. Nearly 95% were Slovenes and 5% Germans, while
99% of the population belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. The local
diet, of which the bishop of Laibach is a member _ex officio_, is
composed of thirty-seven members, and Carniola sends eleven deputies to
the Reichsrat at Vienna. For administrative purposes the province is
divided into eleven districts and one autonomous municipality, Laibach
(pop. 36,547), the capital. Other important places are Oberlaibach
(5882), Idria (5772), Gurkfeld (5294), Zirknitz (5266), Adelsberg
(3636), Neumarktl (2626), Krainburg (2484) and Gottschee (2421).
Carniola derives its modern name from the Slavonic word _Krajina_
(frontier). During the Roman Empire it formed part of Noricum and
Pannonia. The Slavonic population settled here during the end of the 6th
and the beginning of the 7th century. Conquered by Charlemagne, the most
of the district was bestowed on the duke of Friuli; but in the 10th
century the title of margrave of Carniola began to be borne by a family
resident in the castle of Kieselberg near Krainburg. Various parts of
the present territory were, however, held by other lords, such as the
duke of Carinthia and the bishop of Freising. Towards the close of the
14th century all the separate portions had come by inheritance or
bequest into the hands of Rudolph IV. of Austria, who took the title of
duke of Carniola; and since then the duchy has remained a part of the
Austrian possessions, except during the short period from 1809 to 1813,
when it was incorporated with the French Illyrian Provinces. In 1849 it
became a separate crown-land.
See Dimitz, _Geschichte Krains von der altesten Zeit his 1813_ (4
vols., Laibach, 1874-1876).
CARNIVAL (Med. Lat. _carnelevarium_, from _caro, carnis_, flesh, and
_levare_, to lighten or put aside; the derivation from _valere_, to say
farewell, is unsupported), the last three days preceding Lent, which in
Roman Catholic countries are given up to feasting and merry-making.
Anciently the carnival was held to begin on twelfth night (6th January)
and last till midnight of Shrove Tuesday. There is little doubt that
this period of licence represents a compromise which the church always
inclined to make with the pagan festivals and that the carnival really
represents the Roman Saturnalia. Rome has ever been the headquarters of
carnival, and though some popes, notably Clement IX. and XI. and
Benedict XIII., made efforts to stem the tide of Bacchanalian revelry,
many of the popes were great patrons and promoters of carnival keeping.
Paul II. was notable in this respect. In his time the Jews of Rome were
compelled to pay yearly a sum of 1130 golden florins (the thirty being
added as a special memorial of Judas and the thirty pieces of silver),
which was expended on the carnival. A decree of Paul II., minutely
providing for the diversions, orders that four rings of silver gilt
should be provided, two in the Piazza Navona and two at the Monte
Testaccio--one at each place for the burghers and the other for the
retainers of the nobles to practise riding at the ring. The pope also
orders a great variety of races, the expenses of which are to be paid
from the papal exchequer--one to be run by the Jews, another for
Christian children, another for Christian young men, another for
sexagenarians, a fifth for asses, and a sixth for buffaloes. Under
Julius III. we have long accounts of bull-hunts--or rather
bull-baits--in the Forum, with gorgeous descriptions of the magnificence
of the dresses, and enormous suppers in the palace of the Conservatori
in the capitol, where seven cardinals, together with the duke Orazio
Farnese, supped at one table, and all the ladies by themselves at
another. After the supper the whole party went into the courtyard of the
palace, which was turned into the semblance of a theatre, "to see a most
charming comedy which was admirably played, and lasted so long that it
was not over till ten o'clock!" Even the austere and rigid Paul IV.
(_ob_. 1559) used to keep carnival by inviting all the Sacred College to
dine with him. Sixtus V., who was elected in 1585, set himself to the
keeping of carnival after a different fashion. Determined to repress the
lawlessness and crime incident to the period, he set up gibbets in
conspicuous places, as well as whipping-posts, the former as a hint to
robbers and cut-throats, the latter in store for minor offenders. We
find, further, from the provisions made at the time, that Sixtus
reformed the evil custom of throwing dirt and dust and flour at
passengers, permitting only flowers or sweetmeats to be thrown.
The later popes for the most part restricted the public festivities of
the carnival to the last six or seven days immediately preceding Ash
Wednesday. The municipal authorities of the city, on whom the regulation
of such matters now depends, allow ten days. The carnival sports at Rome
anciently consisted of three divisions: (1) the races in the Corso
(formerly called the Via Lata, and taking its present name from them),
which appear to have been from time immemorial a part of the festivity;
(2) the spectacular pageant of the Agona; (3) that of the Testaccio.
Of other Italian cities, Venice used in old times to be the principal
home, after Rome, of carnival. To-day Turin, Milan, Florence, Naples,
all put forth competing programmes. In old times Florence was
conspicuous for the licentiousness of its carnival; and the _Canti
Carnascialeschi_, or carnival songs, of Lorenzo de' Medici show to what
extent the licence was carried. The carnival in Spain lasts four days,
including Ash Wednesday. In France the merry-making is restricted almost
entirely to Shrove Tuesday, or _mardi gras_. In Russia, where no Ash
Wednesday is observed, carnival gaieties last a week from Sunday to
Sunday.
CARNIVORA, the zoological order typified by the larger carnivorous
placental land mammals of the present day, such as lions, tigers and
wolves, but also including species like bears whose diet is largely
vegetable, as well as a number of smaller flesh-eating species, together
with the seals and their relatives, and an extinct Tertiary group. Apart
from this distinct group (see CREODONTA), the Carnivora are
characterized by the following features. They are unguiculate, or clawed
mammals, with never less than four toes to each foot, of which the first
is never opposable to the rest; the claws, or nails, being more or less
pointed although occasionally rudimentary. The teeth comprise a
deciduous and a permanent series, all being rooted, and the latter
divisible into the usual four series. In front there is a series of
small pointed incisors, usually three in number, on each side of both
jaws, of which the first is always the smallest and the third the
largest, the difference being most marked in the upper jaw; these are
followed by strong conical, pointed, recurved canines; the premolars and
molars are variable, but generally, especially in the anterior part of
the series, more or less compressed, pointed and trenchant; if the
crowns are flat and tuberculated, they are never complex or divided into
lobes by deep inflexions of enamel. The condyle of the lower jaw is a
transversely placed half-cylinder working in a deep glenoid fossa of
corresponding form. The brain varies much in size and form, but the
hemispheres are never destitute of convolutions. The stomach is always
simple and pyriform; the caecum is either absent or short and simple;
and the colon is not sacculated or much wider than the small intestine.
Vesiculae seminales are never developed, but Cowper's glands may be
present or absent. The uterus is two-horned, and the teats are abdominal
and variable in number; while the placenta is deciduate, and almost
always zonary. The clavicle is often absent, and when present never
complete. The radius and ulna are distinct; the scaphoid and lunar of
the tarsus are united; there is never an os centrale in the adult; and
the fibula is distinct.
The large majority of the species subsist chiefly on animal food, though
many are omnivorous, and a few chiefly vegetable-eaters. The more
typical forms live altogether on recently-killed warm-blooded animals,
and their whole organization is thoroughly adapted to a predaceous mode
of life. In conformity with this manner of obtaining their subsistence,
they are generally bold and savage in disposition, though some are
capable of being domesticated, and when placed under favourable
circumstances exhibit a high degree of intelligence.