Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/18

10 CARNIVAL CARNIVORA motives of religion. The festivities are held in the Oorso, and the streets immediately adjoin- ing, to which the show is confined. The Corso is about a mile long, but very narrow, being on an average only about 35 ft. broad, and lined by lofty houses, nearly all of which are built with overhanging balconies, with especial reference to this spectacle ; and where per- manent balconies are wanting, temporary struc- tures of wood are frequently erected. Thus persons on opposite balconies are brought within speaking distance, or near enough to exchange bouquets and sugar-plums. The street beneath is densely filled with carriages and foot passengers, and all are brought so close to- gether as to act and react upon each other. The sport does not last through the whole of each day, but only from about 2 o'clock till dark, during the short days of February. Pieces of brilliant cotton, cloth, or silk, red, yellow, and blue, are hung over the balconies, while innumerable streamers of the same hues flut- ter in the breeze. Far as the eye can reach, the balconies are crowded with spectators, many of them beautiful and gayly dressed women. The course below is thronged with two rows of carriages, moving in opposite directions and filled with gay parties; while crowds of pedestrians mingle among the vehi- cles, clad in every variety of costume that fancy can suggest, masked, and playing every imagi- nable prank within the bounds of decency. Meanwhile all engage in pelting each other far and near with flowers, bonbons, and con- fetti. For some time before the carnival be- gins flowers are brought into Rome in exhaust- less profusion, costly bouquets of hot-house flowers being ranged side by side with the wild growth of the Campagna. The bonbons are not so abundant, but still are used exten- sively; while the confetti, which are nothing but pellets of lime about the size of a pea, are scattered in myriads, and cover those attack- ed from head to foot with lime dust. Every day of the masquerade the Corso becomes more crowded and more animated, till on the last the number and spirit of the masks, the skir- mishes of bonbons and lime dust, and the shouts and enthusiasm of all, surpass description. Of the mass who elbow one another through the crowded streets, the greater part are in tlieir ordinary garb, though disguises are common enough not to attract any particular notice. Among the most usual masks are punchinellos, harlequins, and pantaloons. Some of the masks carry an inflated bladder on the end of a stick, with which they deal noisy but harmless blows. Besides carriages such as are seen every day, many are put together for the occasion merely, and consist of framework renting upon wheels, and made to assume variouk shapes, such as ships or moving forests. Eery day of the masquerade there is a race by spirited horses, but without riders. About 6 o'clock prepara- tions begin for the running of these animals. Mounted dragoons trot up and down the Corso, the carriages are withdrawn into by-streets, and pedestrians alone are left. Meanwhile the horses which are to run have been brought to the starting point in the piazza del Popolo. Each one is held by his groom in a showy uniform, and they are kept within bounds until the hour for starting arrives by a rope stretched across the Corso. They are goaded on in the race by metal balls full of sharp points, which are fastened to their trappings. The goal is formed by a piece of cloth suspended across the street near the Venetian palace, at the Ripresa de' Barberi, so called from Barbary horses being the original racers. At this point the judges are assembled to decide upon the race. Goethe, who visited Rome in 1788, says that carriages were then allowed to remain in the Corso, and their presence rendered it so narrow that horses often dashed themselves against the wheels and were instantly killed. Of late years, the celebration of the carnival in Rome has lost much of its ancient splendor and interest. ( AKMVORA (Lat. cro, gen. carnis, flesh, and roro, to eat), an order of mammals which feed upon flesh, as distinguished from the herlivora, or vegetable feeders. This order has been di- vided into various groups by different authors, some including in it the cheiroptera and insecti- vora, and others limiting it to the following five families, which agree in their most essential characters, viz. : ursidce, or bears ; mustelidcB, or weasels ; canidce, or dogs ; felidce, or cats ; and phocidce, or seals. The bears constitute the plantigrades, the seals the pinnigrades, and the other three the digitigrades, according as the whole foot or only the toes touch the ground, or as the extremities are modified into fin-like paddles. The felida are the most truly car- nivorous, and constitute the type of the order ; and in them the large canine teeth, sharp re- tractile claws, and great strength and agility indicate a special formation for the pursuit and destruction of living prey. The skeleton ex- hibits the modifications adapted for the manner of life in the shape of the bones, tlieir articu- lations, and proportions. In the felidce the spine is flexible, yet strong, with a large devel- opment of the lumbar portion ; the ribs are narrow and far apart, the limbs long and afford- ing the greatest freedom of motion, and the skull short and broad. In the weasels the spine is lengthened in accordance with the habits of these prowling creatures. In the bears the foot is placed wholly on the ground, and the shortness of the lumbar region of the spine adds to the firmness and strength of limb re- quired in these less carnivorous animals. In the seals the posterior limbs are extended back- ward into two horizontal fins, the anterior also serving in addition for a limited progression on land. The cranium is remarkable for the short- ness and strength of its facial or tooth-bearing portion, and for the crests and large fossae for the accommodation of the powerful muscles of mastication ; in the cats the tentorium cere-