Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/230

CARAWAY. 190 CARBOHYDRATES. of caraway, which is obtained by bruising the seeds and distilling them with water. Cara- way has a branc^liing stem 1 to 2 feet high, with finely divided leaves, and dense umbels of whit- ish (lowers. It is easy of cultivation. For illus- tration, see Plate of Camellias. CARBAJAL, kiir'lm-Hal', Francisco (1464- li)4S). A Spanish soldier, born in Aravalo. He v.cnt to ilexico in 1528, was sent by Cortes to I'eru in 15.36 to assist Pizarro, and was field- marshal to Vaca de Castro in his victory over Diego de Alniagro the ycnmger, on the Plain of Chupas. He joined the party of Gonzalo Pizarro in the contest against IJiego Ccnteno and Pedro dc la Gasea, was taken prisoner with Pizarro at the battle of Sacsaliuana (April 8, 1548), and was hanged and quartered. He was at the time of his death the most brilliant eiiiiiniander in Peru. "He was ruthlessly cruel, but brimming over with wit and humor, so that people said it was quite a pleasure to be hanged b_v him, for the sake of his witticisms on such occasions." Con- sult Markham. A Uislori/ of Peru- (Chicago. 1802). CARBAJAL, kjir'ija-ual', Gasi'AB de, and To.MAS .lo.si:. See Cakvajal. CARBALLO, kar-l)ii'ly6. A town in the Prov- ince of Corufia. (ialicia, Spain, 30 miles south- east of CoruAa. It is noted for its mineral springs anil hatlis. Po]nilation, in 1901, 13,544. CAR'BAZOTIC ACID. See Picric Acid. CAR'BIDES {carbon + ide) . Compounds of carbon and the metals. The most important car- bides are iron carbide and calcium carbide. Mol- ten iron unites directly with carbon to form a series of definite chemical compounds, Fe,C, Fe,C, FeC,, etc. The presence of these com- pounds, in variable quantities, in metallic iron causes important changes in certain properties of the latter; it becomes hard and brittle, and melts at a considerably lower temperature than ])ure iron. Even of greater practical importance than iron carbide is tlie carbide of calcium, now extensively employed in the manufacture of acetylene gas. When treated with water or dilute acids, most carbides are decomposed with formation of hydrocarbons. Thus, the carbide of aluminium yields methane, or mar.sh-gas; the carbide of calcium yields acetylene. At present the {'arbides are nude by the use of the electric furnace, which gives a temperature of about 4000° C. In this furnace carbon is made to act on the o.xide of the metal, when part of the car- bon takes up the oxygen of the oxide, while an- other part combines with the metal. The car- bides of the alkali metals, sodium and potassium, are best prepared by passing a current of pure and carefully dried acetylene gas over the melted metals, kept at a temperature of about 225° C, out of contact with the air. The name carbides is also applied to compounds of carbon with cer- tain non-metallic elements, such as silicon. The carbide of silicon is a crystalline substance re- markable for its great hardness and used, under the name of carborundum, or silicate of car- bon, for making whetstones, polishing cloths, etc. The carl)ides of non-metallic elements are not attacked by acids. See Acetylene; Cal- cium Carhide; Caruorundum. CARBINE, kiirlun (Fr. carabine. It. Caro- lina. Med. Lat. calahra. war-engine). The fire- arm carried by mounted soldiers generally. It is the same in principle as the infantry rifle, but, owing to its modified form and length, of much more limited range than the rifle proper. It is carried, as a rule, attached to the saddle by straps, or by a pocket or bucket. See Small Arms. CARBINEERS', or CARABINEERS (Fr. carahin!i r, from carabine) . Formerly a separate and distinct type of cavalry, a distinction which no longer exists. As with many other obsolete types of military corps, the title, and in some instances the distinctive uniform, is still main- tained by the various carbineer regiments throughoiit Europe, this distinction constituting their only real difference from other cavalry. The name is said by some authorities to have originated with the carbine, the firearm with which light cavalry was armed; by others they are said to have derived their designation from the Arabs, among whom the Carabins or Kara- bins were light horsemen, stationed at outposts to defend narrow passes, etc.; in action they took the place of skirmishers. Generally speaking, the name was commonly applied to light cavalry regiments, now known as hussars and lancers. See Cavalry. CAR'BOHY'DRATES (I.at. car6o, coal + Gk. liSwp, hydOr, water). A name applied in chemistry to one of three groups of substances found in great quantities in the animal and veg- etable kingdoms, the other two groups being the fats and the proteids. The carbohydrates should not be confoimded with the h3'drocarbons ; for while the latter are composed exclusively of car- bon and hydrogen, the carbohydrates all contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The last-named two elements are found in the carbohydrates in precisely the same proportion in which they exi.st in water; so that a molecule of any carbohydrate might be re|)respnted as made up of x atoms of carbon and i/ molecules of water (x C -- t/H^O). It is, however, well known at present that the carbohydrates contain no water as such. The carbohydrates include the ditTerent varie- ties of sugar, of starch, and of cellulose. It ap- pears strange at first that such very ditTerent substances should be grouped together: the crys- talline and soluble compounds called sugars, and the amorphoiis, mostly insoluble substances called celluloses and starches. They are all. how- ever, connected by their common capacity of breaking up into the varieties of sugar called saccharoses or monoses, which form the simi)lest sub-group of carbohydrates. The remaining two sub-groups, the di-saccharoses or bioses, and the poly-saccharoses or polyoses, include some of the most conunonly met with, but chemically very complex substances. The Saccharoses. These include dextrose, levulose, galactose, etc., and may he transformed, by the fermentative action of yeast, into alcohol. They all reduce Fehling's solution (an alkaline solution of cupric oxide). The formula CalluO, represents any one of the saccharoses, the sev- eral members of this group being either chem- ically or optically isomeric. The methods for the study of their chemical constitution were first proposed by Kiliani (18S5S7). Emil Fischer has since extended and applied the methods of investigation to a large number of the saccharoses, and as a result the chemical na- ture of these substances is at present perfectly