Erie, Iroquoian-speaking North American Indians who inhabited most of what is now northern Ohio, parts of northwestern Pennsylvania, and western New York; they were often referred to as the Cat Nation. Little is known of their social or political organization, but early Jesuit accounts record that

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, play by Tennessee Williams, published and produced in 1955. It won a Pulitzer Prize. The play exposes the emotional lies governing relationships in the family of a wealthy Southern planter of humble origins. The patriarch, Big Daddy, is about to celebrate his 65th birthday.

Big Daddy: …Burl Ives in the 1958 film adaptation of the play.

Cat People, American low-budget horror film, released in 1942, that was noted for its masterful use of shadows and low lighting to create suspense. The movie was a major box-office hit and later garnered a cult following. Cat People opens with Serbian-born fashion designer Irena Dubrovna (played by

bunyavirus: Cat Que virus was first isolated in 2004 from mosquitoes and children with viral encephalitis in northern Vietnam. It was later found circulating in domestic pigs in China. Cat Que virus is transmitted primarily by Culex mosquitoes, with pigs serving as a natural host. In…

computed tomography (CT), diagnostic imaging method using a low-dose beam of X-rays that crosses the body in a single plane at many different angles. CT was conceived by William Oldendorf and developed independently by Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield and Allan MacLeod Cormack, who shared a 1979 Nobel

computed tomography (CT), diagnostic imaging method using a low-dose beam of X-rays that crosses the body in a single plane at many different angles. CT was conceived by William Oldendorf and developed independently by Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield and Allan MacLeod Cormack, who shared a 1979 Nobel

cat scratch disease, bacterial infection in human beings caused by Bartonella henselae, which is transmitted by a cat bite or scratch. Transmission of the bacterium from cat to cat is thought to be by the cat flea. The clinical syndrome in the infected person is usually a self-limiting enlargement

cat shark, any of more than 150 species of small mottled sharks (order Carcharhiniformes). Most are less than 90 cm (3 feet) long, and many have bold body markings. They have slender bodies and eyes that are elongate, giving them a catlike appearance. Cat sharks prey on invertebrates and small

mangrove snake, (genus Boiga), any of about 30 species (family Colubridae) of weakly venomous, rear-fanged snakes, ranging from South Asia to Australia. They are at home on the ground and in trees; many catch birds at night. Because they have elliptical pupils and may be green-eyed, they are

cat snake, any of several groups of arboreal or semiarboreal rear-fanged snakes in the family Colubridae with eyes having vertically elliptical pupils similar to those found in felines. Cat snakes are nocturnal hunters that become active at twilight. By day their pupils are contracted to narrow

ketamine, general anesthetic agent related structurally to the hallucinogen phencyclidine (PCP). Ketamine was first synthesized in 1962 at Parke Davis Laboratories by American scientist Calvin Stevens, who was searching for a new anesthetic to replace PCP, which was not suitable for use in humans

electronics: The vacuum tube era: …devices such as the “cat whisker” detector, which was composed of a fine wire (the whisker) in delicate contact with the surface of a natural crystal of lead sulfide (galena) or some other semiconductor material. These devices were undependable, lacked sufficient sensitivity, and required constant adjustment of the whisker-to-crystal…

Cat’s Cradle, science-fiction novel by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., published in 1963. Notable for its black humour, it is considered one of the author’s major early works. The novel features two notable inventions: Bokononism, a religion of lies “that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy,” and

Margaret Atwood: Novels: of Quebec; Lady Oracle (1976); Cat’s Eye (1988); The Robber Bride (1993; television film 2007); and Alias Grace (1996), a fictionalized account of a real-life Canadian girl who was convicted of two murders in a sensationalist 1843 trial. A TV miniseries based on the latter work aired in 2017, written…

donkey orchid: Other well-known species are cat’s face (D. filifolia) and nanny-goat orchid (D. laevis).

Peter Bogdanovich: The 1980s and beyond: However, in 2001 he made The Cat’s Meow, an adaptation of Steven Peros’s play about the mysterious death of filmmaker Thomas H. Ince during his birthday celebration aboard William Randolph Hearst’s yacht in 1924. The drama imagines a romance between Charlie Chaplin (Eddie Izzard) and Marion Davies (Kirsten Dunst). In…

Michael Ondaatje: Prose works: The Cat’s Table (2011) chronicles a voyage from Ceylon to England in the 1950s from the perspective of an 11-year-old boy and his two comrades. Its title references the table farthest from the captain’s table on a cruise ship. In Warlight (2018) a teenage boy…

electronics: The vacuum tube era: …devices such as the “cat whisker” detector, which was composed of a fine wire (the whisker) in delicate contact with the surface of a natural crystal of lead sulfide (galena) or some other semiconductor material. These devices were undependable, lacked sufficient sensitivity, and required constant adjustment of the whisker-to-crystal…

ctenophore: common names—sea walnuts, sea gooseberries, cat’s-eyes.

cat’s-eye, any of several gemstones that, when cut en cabochon (in convex form, highly polished), display a luminous band reminiscent of the eye of a cat; this particular quality is termed chatoyancy. Precious cat’s-eye, the rarest and most highly prized, is a greenish chatoyant variety of

knot: …to a hook is the cat’s-paw. It is made by twisting two parts of a rope in opposite directions, forming two side-by-side eyes through which the base of the hook is passed so that a sling hangs from the hook. The knot thus formed can be used to lift loads…

cat, (Felis catus), domesticated member (felid) of the family Felidae. The family is generally divided between cats from the subfamily Pantherinae, which roar (including lions, tigers, and leopards), and cats from the subfamily Felinae, which purr instead (including cougars, bobcats, and domestic

Catwoman, comic character, a wily and agile professional thief and sometime love interest of superhero Batman. Clad in a skintight bodysuit and stylized mask and carrying a whip, Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman, has frequently crossed and recrossed the line between villain and antiheroine. In

cat snake: Often classified separately, cat-eyed snakes (Leptodeira) of the New World tropics are superficially similar to Old World cat snakes. Ten species of cat-eyed snakes occur in dry habitats from Mexico to Argentina. The most common species is the banded cat-eyed snake (L. annulata), which is found over the…

mangrove snake, (genus Boiga), any of about 30 species (family Colubridae) of weakly venomous, rear-fanged snakes, ranging from South Asia to Australia. They are at home on the ground and in trees; many catch birds at night. Because they have elliptical pupils and may be green-eyed, they are

Sing Sing: Frequently used was the cat-o’-nine-tails, a cruel whipping contraption whose lashes were often tipped with metal or barbs; its use was finally abolished by the New York State legislature in 1848. In addition, while Lynds was warden, inmates were expected to refrain from making noise, which included talking. With…

St. George Jackson Mivart: In 1881 he published The Cat: An Introduction to the Study of Backboned Animals, which is considered to rank with Thomas Henry Huxley’s Crayfish for its accuracy, detail, and clarity.

catabolism, the sequences of enzyme-catalyzed reactions by which relatively large molecules in living cells are broken down, or degraded. Part of the chemical energy released during catabolic processes is conserved in the form of energy-rich compounds (e.g., adenosine triphosphate [ATP]). Energy is

catabolism, the sequences of enzyme-catalyzed reactions by which relatively large molecules in living cells are broken down, or degraded. Part of the chemical energy released during catabolic processes is conserved in the form of energy-rich compounds (e.g., adenosine triphosphate [ATP]). Energy is

Kiowa: …accompanied on the migration by Kiowa Apache, a small southern Apache band that became closely associated with the Kiowa. Guided by the Crow, the Kiowa learned the technologies and customs of the Plains Indians and eventually formed a lasting peace with the Comanche, Arapaho, and Southern Cheyenne. The name Kiowa…

metamorphism: Dynamic metamorphism, or cataclasis, results mainly from mechanical deformation with little long-term temperature change. Textures produced by such adjustments range from breccias composed of angular, shattered rock fragments to very fine-grained, granulated or powdered rocks with obvious foliation and lineation. Large, pre-existing mineral grains may…

cataclastite, any rock produced by dynamic metamorphism during which faulting, granulation, and flowage may occur in previously crystalline parent rocks. When stress exceeds breaking strength, a rock yields by rupture. The rock may break as a unit, or individual minerals may be selectively

star: Explosive variables: The evolution of a member of a close double-star system can be markedly affected by the presence of its companion. As the stars age, the more massive one swells up more quickly as it moves away from the main sequence. It becomes so…

disaster, any natural or human-generated calamitous event that produces great loss of human life or destruction of the natural environment, private property, or public infrastructure. A disaster may be relatively sudden, such as an earthquake or an oil spill, or it may unfold over a longer period,

catacomb, subterranean cemetery composed of galleries or passages with side recesses for tombs. The term, of unknown origin, seems to have been applied first to the subterranean cemetery under the Basilica of San Sebastiano (located on the Appian Way near Rome), which was reputed to have been the

Cimmerian: …known to archaeologists as the “Catacomb” culture. This culture was ousted from southern Russia by the “Srubna” culture advancing from beyond the Volga just as the Cimmerians were ousted by the invading Scythians, but that upheaval took place in the second half of the 2nd millennium bc, and a gap…

catacomb, subterranean cemetery composed of galleries or passages with side recesses for tombs. The term, of unknown origin, seems to have been applied first to the subterranean cemetery under the Basilica of San Sebastiano (located on the Appian Way near Rome), which was reputed to have been the

catacomb, subterranean cemetery composed of galleries or passages with side recesses for tombs. The term, of unknown origin, seems to have been applied first to the subterranean cemetery under the Basilica of San Sebastiano (located on the Appian Way near Rome), which was reputed to have been the

technology of photography: Mirror lenses: Images can also be formed by light reflected from curved mirrors. This method, long used in astronomical telescopes, is applied to long-focus lens systems of short overall length by folding the light path back onto itself. A mirror lens or catadioptric system has…

telescope: The Schmidt telescope: …in Bergedorf, Germany, designed a catadioptric telescope that satisfied the requirement of photographing larger celestial areas. A catadioptric telescope design incorporates the best features of both the refractor and the reflector—i.e., it has both reflective and refractive optics. The Schmidt telescope has a spherically shaped primary mirror. Since parallel light…

migration: Catadromous fish: Catadromous fish spend most of their lives in fresh water, then migrate to the sea to breed. This type is exemplified by eels of the genus Anguilla, numbering 16 species, the best-known of which are the North American eel (A. rostrata) and the…

catafalque, ornate, often theatrical, usually movable funereal structure mounted on a stage to support a coffin for a lying-in-state. It is used for royalty and personages of distinction and is normally set up in a historic public hall, such as Westminster Hall, London, and the Capitol Rotunda in

Sahara desert ant: …of ant in the genus Cataglyphis that dwell in the Sahara, particularly C. fortis and C. bicolor. The navigational capabilities of these ants have been the subject of numerous scientific investigations.

Sahara desert ant: fortis and C. bicolor. The navigational capabilities of these ants have been the subject of numerous scientific investigations.

Sahara desert ant: …dwell in the Sahara, particularly C. fortis and C. bicolor. The navigational capabilities of these ants have been the subject of numerous scientific investigations.

peccary: The Chacoan peccary (Catagonus wagneri) is the largest, weighing over 40 kg. It is also the least common, living only in the dry Chacoan region of South America (see Gran Chaco). About 5,000 are estimated to remain and were thought to be extinct by the scientific…

Çatalhüyük, major Neolithic site in the Middle East, located near Konya in south-central Turkey. Excavations (1961–65) by the British archaeologist James Mellaart have shown that Anatolia in Neolithic times was the centre of an advanced culture. The earliest building period at Çatalhüyük is

Catalan language, Romance language spoken in eastern and northeastern Spain—chiefly in Catalonia and Valencia—and in the Balearic Islands. It is also spoken in the Roussillon region of France, in Andorra (where it is the official language), and in the city of Alghero, Sardinia, Italy. Catalan is

Minorca, island of the Balearic Islands provincia (province) and comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), Spain. It is the second largest of the Balearic Islands and lies in the western Mediterranean Sea. Most of the island’s area of 258 square miles (668 square km) is dry, monotonous tableland

Pyrenees: People and economy: …of peoples, including the Andorrans, Catalans, Béarnais, and Basques. Each speaks its own dialect or language, and each desires to maintain and even augment its own autonomy while at the same time acknowledging a general unity among Pyrenean peoples. Of these groups, only the Andorrans have anything approaching a sovereign…

Sahara: Study and exploration: Abraham Cresque’s Catalan Atlas, published for Charles V of France in about 1375, renewed European interest in the desert. The atlas contained information based upon the knowledge of Jewish traders active in the Sahara. Its publication was followed by a period of intense Portuguese, Venetian, Genoese, and…

Michael IX Palaeologus: …Byzantium employed as mercenaries the Catalan Company, led by Roger de Flor, which soon began attacking and robbing Byzantines and Turks alike. Hoping to get rid of them, Michael arranged the murder of Roger de Flor in the imperial palace in April 1305. The Catalans then rebelled and ravaged the…

Cortes, a representative assembly, or parliament, of the medieval Iberian kingdoms and, in modern times, the national legislature of Spain and of Portugal. The Cortes developed in the Middle Ages when elected representatives of the free municipalities acquired the right to take part in the

Catalan forge, medieval Spanish forge that yielded malleable iron of excellent quality. A mixture of iron ore and charcoal was heated intensely for several hours in a forge, forming a spongy mass of iron permeated by slag. At the correct time, the glowing ball of iron was withdrawn from the forge

Catalan language, Romance language spoken in eastern and northeastern Spain—chiefly in Catalonia and Valencia—and in the Balearic Islands. It is also spoken in the Roussillon region of France, in Andorra (where it is the official language), and in the city of Alghero, Sardinia, Italy. Catalan is

Catalan literature, the body of literature written in the Catalan language, a Romance language spoken primarily in the Spanish autonomous regions of Catalonia, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands. Catalan literature has its roots in the Occitan language and the poetic forms cultivated by the

Francesc Macià: …(April 1931), Macià proclaimed the Catalan Republic, although under pressure from Republicans and socialists he quickly withdrew it in return for a promise that the Republican government would grant home rule. One year later (September 9, 1932) the statute of Catalonian autonomy was promulgated.

Alfredo Catalani was an Italian composer of the popular opera La Wally (1892) and several other works that earned him a place among the most significant creative talents to emerge in Italian opera during the latter half of the 19th century. Catalani’s openness to international influences,

Catalonia: Geography: …Mediterranean shoreline, and the low-lying Catalanides range separates the coastal plain from the Ebro river basin. The Catalanides have historically separated the industrial towns of the coast from the predominantly agricultural settlements of the hinterlands. North of the Catalanides is a high tableland that comprises most of Lleida province. The…

Catalão, city, southeastern Goiás estado (state), south-central Brazil. Situated in rolling uplands near the Paranaíba River, Catalão is a small commercial and manufacturing centre. Cattle and hogs raised in the region supply the city’s tanneries and meat-processing plants, which produce xarque

catalase, an enzyme that brings about (catalyzes) the reaction by which hydrogen peroxide is decomposed to water and oxygen. Found extensively in organisms that live in the presence of oxygen, catalase prevents the accumulation of and protects cellular organelles and tissues from damage by

Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, (ad 451), battle fought between the Huns under Attila and a mixed Roman and Visigoth force under Aetius and Theodoric I; it checked the Hunnic advance in Europe. The exact location of the encounter is in dispute, with opinion divided between Châlons and Troyes,

catalexis and acatalexis, in prosody, an omission or incompleteness in the last foot of a line or other unit in metrical verse and, conversely, the metrical completeness of such a

Çatalhüyük, major Neolithic site in the Middle East, located near Konya in south-central Turkey. Excavations (1961–65) by the British archaeologist James Mellaart have shown that Anatolia in Neolithic times was the centre of an advanced culture. The earliest building period at Çatalhüyük is

Henrik Ibsen: First plays and directing: This work, Catilina (1850; Catiline), grew out of the Latin texts Ibsen had to study for his university examinations. Though not a very good play, it showed a natural bent for the theatre and embodied themes—the rebellious hero, his destructive mistress—that would preoccupy Ibsen as long as he lived.…

Ceanothus: arboreus, called Catalina, or felt-leaf, ceanothus, an evergreen tree occurring on the islands off the coast of California, has leaves with a dark green upper surface and a dense white pubescence beneath. The tree, 5–8 m high, bears fragrant blue flowers in the early spring.

Santa Catalina Island, one of the Channel Islands, 22 miles (35 km) off the Pacific coast of California, U.S. The largest of the Santa Catalina group of the Channel Islands, it is 22 miles long and 8 miles (13 km) across at its greatest width and has an area of 74 square miles (192 square km). It

mountain mahogany: Common species: One species, the rare Catalina mahogany (C. traskiae), consists of only a single population found on Santa Catalina Island off the coast of southern California.

mail-order business, method of merchandising in which the seller’s offer is made through mass mailing of a circular or catalog or through an advertisement placed in a newspaper or magazine and in which the buyer places an order by mail. Delivery of the goods may be made by freight, express, or

library: Catalog standardization: …joint British and American effort, Catalog Rules: Author and Title Entries, first published in 1908 and revised in 1967. A further revision was published in 1978 as Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, second edition; it is commonly referred to as AACR2.

catalog verse, verse that presents a list of people, objects, or abstract qualities. Such verse exists in almost all literatures and is of ancient origin. The genealogical lists in the Bible and the lists of heroes in epics such as Homer’s Iliad are types of catalog verse, as are more modern poems

Abhdisho bar Berikha: …also wrote the metrically structured Catalogue (1316), which is not only a list of his own works but also the best reference known for the writings of Nestorian Syrian and Greek churchmen-theologians and a valuable source on Syrian literary life.

Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy: Coomaraswamy’s definitive Catalogue of the Indian Collections in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston was published in five volumes during 1923–30; the History of Indian and Indonesian Art (1927) became the standard text in the field. The Transformation of Nature in Art (1934) and Figures of Speech…

Frank Hall Knowlton: …of a valuable reference book, A Catalogue of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Plants of North America (1919). The same year, he published a paper, “Evolution of Geologic Climates,” that summarized his conclusions about the Earth’s climate before the Pleistocene Epoch (i.e., prior to 2.6 million years ago). Although the work…

Hesiod: Spurious works. of Hesiod: …numerous extant fragments of the Catalogues of Women, which deals primarily with women who through union with gods become mothers of heroes and ancestresses of noble families. Papyruses deciphered since the 1890s, and especially in the 1950s and ’60s, have added much to knowledge of its content and have made…

Johann Jakob Dillenius: His Catalogus Plantarum circa Gissam sponte nascentium (1718; “Catalog of Plants Originating Naturally Around Giessen”) treated 980 species of higher plants, 200 mosses and related forms, and 160 fungi found near Giessen, where he attended the university. In August 1721 he went to England, where in…

Catalonia, comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) and historic region of Spain, encompassing the northeastern provincias (provinces) of Girona, Barcelona, Tarragona, and Lleida. The autonomous community of Catalonia occupies a triangular area in the northeastern corner of Spain. It is bordered

National Art Museum of Catalonia, museum in the National Palace (Palau Nacional) in Barcelona that incorporates into one collection what was once the Catalonia Museum of Art (Museu d’Art de Catalunya, founded 1934; noted for its collection of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque art) and

catalpa, (genus Catalpa), genus of eight species of trees (family Bignoniaceae) native to eastern Asia, eastern North America, and the West Indies. The common, or southern, catalpa (C. bignonioides), which yields a durable timber, is one of the most widely planted ornamental species. Catalpas have

catalpa, (genus Catalpa), genus of eight species of trees (family Bignoniaceae) native to eastern Asia, eastern North America, and the West Indies. The common, or southern, catalpa (C. bignonioides), which yields a durable timber, is one of the most widely planted ornamental species. Catalpas have

catalpa: …common, or southern, catalpa (C. bignonioides), which yields a durable timber, is one of the most widely planted ornamental species.

Bignoniaceae, the trumpet creeper or catalpa family of the mint order of flowering plants (Lamiales). It contains about 110 genera and more than 800 species of trees, shrubs, and, most commonly, vines, chiefly of tropical America, tropical Africa, and the Indo-Malayan region. They form an important

bigeye: The glasseye snapper (P. cruentatus), also called the catalufa, about 30 cm long, is found in both the Atlantic and Pacific. The popeye catalufa (Pristigenys serrula) is a Pacific ocean species.

Catalonia, comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) and historic region of Spain, encompassing the northeastern provincias (provinces) of Girona, Barcelona, Tarragona, and Lleida. The autonomous community of Catalonia occupies a triangular area in the northeastern corner of Spain. It is bordered

Catalonia, comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) and historic region of Spain, encompassing the northeastern provincias (provinces) of Girona, Barcelona, Tarragona, and Lleida. The autonomous community of Catalonia occupies a triangular area in the northeastern corner of Spain. It is bordered

National Art Museum of Catalonia, museum in the National Palace (Palau Nacional) in Barcelona that incorporates into one collection what was once the Catalonia Museum of Art (Museu d’Art de Catalunya, founded 1934; noted for its collection of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque art) and

catalysis, in chemistry, the modification of the rate of a chemical reaction, usually an acceleration, by addition of a substance not consumed during the reaction. The rates of chemical reactions—that is, the velocities at which they occur—depend upon a number of factors, including the chemical

catalyst, in chemistry, any substance that increases the rate of a reaction without itself being consumed. Enzymes are naturally occurring catalysts responsible for many essential biochemical reactions. Most solid catalysts are metals or the oxides, sulfides, and halides of metallic elements and of

catalyst poison, substance that reduces the effectiveness of a catalyst in a chemical reaction. In theory, because catalysts are not consumed in chemical reactions, they can be used repeatedly over an indefinite period of time. In practice, however, poisons, which come from the reacting substances

combustion: History of the study of combustion: …various gases; he also discovered catalytic combustion—the oxidation of combustibles on a catalytic surface accompanied by the release of heat but without flame.

catalytic converter, in automobiles, a component of emission control systems used to reduce the discharge of noxious and polluting gases from the internal-combustion engine. The catalytic converter consists of an insulated chamber containing a honeycomb structure or pellets coated with catalyst

petroleum refining: Catalytic cracking: The use of thermal cracking units to convert gas oils into naphtha dates from before 1920. These units produced small quantities of unstable naphthas and large amounts of by-product coke. While they succeeded in providing a small increase in gasoline yields, it was…

hydrocarbon: Source and synthesis: …possible processes, known generally as catalytic reforming, in which alkanes are converted to arenes by a combination of isomerization and dehydrogenation events.

catamaran, twin-hulled sailing and powered boat developed for sport and recreation in the second half of the 20th century. Its design is based on a raft of two logs bridged by planks that had earlier been used by peoples in the Indonesian archipelago and throughout Polynesia and Micronesia. Early

Catamarca, provincia (province), northwestern Argentina, separated from Chile by the Andes Mountains. The province is generally mountainous with intermontane tablelands and valleys (some fertile, others completely arid). The sandy desert on the west side of the Aconquija Mountains is referred to as

Catamarca, city, capital of Catamarca provincia (province), northwestern Argentina. It is located on the Río del Valle de Catamarca, a river between the two south-pointing spurs of the Andean peaks of Ambato and Ancasti. Originally named Londres, it was founded by the explorer Juan Pérez de Zurita

Ganymede, in Greek legend, the son of Tros (or Laomedon), king of Troy. Because of his unusual beauty, he was carried off either by the gods or by Zeus, disguised as an eagle, or, according to a Cretan account, by Minos, to serve as cupbearer. In compensation, Zeus gave Ganymede’s father a stud of

puma, (Puma concolor), large brownish New World cat comparable in size to the jaguar—the only other large cat of the Western Hemisphere. The puma, a member of the family Felidae, has the widest distribution of any New World mammal, with a range extending from southeastern Alaska to southern

Catania, city, eastern Sicily, Italy, in the broad plain of Catania on the Ionian seacoast, south of Mount Etna. The city was founded in 729 bce by Chalcidians (settlers from Chalcis in the Greek island of Euboea) from Naxos, 50 miles (80 km) north. It acquired importance in the 5th century bce