Chapter IX: Part 9

The casting-net may be successfully employed in a certain depth of water, viz. gudgeon net at four, and large meshed casting net from six to eight feet: in the making great attention must be paid to putting in the widenings, or the net will never open freely, however skilful the person that throws it. In preparing it for casting, it must not be taken upon the shoulder so short as to prevent the leads having their proper swing, which is to be aided by the corresponding turn of the caster’s body, at the exact moment of delivering it from his arm; and the first object is, to let the leads all break the surface at once. Many persons jerk one part of the net high in the air (which assists the spreading), whilst the other part of the lead line drops close to the caster’s foot, making a variation of some seconds in the fall of the different leads into the water: fish must be very crowded, or extremely sleepy, if they remain within the curtailed range and slow sinking of a net so cast. The nicety of the art is, to be able to cover any particular spot, and to shape the net accordingly; and no one can be deemed a proficient, unless he is an ambidexter, and throws from either shoulder, as the turning and holes in a river may require.

For carp or large fish, the mesh should be an inch and three quarters, and the circumference of the lead line not less than twenty-four yards, and from that to twenty-eight; if made of silk, it will sink more speedily, and of course will admit to be thrown with success in deeper water and more weeds. By baiting a place in ponds with grains, worms, or graves, the fish may be collected, and the casting-net thrown over them: should there be much mud, let the net remain quiet some minutes, and the fish will rise from the mud, into which they may have sunk themselves at the noise of the net.

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N.B.—A piece of crumb of bread put into the stomach of either carp or tench suspected to be tainted with the mud, will absorb all the disagreeable taste, and should be taken out before they are sent to table.

CASTLE, _s._ _Vide_ CHESS.

CASTOR OIL, _s._ Oil made from the beaver.

A useful laxative in cases where it is necessary to open the bowels, and at the same time avoid irritation: it is therefore extremely proper in fevers accompanied with costiveness, particularly when there appears to be pain and irritation in the bowels, and may be given with four or six ounces of Epsom salts.

The dose is from half a pint to a pint, or a pint and half.—_White._

CASTRATE, _v._ To geld.

Castration is performed in various ways, but in all it expresses the removal of the testicles: there are methods of rendering the animal impotent without the actual ablation of these organs; for if by any other method the secretion of the spermatic glands is prevented, from which the uncontrollable sexual excitements arise, the end is answered.

Castration by cauterization is the method which has been principally practised among us; and as it is that taught at our alma mater, we may naturally suppose it has proved worthy of the patronage it has received. It is that I always practised, and was successful with it. But this by no means proves it the best; although good it must be, since I never had an untoward case in it; and the more, as, when I was called on to perform it, it was usually on adult horses, mostly on aged ones. Other plans may be still better: it is my duty, assuming as I do, to be a teacher, to bring them forward to view, that they may be compared together. A preliminary observation should be made previously to castrating, to see that the horse has no hernia or rupture: such cases have happened; and as in our method we open a direct communication with the abdomen, when the horse rises it is not improbable that his bowels protrude until they trail on the floor.

If a colt cannot be enticed with oats, &c., he must be driven into a corner between two steady horses, where, if a halter cannot be put on, at least a running hempen noose can be got round his neck; but, whichever is used, it should be flat, or the struggles, which are often long and violent, may bruise the neck, and produce abscess or poll evil. When his exertions have tired him, he may be then led to the operating spot: here his attention should be engaged while the hobbles are put on, if possible; if not, a long and strong cart-rope, having its middle portion formed into a noose sufficiently large to take in the head and neck, is to be slipped on, with the knotted part applied to the counter or breast, and the long pendent ends passed backwards between the fore legs, and, as expressed by Mr. Percivall, ‘extended obliquely backward, carried round the hind fetlocks within the hollows of the heels, brought forward again on the outside, passed under the collar rope, and a second time carried backwards over the outside of all, and extended to its full length in a direct line behind the animal.’ Thus fettered, Mr. Percivall says his hind feet may be drawn under him towards the elbows; I have, however, often found that, at the moment the rope touches the heels, the colt either kicks and displaces the rope, or altogether displaces himself; but his attention can generally be engaged by one fore leg being held up, or by having his ear or muzzle rubbed, or even by the twitch: if not, the rope may be carried actually around each fetlock, which then becomes a hobble; and this rope may be gradually tightened: in this way I have succeeded with very refractory colts; but it requires very able assistants, and, if possible, the man who has been used to the individual colt should be present. In either way, as soon as the rope is fixed, with a man to each end of it, behind the colt, let them, by a sudden and forcible effort in concert, approximate his hind legs to his fore, and thus throw him. Before the colt is cast, however, it should be endeavoured to ascertain that he is free from hernia: with an adult horse this is even more necessary.

Being satisfied that no hernia exists on either side, proceed to cast the horse, turning him, not directly on the left side, but principally inclining that way; and if possible let the croup be very slightly elevated: it is usual to place him directly flat on the left side, but I have found the above rather more convenient. Every requisite being at hand, and as Hurtrel d’Arboval, with his usual minuteness, observes, the operator, having his scalpel between his teeth, should place himself behind the horse, as the most convenient way to perform his manipulations, and firmly grasping the left testicle with his left hand, and drawing it out so as to render the scrotum tense, he should make an incision lengthways of the bag, from its anterior to its posterior part, or, as expressed by Hurtrel d’Arboval, in the direction of the grand axis of the organ. The incision may be carried at once through the integuments, the thin dartos expansion, and the vaginal coat of the testicles, by the dexterous operator, with a sweep of the scalpel: but with one less _au fait_ at the operation, it will be more prudent to make the first incision through the scrotum and dartos only, to the required extent, and then to do the same by the vaginal coat, thus avoiding to wound the testicle, which would produce violent resistance, and give unnecessary pain. The testicle, if the opening be sufficiently large, will now slip out; but the operator must be prepared, at the moment of so doing, to expect some violent strugglings, more particularly if he attempts to restrain the contractions of the cremaster, and by main force to draw out the testicle. Preparatory to this, therefore, the twitch should be tightened; the attendants, especially the man at the head, must be on the alert, and the testicle itself, at the time of this violent retraction of the cremaster, should be merely held, but not dragged in opposition to the contraction, otherwise peritonitis itself might be the result from any such violence. If the clams have been put on over the whole, according to Mr. Percivall’s method, they will assist in retaining the retracting parts; but I must again offer a caution, that they be not used with too much pressure. The resistance having subsided, provided the clams have been thus employed, they must now be removed; or, if they have not been previously in use, they must now be taken in hand, and, being wadded with tow, should be placed loosely on the cord, while time is given to free the _vas deferens_, or spermatic tube, which is seen continued from the epididymis, from the grip of the pincers. The Russians, Mr. Goodwin informs us, cut it through when they operate. Hurtrel d’Arboval does not note it in the French practice; but humanity is much concerned in its removal from pressure, from the excess of pain felt when it is included. It is also necessary, before the final fixing of the clams, to determine on the part where the division of the cord is to take place. To use Mr. Percivall’s words, “If it be left too long, it is apt to hang out of the wound afterwards, and retard the process of union;” indeed, I have known the end of it swell into a fungous excrescence, which greatly embarrassed the practitioner to destroy: on the other hand, if it be cut very short, and the arteries happen to bleed afresh after it has been relieved from the clams, the operator will find it no easy task to recover it from the retraction of the cremaster. The natural length of the cord, which will mainly depend on the degree of the descent of the gland, will be our best guide in this particular. The place of section determined on and marked, close the clams sufficiently tight to retain firm hold of the cord, and to effectually stop the circulation within it. There are now two modes of making the division; the one is to sever it with a scalpel, and then to sufficiently sear the end of it so as to prevent a flow of blood, avoiding, however, to burn it to a cinder, as is sometimes done. The other, and in some respects the preferable method, is to employ an edged firing-iron, which is to divide it by little crucial sawings, so that, when the cord is separated, it shall not present a uniform divided surface, but ragged edges, which will more perfectly destroy the mouths of the vessels, and tend to lessen the chances of hæmorrhage. This done, loosen the clams sufficiently to observe whether there be any flow of blood; gently wipe the end of the cord also with the finger, as sometimes an accidental small plug gets within the vessel, which afterwards is forced out, and therefore had better be removed by this means and at this time. Retain a hold on the clams a few minutes longer; and while loosening them gradually, observing to have an iron in readiness again to touch the end of the cord, if any blood makes its appearance. Satisfied on this point, sponge the part with cold water, but by no means dash it over them, as has been done; neither is any external application necessary, still less any resin seared on the end of the cord, which can only irritate, and will never adhere. On the after-treatment much difference of opinion has existed, and even yet exists. The powerful evidence of accumulated facts has now convinced veterinarians of both the necessity and propriety of some motion for the newly-castrated horse as a preventive of local congestion; such practice is common in most countries but our own, and seems salutary in all. Hurtrel d’Arboval, thus impressed, recommends the horse, immediately after the operation, to be led out to walk for an hour, and it is a general plan in France to walk such horses in hand an hour night and morning. Mr. Goodwin, in proof of its not being hurtful, informs us, that whole studs of horses brought to St. Petersburgh to be operated on, are immediately travelled back a certain portion of the distance, night and morning, until they arrive at home. I have, therefore, no hesitation in recommending a moderate degree of motion in preference to absolute rest, as practised among us: it is a plan which has long been followed with success among our own cutters; and perhaps our not adopting it before has arisen from prejudice against whatever was practised by illiterate persons, without reflecting that, illiterate as they are, their employers are not all so; and that, unless success attended their practices, they would cease to be employed.

For the French mode, twitching, &c., _vide_ GOODWIN, BLAINE, &c.

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_When a colt is to be gelded._—In the first or second week in June he should be cut; and when recovered he should be turned out for the summer.

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“I would not operate,” says Mr. Percivall, “during the season of changing the coat, nor even just prior to that period, from fear of interrupting the process, or checking it altogether; neither would I choose frosty or sultry weather: but, above all, it is advisable to suspend the operation when the flies abound. If the subject have passed the colt period of age, I would recommend a dose of aperient medicine before the operation be undertaken, unless he should be already living on green food.”

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Each testicle should be taken out of the scrotum separately, by an opening sufficiently large, when a ligature should be applied, moderately tight only, around the spermatic chord, about an inch and a half beyond its insertion into the testicle; the separation should then be effected by the scalpel or knife, between the ligature and testis. It is sometimes performed without the ligature, by making the division of the chord with a red-hot knife, but the other is the neatest and safest mode.

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The castration of cats is sometimes practised to keep them from roving, or to increase their size. For this purpose nothing more is requisite than to make a slight opening on each side the scrotum, to slip out the two testicles, and draw them away with the fingers. The rupture alone of the spermatic chord prevents hæmorrhage in them, and no future inconvenience is felt. It is often found difficult to secure a cat for this operation; but it may be easily managed in two ways:—one by putting the head and fore-quarters of the animal into a boot; the other by rolling his whole body lengthways in several yards of towelling; but the former is the most secure and simple, for no animal is more intractable, as a surgical patient, than grimalkin: though to administer medicines to a pig beats the cat hollow, as an obstreperous operation.—_Blaine_—_Nimrod_—_Percivall._

CASTRATION, _s._ The act of gelding.

CASTERIL, or CASTREL, _s._ A mean or degenerate kind of hawk.

CAT, _s._ A domestic animal that catches mice.

The cat is a faithless domestic; though gentle and frolicsome when young, they even then possess an innate cunning, and perverse disposition, which age increases, and education only serves to conceal.

The form and temperament of the cat’s body perfectly correspond with his disposition; he is handsome, light, adroit, cleanly, and voluptuous; he loves ease, and searches out the softest places for rest and repose. The cat is very amorous. The passion of the female continues nine or ten days, and commonly happens only twice a year, in the spring and autumn, but sometimes three and even four times. They go with young 55 or 56 days, and they usually have from four to six at a litter. As the males are apt to devour their progeny, the females commonly conceal themselves when they litter, and if suspicious of a discovery, they carry their young ones away in their mouths and hide them in holes or inaccessible places. After suckling them a few weeks, the old one takes them mice or small birds, to accustom them to eat flesh; but by an unaccountable caprice, these very mothers so tender and careful, become sometimes so cruel and unnatural, as to devour their offspring themselves.

Cats are without docility, and their scent, which, in the dog is so eminent a quality, is very indifferent, and therefore they hunt by the eye only; neither do they properly pursue, but rather lie in wait and attack the animals by surprise; and after having played with, and tormented them a long time, they kill them without any necessity, even when well fed, and in no want of prey to satisfy their appetites.

The most immediate physical cause of their inclination to seize other animals by surprise, comes from the advantage they receive from the particular formation of their eyes. The pupil in man, and many other animals, is capable of a certain degree of contraction and dilation; it enlarges a little when the light is faint, and contracts when it becomes too strong; in cats and nocturnal birds, as owls, &c., this contraction and dilation is so considerable that the pupil, which in the dark is large and round, becomes in the day long and narrow like a line; and therefore these animals see better in the night than in the day. There is a perpetual contraction in the eye of the cat during the day, and it is only by a great effort that he can see in a strong light, whereas, in the twilight, the pupil resumes its natural form; he sees perfectly, and profits from this superiority to know, attack, and surprise his prey.

Cats have less attachment to persons than to houses. When taken to the distance of a league or two they will return to their former abode of their own accord. They fear water, cold, and bad smells; they love to be in the sun, and to lie in warm places; they are very fond of perfumes, and willingly allow themselves to be taken and caressed by those who make use of them. They do not come to their full growth in less than fifteen or eighteen months, but they are capable of engendering before the end of the first year, and they can procreate all their lives, which seldom exceeds eight or nine years; they are notwithstanding, very lively and hardy, and more nervous than most other animals which live longer.

The wild cat couples with the domestic one, and they consequently form but one species. It is not uncommon for both males and females to quit their houses, when they are proud to go into the woods to seek wild cats, and afterwards return to their former habitations; it is for this reason that some of our domestic cats so entirely resemble the wild ones. The greatest difference between them is internally, the intestines of the domestic cat being longer than those of the wild cat, although the latter is much the largest and strongest; his lips are also always black, his ears more stiff, his tail larger, and his colour more uniform.

In general cats are not, like dogs, subject to degenerate when transported into warm climates. Their nature is indeed more constant, and as their domestic state is neither so entire, universal, nor perhaps so ancient as that of the dog, it is not surprising that they should have undergone less variation.

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Besides this large and ferocious species, the warrens upon the coast suffer much injury from the common cat becoming wild and burrowing in the rabbit-holes. They are sometimes surprised and shot in the sand-banks, or taken in traps; but they are generally too wary to be approached—and hunting only by night, during the day they sleep in their dens, and are rarely met abroad.

Some estimate of their numbers may be formed, from the circumstance of five males having been killed in a herdsman’s outhouse which joined the warren. They had been attracted there by one of their own species, and the noise having alarmed the peasant, he guessed the cause, and cautiously managed to stop the hole by which they gained entrance, with a _turf-cleave_. Knowing the value of the capture, he kept guard upon the prisoners till morning, and then despatched information to the Lodge. My cousin, with his followers, promptly repaired to the place, and surrounding the barn with guns and greyhounds, bolted the wild cats successively, until the whole number were despatched. This chassé was not only novel, but profitable. After the death of their persecutors, the rabbits increased prodigiously; but fears are entertained that these destructive animals are become once more abundant in the sand-banks.

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Cats are said, when they wash their faces, or when they seem sleepy and dull, to foretel rain. The same is said of them when they appear irritable and restless, and play with their tails.—_Buffon_—_Wild Sports_—_Foster._

CATAPLASM, _s._ A poultice.

CATARACT, _s._ An inspissation of the crystalline humours of the
eye; sometimes a pellicle that hinders the sight.

CATARRH, _s._ A deduction of a sharp serum from the glands about the
head and throat.

CATERPILLAR, _s._ A worm sustained by leaves and fruits.

CATHARTIC, _s._ A medicine to purge downwards.

Cathartics are a most important class of medicines, and of all cathartics Barbadoes aloes is the best. Cathartics improve digestion and chylification, by cleansing the intestines and unloading the liver, and if the animal is afterwards properly fed, will improve his strength and condition in a remarkable degree. Cathartics are always useful when the appetite and digestion are bad, and this is known by a voracious or depraved appetite, both for food and for water; rumbling of the bowels, and a frequent discharge of wind from the anus. This is the case in a remarkable degree with broken-winded horses, and generally in such as have chronic cough, or are crib-biters. They should not be given too strong or too frequently, as they might thereby weaken instead of strengthening the digestive organs, and produce the effect they were intended to remove. Cathartics should always be made with soap, in the following manner, and then, if given upon an empty stomach, they will be carried off, and will not be dissolved until they get into the large bowels, where their effect is intended to be produced: that is carrying off all the excrementitious matter that may be lodged in them. When given in this way they never produce sickness or pain in the stomach, but always operate without pain or danger.

CATHARTIC BALL.

Barbadoes aloes powdered, from 5 dr. to 1 oz.
Hard soap 3 to 4 dr.
Ginger 1 dr.
Water 1 dr.
Oil of cloves 10 drops.

Beat the soap, oil of cloves, and water together in a mortar, so as to form a paste; if necessary use more water. Add the powdered aloes and ginger, and beat the whole into a ball.—_White._

CATTLE, _s._ Beasts of pasture, not wild or domestic.

CAUF, _s._ A chest with holes, to keep fish alive in the water.

CAVISSON, _s._ A head-stall provided with a nose-band and ring, to
which a long cord is attached. The cavisson is used in the
earlier stages of horse-breaking.

CAUSTICS, _s._ Medicaments which, by their violent activity, and
heat, destroy the texture of the part to which they are applied.

The most powerful is the _actual_, or hot iron; but there are many other caustics possessed of great strength, which speedily destroy the parts to which they are applied. If a solid caustic is wanted, nothing is more convenient than the lunar caustic (nitrate of silver). Milder caustics are more frequently used; such as sulphate of copper, red precipitate, (nitric oxide of mercury,) burnt alum, &c.

Strong caustics are employed to destroy unhealthy or diseased parts; and for cleansing foul ulcers, so as to produce a healthy state, and render them curable by more simple applications. Caustics, divided into liquid and solid, are strong and mild. The mild are often called _escharotics_.

SOLID CAUSTICS, STRONG.

No. 1. The red-hot iron. (See FIRING.)
2. Pure potash with lime.
3. Nitrate of silver, or lunar caustic.
4. Nitrate of copper.

MILD CAUSTICS, SOLID.

No. 1. Acetate of copper, or distilled verdigris.
2. Sulphate of copper, or blue vitriol.
3. Red nitrated quicksilver, red precipitate,
or nitric oxide of mercury.
4. Burnt alum.
5. Common verdigris.

The _mild_ require to be finely powdered and sprinkled on the ulcer; and are sometimes mixed with digestive ointments to increase their power.

STRONG CAUSTICS, LIQUID.

No. 1. The sulphuric and nitrous acids, which must be used
cautiously: they may be diluted with a sufficiency
of water, to be applicable to the purpose required.
2. Nitrous acid 1 oz.
Quicksilver ½ oz.

Place them in a large gallipot, or open phial, and avoid the noxious fumes which arise. When the quicksilver is perfectly dissolved, and the mixture cold, it may be put into a phial and corked.

This is a strong and efficacious caustic; a certain remedy for the foot-rot in sheep, and effectual in canker of the horse’s foot, provided these complaints are properly managed in other respects. It is formed with melted hog’s lard into a strong _detergent_ ointment, or diluted with water.

No. 3. Nitrous acid 1 oz.
Verdigris ½ oz.—Mix.

This caustic is similar to the former, and applicable to the same purposes.

No. 4. Muriate of antimony, or butter of antimony.
5. Muriate of quicksilver, or sublimate 1 dr.
Muriatic acid 2 dr.

This is a very powerful caustic, and always requires dilution. Yellow arsenic mixed with lime and grease, or hog’s lard, is sometimes used as a caustic to destroy warts, or cure fistula or poll-evil.

MILD CAUSTICS, LIQUID.

No. 1. Solution of blue vitriol.
2. Any of the stronger caustics, except
butter of antimony, diluted with an
equal quantity, or more, of water.
3. Muriatic acid.
4. Muriate of iron.—_White._

CAUTERIZE, _v._ To burn with the cautery.

CAUTERY, _s._ Cautery is either actual or potential; the first is
burning by a hot iron, and the latter with caustic medicines.

CAW, _v._ To cry as the rook or crow.

CELLULAR, _a._ Consisting of little cells or cavities.

CEMENT, _s._ The matter with which two bodies are made to cohere.

CERATE, _s._ A plaster made of wax.

CERE, _s._ (_Cera_, LINN.) A term in ornithology for the naked skin
which covers the base of the bill, as in the hawk kind.

CERECLOTH, _s._ Cloth smeared over with glutinous matter.

CERTIFICATE FOR KILLING GAME, _s._ The legal authority prescribed by
act of parliament.

Penalty for shooting without, 20_l._

To be taken out annually, in the parish or place where your assessed taxes are paid—costs, 3_l._ 13_s._ 6_d._, and one shilling fee to the collector.

Does not authorise unqualified persons to kill game, but exempts them from the penalty of 20_l._, and leaves them subject to that of 5_l._ for non-qualification, and also to that of 5_l._ a piece for every head of game found in their possession.

For menial servants, hired as gamekeepers, costs, 1_l._ 5_s._, and a shilling fee to the collector.

Persons, not menial servants, must have a three and a half guinea certificate, and should have, also, the common gamekeeper’s certificate, to hold a deputation.

When demanded by any assessor, collector, land owner, commissioner, inspector, surveyor, occupier of land, also gamekeeper, or other person, provided the two latter produce their certificates, previously to requiring yours, penalty for refusing, 20_l._ If you have not your certificate to produce, your name, and place of abode, may be asked. All certificates expire on the 5th of April in each year.

If you have not a certificate to produce at the time it is called for, your Christian and surnames, and place of abode, may be demanded by any assessor, &c. &c., (as before mentioned) and the penalty for refusing them, or giving a false name, is 20_l._

CERULEAN, _a._ Blue, sky-coloured.

CHAD, _s._ A sort of fish.

CHAFFINCH, _s._ A bird so called, because it delights in chaff.

This bird is rather less than the sparrow. The bill is bluish; irides hazel; the forehead black; crown of the head, back part, and sides of the neck, bluish ash-colour; the cheeks, under side of the neck, and breast, dull pink; back, chestnut-brown; rump greenish; belly, white, tinged with pink; the bastard wing and coverts of the primary quills are black; those of the secondary tipped with white; the smaller coverts black and greyish, on which is a spot of white; the quill-feathers dusky, slightly edged with greenish yellow on the outer webs, marked with white on both webs at the base; tail dusky; the exterior feather is obliquely marked with white, taking in the whole of the outer web, the next is tipped with white; legs dusky.

The female is of a dull green above; the breast and belly of a brown or dirty white; the wings have the same markings as the male, but less brilliant.

This bird makes a most elegant nest of green moss, curiously studded with lichen, interwoven with wool, and lined with feathers and hair. It builds against the side of a tree, particularly in ivy, or in some forked branch of a bush; but particularly in apple trees overgrown with moss and lichen, and, like many other birds, adapts the materials of its nest to the surrounding colour; an instinct of no small importance.—_Bewick._

CHAIN, _s._ A series of links fastened one within another; a bond, a
manacle; a fetter.

CHAISE, _s._ A carriage either of pleasure or expedition.

CHALDRON, or CHAUDRON, _s._ A dry English measure of coals,
consisting of thirty-six bushels heaped up. The chaldron should
weigh two thousand pounds.

CHALK, _s._ A white fossil, usually reckoned a stone, but by some
ranked among the boles.

CHALYBEATE, _a._ Impregnated with iron or steel.

CHAMBEL OF A HORSE, _s._ The joint or bending of the upper part of
the hind leg.

CHAMOIS, _s._ An animal of the goat kind, the skin of which made
into leather is called _Shammy_.

The chamois is a little larger than a goat, but much superior in power and agility; the strongest man could not hold one of a month old; they bound from precipice to precipice to a prodigious distance, gaining the loftiest summits, and precipitating themselves from the steepest rocks without fear. The chase of this animal occupies a great part of the mountainous population, and many perish annually in the hazardous pursuit.

Often the hunter, overtaken by a dark mist, loses himself amongst the ice, and dies of cold and hunger; or the rain renders the rocks so slippery, that he is not able to reascend them. In the midst of eternal snows, braving all dangers, they follow the chamois frequently by the marks of their feet; when one is perceived at a distance, the hunter creeps along till within reach of his gun, which he rests on a rock, and is almost always sure of his prey: thus the innocent beast, which tranquilly feeds, perhaps enjoys the last moments of its happy existence. But if his watchful eye perceives the enemy, as is often the case, he flies from rock to rock, “timor addidit alas,” and the fatigues of the pursuer begin, who traverses the snows, and climbs the precipices, heedless of how he is to return. Night arrives, yet the hopes of the morrow reassure him, and he passes it under a rock. There, without fire, without light, he draws from his wallet a little cheese and oaten bread, which he is obliged to break with a stone, or with the hatchet he carries to cut his path in the ice. This repast finished, he falls asleep on his bed of snow, considering what route the chamois has probably taken. At break of day he awakens, insensible to the charms of a beautiful morning, to the glittering rays which silver the snowy summits of the mountains around him, and, thinking only of his prey, seeks fresh dangers. Thus they frequently remain many days in these horrible deserts, while their wives and families scarcely dare to sleep, lest they should behold the spirits of their dead husbands; for it is believed that a chasseur, after his death, always appears to the person who is most dear to him, to make known where lie his mangled remains, to beg the rites of burial.

CHAMP, _v._ To bite with a frequent action of the teeth; to devour.

CHANCE, _s._ Fortune, the cause of fortuitous events; the act of
fortune; accident; possibility of any occurrence.

CHAP, _s._ The upper or under part of a beast’s mouth.

CHAR, _s._ A fish found chiefly in Winandermeer in Lancashire.

The char is a most beautiful and excellent fish, and is a fish of prey. They generally haunt deep cool lakes, and are seldom found at the surface till late in autumn. When they are at the surface, however, they will take either fly or minnow. I have known some caught in both these ways, and have myself taken a char, even in summer, in one of those beautiful, small, deep lakes in the Upper Tyrol, near Nazereet; but it was where a cool stream entered from the mountains, and the fish did not rise, but swallowed the artificial fly under water. The char is always, in its colour, a very brilliant fish, but in different countries there are many varieties in the tint. I do not remember ever to have seen more beautiful fish than those of Aussee, which, when in perfect season, have the lower fins and the belly of the brightest vermilion, with a white line on the outside of the pectoral, ventral, anal, and lower part of the caudal fin, and with vermilion spots, surrounded by the bright olive shade of the sides and back. The dorsal fin in the char has eleven spines, the pectoral fourteen, the ventral nine, the anal ten, and the caudal twenty. I have fished for them in many lakes, without success, both in England and Scotland, and also amongst the Alps; and I am told the only sure way of taking them is by sinking a line with a bullet and a hook having a live minnow attached to it, in the deep water which they usually haunt.—_Davy._

CHAR, _v._ To burn wood to a black cinder.

CHARADRIUS (LINN.) _s._ Plover, a genus thus characterised:

Bill shorter than the head, slender, straight, compressed, nasal furrow prolonged more than two-thirds; mandibles bulged towards the tip. Nostrils at the base, jagged, slit lengthwise in the middle of a large membrane, which covers the fosse. Legs long or of middle length, slender, three toes directed forwards; the outer toe joined to the middle one by a short membrane; the inner toe separate. Tail slightly rounded or square. Wings of middle size, the first quill a little shorter than the second, which is the longest in the wing.—_Montagu._

CHARCOAL, _s._ Coal made by burning wood. _Charcoal poultices_ are
sometimes used to remove the fetid smell arising from greased
heels.

CHARGE, _v._ To accuse; to command; to fall upon, to attack; to load
a gun.

CHARGE, _s._ Care, trust, custody; command, commission; imputation;
expense; onset; the quantity of powder and ball put into a gun;
a preparation, or a sort of ointment applied to the
shoulder-splaits and sprains of horses.

Charges are plasters applied to the legs to remove windgalls and lameness, previous to turning the horse out. Those in common use, are—

1. Yellow rosin 2 oz.
Burgundy pitch 4 oz.
Barbadoes tar 2 oz.
Bees-wax 3 oz.
Red lead 4 oz.

2. Yellow rosin 1 lb.
Bees-wax 8 oz.
Common turpentine 2 oz.
Armenian bole, powdered 4 oz.—Mix.

The first three are to be melted together, and then the latter is to be added. The mixture is to be constantly stirred until sufficiently cold to be applied; and if it prove too thick when cold, it may be softened with a little oil or lard.

CHARGER, _s._ an officer’s horse.

CHARIOT, _s._ A carriage of pleasure, or state.

CHARMER, _s._ One that has the power of charms, or enchantments.

_The Charmer._—That individuals have exercised a powerful and unaccountable influence on the most unmanageable animals, by means which still remain a mystery, is certain. The most remarkable case on record, is that of an Irish blacksmith, who, by an undiscovered agency, could subdue the most vicious horses. He asserted, that this was effected by merely whispering in the animal’s ear some potent spell, and hence he gained the title of _the charmer_. This power over the most desperate horses was so often put to the test, that all doubt is idle. He never refused to enter the stable of horses that to all besides were unapproachable, and after a short tête-à-tête, the animal would be found trembling and subdued, and while every limb appeared convulsed with terror _the charmer_ would pass under his belly, lift his feet, or do any thing he was required. In his repeated experiments upon the most savage horses, _the charmer_ never received any injury, or failed in subduing the animal.

Many attempts have been made to account for the means by which this influence was obtained. The general belief was, that some powerful drug was passed by the exorciser into the horse’s ear; but by what means was he enabled to approach sufficiently close to a furious brute to administer it?

It is singular that though _the charmer_ was a miserable and poverty-stricken wretch, no bribe could induce him to communicate the charm—if it was one—and though immense sums of money were offered, he carried the secret with him to the grave!

CHASE, _v._ To hunt, to pursue; to drive.

CHASE, _s._ Hunting, pursuit of anything as game; fitness to be
hunted; pursuit of something as desirable; hunting match; the
game hunted; open ground stored with such beasts as are hunted;
the chase of a gun, is the whole bore or length of a piece.

CHASER, _s._ Hunter, pursuer, driver.

CHECK, _s._ Restraint, curb; in falconry, when a hawk forsakes the
proper game to follow other birds; the cause of restraint; a
stop.

When hounds divide and are in two parts, the whipper-in must wait for the huntsman’s halloo before he stops either. If there are many scents, and it is quite uncertain which is the hunted fox, he should stop those hounds that are the farthest down the wind, as they can hear the others, and will reach them soonest.

When hounds are at a check, every one should be silent, and stand still, the huntsman had better let the hounds alone, or content himself with holding them forward, without taking them off their noses.

If hounds come to a check on a high road, by the fox being headed, in trying back they have the best chance of hitting off the scent again, as they may try on both sides at once.—_Beckford._—_Daniel._

CHECKMATE, _s._ The movement on the chess-board, that puts an end to
the game.

CHEEK, _s._ The side of the face below the eye; a general name among
mechanics for almost all those pieces of their machines that are
double.

CHERUP, _v._ To chirp, to use a cheerful voice.

CHESS, _s._ A nice and intricate game, in imitation of a battle
between two armies.

RULES FOR CHESS.

1. Move your pawns before your pieces, and afterwards bring out the pieces to support them; therefore the king’s, queen’s and bishops’ pawns should be the first played, in order to open the game well.

2. Do not, therefore, play out any of your pieces early in the game, because you thereby lose moves, in case your adversary can, by playing a pawn, make them retire, and he also opens his game at the same time: especially avoid playing your queen out, till your game is tolerably well opened.

3. Avoid giving useless checks, and never give any unless to gain some advantage, because you may lose the move, if the adversary can either take or drive your piece away.

4. Never crowd your game by having too many pieces together, so as to prevent your men advancing or retreating as occasion may require.

5. If your game should be crowded, endeavour to free it by exchanges of pieces or pawns, and castle your king as soon as convenient; afterwards bring out your pieces, and attack the adversary where weakest.

6. When the adversary plays out his pieces before his pawns, attack them as soon as you can with your pawns, by which you may crowd his game and make him lose moves.

7. Never attack the adversary’s king without a sufficient force; and if he attack yours, and you cannot retaliate, offer exchanges; and should he retire, when you present a piece to exchange, he may lose a move. It also may sometimes be expedient to act in this manner in case of other attacks.

8. Play your men in guard of one another, so that if any be taken, the enemy may also be captured by that which guarded yours, and endeavour to have as many guards to your piece, as your adversary advances others upon it; and, if possible, let them be of less value than those he assails with. When you cannot well support your piece, see if by attacking one of his that is better, or as good, you may not thereby save yours.

9. Never attack but when well prepared, for thereby you open your adversary’s game, and prepare him to pour in a strong attack upon you, as soon as your weaker one is over.

10. Never play till you have examined whether you are free from danger by your adversary’s last move; nor offer to attack till you have considered what harm he would be able to do you by his next moves, in consequence of yours.

11. When your attack is in a prosperous way, never be diverted from it by taking any piece, or other seeming advantage, your adversary may purposely throw in your way, with the intent that, by your taking the bait, he might gain a move which would make your design miscarry.

12. When, in pursuing a well-laid attack, you find it necessary to force your adversary’s defence, with the loss of some pieces; if, upon counting as many moves forward as you can, you find a prospect of success, sacrifice a piece or two to gain your end: these bold attempts make the finest games.

13. Never let your queen stand so before the king, as that your adversary, by bringing forwards a rook or a bishop, might check your king if she were not there, for you could hardly save her, or perhaps at best must sacrifice her for an inferior piece; as for example: place the white king on 61, the queen on 53; the black king on 4, and the rook, on 16: which last, if moved to 13, must be taken by the white queen, who in return would be taken by the black king, because the white queen could not otherwise be moved without putting the king on check to the black rook.

14. Let not your adversary’s knight fork your king and queen, or king and rook, or queen and rook, or your two rooks, at the same time; for in the two first cases, the king being forced to go out of check, the queen or the rook must be lost; and in the two last a rook must be lost, at best, for a worse piece. Place the white queen on 5, the rook on 7, and a black knight on 37. The latter piece, if moved to 22, will fork both the queen and rook, and consequently one of them must be lost for the knight.

15. Take care that no guarded pawn of your adversary’s fork two of your pieces: knights and rooks are particularly liable to this mode of attack; also guard against either a check by discovery, or a stale-mate.

16. When the kings have castled on different sides of the board, attack with the pawn you have on that side where the adversary has castled, advancing the pieces, especially the queen and rooks to support them; and if the adversary’s king have three pawns on a line in front, he should not stir them till forced to it.

17. Endeavour to have a move in ambuscade; that is, place the queen, bishop, or rook behind a pawn, or a piece, in such a manner, as that, upon playing that pawn, or piece, you discover a check upon your adversary’s king, and consequently may often get a piece, or some other advantage by it. Suppose the black king on 6, a white bishop on 41, and a pawn on 34; by moving the pawn to 26, a check by the white bishop is discovered upon the black king.

18. Never guard an inferior piece or pawn with a better, if you can do it with a pawn, because that better piece may in such a case be, as it were, out of play.

19. A pawn pushed on, and well supported, often costs the adversary a piece; but one separated from the others is seldom of any value. And whenever you have gained a pawn, or other advantage, and are not in danger of losing the move thereby, make as frequent exchanges as you can.

20. If each player have three pawns upon the board, and no piece, and you have a pawn on one side of the board, and the other two on the other side, and your adversary’s 3 are opposite to your 2, march with your king to take his pawns; and if he move to support them, go on to queen with your single pawn; and if he attempt to hinder it, take his pawns, and push yours to queen; that is, to move a pawn into the adversary’s back row, in order to make a queen, when the original is lost.

21. At the latter end of the game, each party having only three or four pawns on different sides of the board, the kings are to endeavour to gain the move, in order to win the game: for example—the white king placed on 54, and the black king on 37, white would gain the move by playing to 53, or black to 38, and in both cases the adverse king would be prevented from advancing.

22. When the adversary has no more than his king and one pawn on the board, and you a king only, you can never lose that game if you bring and keep your king opposite to your adversary’s, when he is immediately either before or on one side of his pawn, and only one house between the kings. This must then either be a drawn game, or if the opponent persist in his endeavours to win, he will lose by a stale-mate, by drawing you upon the last square.

23. When your adversary has one pawn on the rook’s line, with a king and bishop against a king only, and his bishop is not of the colour that commands the corner-house his pawn is going to, if you can get your king into that corner, you cannot lose that game, but may win by a stale-mate.

24. When you have only your queen left in play, and your king happens to be in that position of stale-mate, keep giving check to your adversary’s king, always taking care not to check him where he can interpose any of his pieces that make the stale: by so doing, you will at last force him to take your queen, and then you win the game by being in stale-mate.

25. Never cover a check with a piece that a pawn pushed upon it may take, for fear of only getting that pawn for it: put a black rook on 7, and a pawn on 40; the white king on 63, and a knight on 61: the white king being on a check to the rook, if the check be covered by moving the white knight to 56, the black pawn could then be moved to 48, and take the knight.

26. Do not crowd your adversary’s king with your pieces, lest you inadvertently give a stale-mate.

27. Do not be too much afraid of losing a rook for an inferior piece; though a rook is better than any other, except the queen, yet it seldom comes into play, so as to operate, until the end of the game; and it is generally better to have a worse piece in play than a superior out.

28. When you have moved a piece, which your adversary drives away with a pawn, that is a bad move, your enemy gaining a double advantage. At this nice game no move can be indifferent. Though the first move may not be much, between equally good players, yet the loss of one or two more, after the first, makes the game almost irretrievable: but if you can recover the move, or the attack (for they both go together), you are in a fair way of winning.

29. If ever your game be such, that you have scarce any thing to play, you have either brought out your pieces wrong, or, which is worse, not at all; for if you have brought them out right, you must have variety enough.

30. Do not be much afraid of doubling a pawn: two in a direct line are not disadvantageous when surrounded by three or four others; three together are strong, (as three white pawns on 28, 35 and 37;) but four, (as 44 in addition) that make a square, with the help of other pieces, well managed, form an invincible strength, and probably may produce you a queen: on the contrary, two pawns, with an interval between (as on 35 and 37) are no better than one; and if you should have three over each other in a line (as 26, 34, and 42) your game cannot be in a worse situation.

31. When a piece is so attacked that it is difficult to save it, give it up, and endeavour to annoy your enemy in another place; for it often happens, that whilst your adversary is pursuing a piece, you either get a pawn or two, or such a situation as ends in his destruction.

32. Supposing your queen and another piece are attacked at the same time, and by removing your queen, you must lose the piece, if you can get two pieces in exchange for her, rather do that than retire; for the difference is more than the worth of a queen; besides, you preserve your situation, which is often better than a piece; when the attack and defence are thoroughly formed, if he who plays first be obliged to retire by the person who defends, that generally ends in the loss of the game on the side of him who attacks.

33. Do not aim at exchanges without reason; a good player will take advantage of it, to spoil your situation, and mend his own: but when you are strongest, especially by a piece, and have not an immediate check-mate in view, then every time you exchange, your advantage increases. Again, when you have played a piece, and your adversary opposes one to you, exchange directly, for he wants to remove you: prevent him, and do not lose the move.

34. Every now and then examine your game, and then take your measures accordingly.

35. At the latter end of the game, especially when both queens are off the board, the kings are capital pieces; do not let your king be idle; it is by his means, generally, you must get the move and the victory.

36. As the queen, rooks, and bishops operate at a distance, it is not always necessary in your attack to have them near your adversary’s king; they do better at a distance, cannot be driven away, and prevent a stale-mate.

37. When there is a piece you can take, and that cannot escape, do not hurry; see where you can make a good move elsewhere, and take the piece at leisure.

38. It is not always right to take your adversary’s pawn with your king, for very often it happens to be a safeguard and protection to him. Place a black rook on 5, with a pawn on 45, and the white king on 53, and he will be sheltered by the black pawn from the attack of the rook.

39. When you can take a man with different pieces, consider thoroughly with which you had best take it.

APPLICATION TO SOME OF THE FOREGOING RULES.