CARRIER PIGEON-CARRIERS.

where such messengers are most frequently employed, See CAMEL. In England and Scotland, previous to it is the practice to bathe the pigeon's feet in vinegar the general use of wheel-carriages, goods were to keep them cool, and to prevent it from alighting carried on pack-horses, as is still practised in in quest of water, by which the letter might sustain some parts of Spain with mules. See PACK-HORSE, injury. Pigeons intended for this use, must be also MULE. After the pack-horse came the onebrought from the place to which they are to return, horse cart and the four-wheeled wagon, as engines within a short period, not exceeding a fortnight of of land-conveyance. Carrying with one-horse carts their being let loose, and at a time when they have settled down as a universal practice in Scotland, where it is still conducted in all districts not traversed by railways. The Scotch C., winding their way by roads over hill and dale, at the rate of about 20 miles a day, have ever been a respectable and useful body of men, exceedingly trustworthy, and moderate in their charges. In connection with Edinburgh, Glasgow, and other centres of traffic, they travel to and from provincial towns for the most part once a week on certain days, so that their arrival at any particular place may be reckoned on with great exactness. În England, the employing of wagons for carrying goods in connection with the metropolis and provincial towns is now of old date. These carriers' wagons, greatly limited in their range by the introduction of canals and railways, are still to be seen in some of the rural districts. A wagon of this kind is provided with four broad huge wheels; and being a heavy and clumsy engine of conveyance, is drawn by four

Carrier Pigeon.

young in their nest; the remarkable fecundity of the C. P. affording particular facilities for its employment in this way. The bird is also kept in the dark and without food, for at least eight hours before being let loose. The instinct by which it is guided, like most other instincts, has received no sufficient explanation. That it recognises objects by sight, and so directs its course, is nothing more than a conjecture, and as such, is only very partially supported by the fact of the great power of vision which these birds, in common with so many others, are known to possess, and by that of the C. P., on being let loose, immediately rising spirally to a great height in the air, as if to obtain opportunity for the exercise of this power. The C. P. has probably been more used in the Turkish dominions than in any other part of the world, and during the siege of Paris in 1871, it safely conveyed many important messages. Its rate of flight is not less than thirty miles an hour, and it has been known to pass over great distances still more rapidly. The variety generally described as the C. P. (Columba tabellaria of Linnæus, C. Turcica of some authors, but not generally regarded by naturalists as a distinct species), is of remarkably large size, about fifteen inches in length from the point of the bill to the extremity of the tail, and has the cere very large and carunculated, the eyes surrounded with a broad circle of naked red skin, and the wings reaching nearly to the extremity of the tail. There is, however, a smaller variety, which is said to be superior to it, and which has not the carunculated cere, nor the broad circle around the eye. Carrier pigeons are trained by being conveyed, when young, to short distances of a few miles from home and then let loose, the distance being gradually increased; and this training is said to render them much more

secure as messengers.

CA'RRIERS, a class of persons who, in various forms, by land and sea, undertake the carrying of goods, particularly articles of commerce. In all countries aspiring to commercial intercourse, the CARRYING TRADE, as it is called, has been less or more developed. The method of carrying in Arabia, Persia, and some other countries in the east has, till the present time, been chiefly by means of the camel, an animal of great value, on account of its strength, patience, and power of endurance.

Covered English Wagon.

horses, though, when roads were bad in old times, six horses were not unusual. The driver ordinarily rode on a pony alongside the vehicle; now he more frequently walks, carrying a long whip. The wagon has a hooped top with movable covering; and the hinder part has always been left vacant for the use of passengers, who are necessarily huddled together on straw. Travelling in the 'tail of the wagon' is now entirely gone, or nearly so; but with all its rude inconveniences, it was common till past the middle of the 18th c., and has afforded scope for some of the most grotesque descriptions of Fielding and Smollett. The tedious process of carriage by these wagons largely increased the prices of goods, and retarded the growth of commerce. The first modification in the carrying trade took place by means of inland navigation, to which reference has already been made. See CANAL The conveyance of cotton goods from Lancashire, of earthenware from Staffordshire, of metal goods from Birmingham, of salt from Cheshire, &c., became much more easy than before, owing to the large quantity which could be packed in each barge, and to the great amount of work done by each horse. The chief owners of the old wagons became, in time, the chief owners of the canal-boats; they paid rates or tolls to the canal companies. The celebrated English firm of Pickford & Co. has been for many generations, and still is, at the head of the goods carrying trade.

When railways were established, a great struggle ensued; the owners of the road-wagons and canalbarges had a formidable competition. They wisely accommodated themselves to a state of things which they could not prevent, and added the trade of railway goods C. to their former business. Three

systems were tried: 1. The company purchased road-wagons or vans, collected goods at the various towns, conveyed them by railway, and then distributed them at their several destinations. 2. The company confined their attention to the mere conveyance on their railway, leaving the collection and delivery to the ordinary carriers. 3. The company combined both systems, conveying on the railway everything that offered, and competing with the C. for the road-traffic. During the greater portion of the period in which the railway system has been in operation, the second of the above three plans has been adopted more extensively than either of the others. Taking as examples the greatest railway company and the greatest carrying firm, Messrs Pickford had warehouses or dépôts at all the principal towns where the London and North-western Railway had stations. The merchants and manufacturers were customers, not to the company, but to the firm, for the conveyance of merchandise. Messrs Pickford employed their own wagons and horses, clerks and porters, in collecting and delivering goods, and paid to the company so much per ton for the conveyance along the railway, the toll varying according to the nature of the goods and There were seldom any quarrels the distance run. or disputes under this system. The carrier was responsible to the customer from first to last for the safety of the merchandise; and he had a claim against the company for any injury while the merUnder the third chandise was on the railway. system, disputes were much more frequent. The companies were bound by law to carry goods for all persons at certain tolls; but when they became road C. as well, they competed with the ordinary C. in a way which the latter could barely contend against. The Great Western Railway has been unfavourably distinguished for jealousies and lawsuits between the company and the carriers.

The term CARRYING TRADE has latterly been At the present time, the tendency is for the applied more specially to all kinds of conveycompanies to take the responsibility of the whole ance of merchandise by sea, whether across the conveyance, the C. acting as their agents, if willing ocean or along the coast. In this broad view, it, in so to do, or else endeavouring to maintain a fair reality, involves the whole question of mercantile CARRIERS, LAW RESPECTING. competition. One of the greatest of the companies, marine, British and foreign. the Midland, have in this way become C. on The passengers, or goods, from one place to another, their own account, in order to obtain a share of Law, is one who offers to the public to convey the profit which accrues from road-traffic. goods-vans traversing the streets of the metropolis, for hire. The offer must be general-for a private and other great towns, are now more frequently person who contracts with another for carriage, incur the peculiar responsibilities which, in almost inscribed with the names of railway companies than is not a carrier in the legal sense, and does not with those of private carriers. every country, it has been found expedient to attach to the occupation of a public or common carrier. Carriage, in law, is thus a peculiar modification of the contract of hiring. In Rome, the responsibilities of carriers by water were regulated by a prætorian edict, which was applicable also to innkeepers and stablers (Nauta, Caupones, Stabularii, Dig.; lib. iv. t. 9); and from that edict the law of carriage in modern Europe has been mainly borrowed, sometimes directly, as in Scotland, sometimes indirectly, as in England. The ground on which the edict nary contract of hiring was, that the persons whom increased the responsibilities attaching to an ordiit enumerated were under peculiar temptations to consort, either personally or through their servants, with thieves and robbers, without the connection being such as to admit of proof; and that the public safety consequently required that they should be held responsible for whatever had been intrusted to them, till its safe delivery at the place responsibility in our own law extends not only to to which they had undertaken to convey it. This the acts of the carrier's servants, but also to those of the other guests in an inn, or the other passengers in a conveyance. The only exception to this liability

CARRION CROW-CARROT.

CARRON OIL. See BURNS.

at common law is in the case of loss arising from the act of God or of the Queen's enemies-i. e., from the fury of the elements, or from war. But CARRONA'DES are short iron guns, invented several statutory limitations have been introduced. by Mr Gascoigne, and named after the Carron Iron There is no liability for articles of unusual value Works in Scotland, where they were first made. or fragility, unless an increased hire has been paid, They are lighter than ordinary guns, and have a expressly as insurance, in consequence of the greater chamber for powder, like mortars. They were made risk (11 Geo. IV., and 1 Will. IV. c. 68, and 17 standard navy guns in 1779, to be carried on the and 18 Vict. c. 31); and the proof of value is laid Poop, forecastle, and upper works. Being manageon the person claiming compensation. But the last-able by a smaller number of hands than guns, and mentioned act, commonly called the Railway and being very useful in close engagements, they were Traffic Act of 1856, provides, on the other hand, that held in much favour during the great war: the the company shall be liable for neglect or default in seamen called them 'smashers.' A 68-pounder carthe carriage of goods, animals, &c.; notwithstanding ronade weighed not much more than half as much any notice or condition or declaration made by the as the 42-pounder gun in use in 1779. They company, for the purpose of limiting their liability. range from 68-pounders down to 6-pounders. The The decisions of the courts have also somewhat denominations, weights, lengths, calibre, &c., of limited the universal responsibility of the carrier. the chief varieties of carronade are noticed under For example, it has been decided that he is not liable, qua C. (and the same applies to an innkeeper), for money taken from the pockets of the traveller; but that, if the money has been taken from the pockets of clothes which have been stolen, or from trunks which have been broken into, his responsibility comes into operation.

Under C. are included carters and porters, who offer themselves for hire, to carry goods from one part of a city to another. Whether the same be the case with hackney-coachmen, is more doubtful; though, from the extent to which they are now employed in the transport of luggage, there seems no sound reason for an exemption in their case. Wharfingers and warehousemen are liable only under the special contracts into which they may have entered, or in accordance with mercantile usage. In England, it has been decided that lodging-house keepers are in a different position from carriers and innkeepers, on the ground that they do not profess to entertain all-comers, or to receive their goods. C. are liable to make good to the owners of goods intrusted to them all losses arising from accidental fire. This rule was introduced into Scotland by the Mercantile Law Amendment Act of 1856; but it has not been decided whether an exception would be made in the case of fire occasioned by lightning. It is probable, however, that the English rule, by which this occurrence is excepted as the act of God from the category of ordinary accidents, would be held to rule the construction of the general words of the 17th section of the Scottish statute.

CANNON.

Some C. are made shorter with a given bore. C. are but little used, except by the English and French. Though valuable at close quarters, they are no match for long guns at a distance; and therefore a ship armed only with C. would fare badly in a general action. In recent years, C. have to a considerable extent been replaced in the English navy by howitzers, long guns, and shell guns.

́CA'RROT (Daucus), a genus of plants of the natural order Umbellifera. They are mostly natives of the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The Common C. (D. Carota), is a biennial plant, common in Britain and most parts of Eu ope, also in the Caucasus; and is universally cultivated not only in Europe and the European colonies, but in China, Cochin China, &c., for the sake of its root. | The root of the wild plant is slender, woody, and of a very strong flavour; that of the cultivated variety is much thicker and more fleshy, much milder in its flavour and qualities, generally red, but sometimes orange or yellowish white. The subvarieties in cultivation are also distinguished by their form-some being longer and more tapering than others-by their size, and by the duration of their growth; the early kinds being also comparatively small, and almost exclusively cultivated in gardens for culinary use, whilst the larger and late kinds are often also grown in fields, for feeding cattle. The field cultivation of the C. is carried on to a much greater extent in some parts of but it is increasing in Britain. France, Germany, and Belgium, than in Britain; The C. appears to have been cultivated at an early period in Flanders and Germany, and to have been introduced into the gardens of England in the beginning CARRION FLOWERS, a name which, on of the 16th century. In the reign of Charles L, account of their smell resembling that of putrid ladies wore C. leaves as an ornament instead of meat, has been given to the flowers of many occasionally acknowledged by placing a root, or feathers; and the beauty of the leaves is still species of Stapelia. The genus Stapelia belongs to the natural order Asclepiadea, and is remarkable the upper portion of one, in water, that it may for the excessive development of the cellular tissue throw out young leaves to adorn apartments in of the stem and reduction of that of the leaves, winter. The C. prefers a light and rather sandy resulting in a general aspect like that of the Cactus soil, and often succeeds very well on a peat soil. family. The species are natives of the Cape of It is very liable to the attacks of the larva of the Good Hope. The flowers are often large, and not Crane Fly (q. v.), by which the greater part of a devoid of beauty, but the carrion stench is very crop is sometimes destroyed when the young roots strong. It is not yet known to what chemical are about the thickness of a quill; on which account, substance it is owing. in gardens where there is particular reason to appre hend danger from this enemy, it is the practice to make a number of successive sowings, some of which may probably escape. As an article of food, C. contains a large amount of what are called heat-producing compounds, with a small proportion of flesh-forming matter. It consists essentially of starch, sugar, and albumen, along with a volatile oil, which communicates a flavour to many dyspeptics

CA'RRION CROW. See CROW.-C. C., also called Black Vulture, is not in America, as in Britain, the name of a species of crow, but of one of the Vulture family. See VULTURE.

CA'RRON, a village in Stirlingshire, Scotland, on the right bank of the Carron Water, 3 miles east-north-east of Falkirk. It is celebrated for its ironworks, which are among the largest of the kind in Britain. The works were established in 1760; and are carried on by a company, who employ a great number of men. Pop. (1871) 1088.

CARROUSEL CARSTAIRS.

very unpleasant. The following is the composition time previously in Italy. There were brilliant of dried carrot:

CARSTENS-CART.

of the thumb-screw, but refused to confess anything agricultural and other purposes in Cumberland and that had not been previously revealed, and that adjoining northern counties. There, it differs only only on condition that what he said should not in a slight degree from the C. universally used in be used in evidence, either directly or indirectly, Scotland. The Scotch C. is an exceedingly conveagainst any other person. At this time, he had nient form of carriage for general merchandise, or secrets from Holland of the greatest importance for agricultural produce, and well adapted for being in his possession, which he carefully concealed, drawn on roads in a hilly country. A material although there can be no doubt that their revelation advantage consists in its weight, being about only would not only have saved him from torture, but half a ton, while its usual load is from a ton to have obtained for him great reward and honour. 22 cwt.; from which circumstance it is a particularly Britain, therefore, owes very much indeed to the handy vehicle for comparatively light loads, and so firmness of C. at this juncture. He returned to far is superior to the English wagon, which is best Holland about the beginning of 1685; and, acting adapted to carry huge loads of from two to three mainly on his advice, the Prince of Orange planned tons. In carrying hay, straw, or grain from the and carried out the invasion of 1688. He accom- harvest-field, Scotch farmers employ a peculiar kind panied the prince as chaplain, and after the settle- of C. without sides to admit of a bulky load; but ment of the crown, when the prince had been firmly they also, as occasion serves, use for a similar purestablished as William III., C. was instrumental pose an ordinary C., on which they place a movable in effecting a reconciliation between him and the frame, as is seen in the adjoining cut. All grain for Scottish Church, when the ill advice of other councillors had nearly led to an open rupture. From 1693 to the death of the king in 1702, he could not have had more influence in Scottish affairs if he had been prime-minister of the country; and his authority in church-matters was such, that he was popularly called 'Cardinal Carstairs.' He was elected Principal of the university of Edinburgh in 1704, and in this capacity used all his influence with government to obtain an increase of patronage for the Scottish colleges. In the same year, he was presented to the Church of Greyfriars, and was appointed Moderator of the General Assembly next succeeding, an office to which he was four times elected in the course of eleven years. He died August 1715, deeply regretted by the whole nation, and leaving a reputation for scholarship and sincere piety, as well as for unbounded charity and political sagacity rarely equalled.

CARSTENS, ASMUS JACOB, an eminent German artist, was born near Schleswig, May 10, 1754. In 1762 he went to Copenhagen, where, when first introduced to the Royal Gallery of Paintings and Casts from the Antique he was so excited that he shed tears of joy. After staying seven years in the Danish capital, where he produced his Baldur's Death,' and Eolus and Ulysses,' supporting himself chiefly by portrait-painting, he commenced a journey on foot to Rome, but was obliged to return for want of means after reaching Mantua. He resided in Lubeck for some time, but through the kindness of a wealthy amateur artist named Rodde, he contrived to reach Berlin, where his great composition, the Fall of the Angels' (with 200 figures), gained for him an appointment as professor in the academy, while his decoration of a saloon in the Dorville' Palace obtained for him an introduction to the king and a pension. He was now enabled to visit Rome, where he devoted himself to the study of the works of Michael Angelo and Raphael. His first work in Rome, a Visit of the Argonauts to the Centaur Chiron,' was distinguished by purity of style, beauty of forms, and fine distribution of light. His numer. ous subsequent drawings mostly represented scenes from the ancient classic poets, with subjects from Ossian, Dante, and Shakspeare. C. died May 26,

1798.

·

CART, a species of carriage with two wheels, in which respect it differs from the ordinary wagon that has four wheels. There are different kinds of carts, according to the nature of the goods or articles to be carried, and they also differ considerably in different countries. The C. is little seen in England, where the heavy and more capacious wagon takes its place. It is, however, used for

Scotch Cart, with movable frame.

market is carried in the one-horse C., and a driver takes charge of two carts. The following advantages of one-horse carts are well enumerated by Lord R. Seymour: A horse, when he acts singly, will do half as much more work as when he acts in conjunction with another; that is to say, that two horses will, separately, do as much work as three conjunctively. This arises, in the first place, from the single horse being so near the load he draws; and in the next place, from the point or line of draught being so much below his breast, it being usual to make the wheels of single-horse carts low. A horse harnessed singly has nothing but his load to contend with; whereas, when he draws in conjunction with another, he is generally embarrassed by some difference of rate, the horse behind or before him moving quicker or slower than himself; he is likewise frequently inconvenienced by the greater or less height of his neighbour: these considerations give a decided advantage to the single-horse cart. The very great ease with which a low C. is filled may be added; as a man may load it, with the help of a long-handled shovel or fork, by means of his hands only; whereas, in order to fill a higher C., not only the man's back, but his arms and whole person must be exerted.' To these just observations it need only be added, that in many parts of England there is a wasteful expenditure in horse-power, a pair of horses being often set to draw a clumsy wagon to market, containing a load which could with the greatest ease be drawn by one horse in a less ponderous machine.

Scotland, the load being usually piled high in a The one-horse C. is employed by carriers all over square form, and covered in with a woollen wrapper, in which state the C. is drawn 18 to 20 miles a day. See CARRIERS. In France and Germany, the carrier's C. is a more gigantic machine. Long in the body, very strong in construction, and poised on two high wheels with broad rims, this continental C. carries enormous loads, almost equal to what are seen in the large wagons of England. The ingenious manner in which the load is adjusted to rest exclusively on the wheels, and so relieve the single horse in the shafts, is matter of surprise to all strangers. All carts, whatsoever, in Great Britain, must bear the name and address of the