Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/452

426] C A L substances. It is of various co- lours, somewhat hard aud brittle, and of considerable weight ; its magnitude is generally considered as a proof of its excellence. It is found principally in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, the western parts of England, and also in Wales. This mineral constitutes an article of the Materia Mcdica ; but, pre- viously to being used, it is gens- rally roasted, or calcined, in order to separate the sulphureous matter it is supposed to contain in its crude state ; and also to render it more f asily reducible into a tine powder. Thus prepared, it is emploved in collyria, against defluxion of thin acrid humors from the eyes ; for drying up humid, running ulcers, and for healing excoriations. CALAMINT, or the Melissa Calamintha, L. an indigenous spe- cies of trie balm. Its botanical cha- racters are : the foot-stalks axillary, forked, and generally shorter than the leaves ; fibrous, perennial roots ; upright, square, hairy, stalk?, raising about a foot high ; roundish., indented, opposite leaves, and verticillate clusters of small, blueish flowers. It grows on the sides of roads and corn-fields, and is easily propagated by offsets. The calamint, as well as the other species of the melissa, is now only ranked in medical practice among the mild corroborants. In- furious of the leaves in water have an agieeable smell, but a weak taste ; yet, -when inspissated, they leave a considerable quantity of a bitterish extract. See Balm. Calamus. See Sweet Flag. CALANDRE, an insect of the Scuraloeus, or beetle class, thus denominated. by some French wri- ters, and which is particularly de- structive in granaries. It has two nnae, or horns, consisting of C A L several round joints, covered with a soft, short down. From the an* terior part of its head projects a proboscis, or trunk, the end of which is so formed, as to facilitate the insect in penetrating the coat, or skin that covers the grain, and to enable it to reach the meal, or farina, which supports it, and in which the female deposits her eggs. The female lays an immense number of eggs, but seldom leaves more than two in one grain ; these eggs, in the course of time, produce small worms, the bodies of which are generally found rolled up in a spiral form. When, during their residence in the grain, they have attained their full growth, they are changed into chrysalis, and, after the lapse of a fortnight, into perfect calandres. So prolific are these insects, that their increase would be alarming, were they not destroyed, while in the egg-state, by a species of mites which abound particularly in gra- naries, and devour by far the great- er part of these larvae. CALCAREOUS MATTER, consists of various kinds, which have their respective uses and va- lue in agriculture. Lime-stone and marb.e are both calcareous substances, but the latter is in a crystalized state. It is clearly ascertained, says Dr. Dak win, that calcareous earth, either alone, or in some of the states of chemical combination, may contribute to the nourish- ment both of animals and vege- - : first, because it constitutes a considerable part of them, and must therefore titker be received from without, or formed by themj and, secondly, because from the ana- logy of all organic life, whatever has composed a part of a vegetable, or animal, may again, after its che- mical