a part of dress made to cover the head, much in the figure thereof.

The use of caps and hats is referred to the year 1449, the first seen in these parts of the world being at the entry of Charles VII. into Rouen: from that time they began to take place of the hoods, or chaperoons, that had been used till then. When the cap was of velvet, they called it mortier; when of wool, simply bonnet. None but kings, princes, and knights, were allowed the use of the mortier. The cap was the head-dress of the clergy and graduates. Pasquier says, that it was anciently a part of the hood worn by the people of the robe; the skirts whereof being cut off as an encumbrance, left the round cap an easy commodious cover for the head; which round cap being afterwards assumed by the people, those of the gown changed it for a square one, first invented by a Frenchman, called Patrouillet: he adds, that the giving of the cap to the students in the universities, was to denote, that they had acquired full liberty, and were no longer subject to the rod of their superiors; in imitation of the ancient Romans, who gave a pileus, or cap, to their slaves, in the ceremony of making them free: whence the proverb, Vocare servos ad pileum. Hence, also, on medals, the cap is the symbol of Liberty, whom they represent holding a cap in her right hand, by the point.

The Romans were many ages without any regular covering for the head: when either the rain or sun was troublesome, the lappet of the gown was thrown over the head; and hence it is that all the ancient statues appear bareheaded, excepting sometimes a wreath, or the like. And the same usage obtained among the Greeks, where, at least during the heroic age, no caps were known. The sort of caps or covers of the head in use among the Romans, on divers occasions, were the pitra, pileus, cucullus, galerus, and pallidium; the differences between which are often confounded by ancient as well as modern writers.

The French clergy wear a shallow kind of cap, called calotte, which only covers the top of the head, made of leather, satin, worsted, or other stuff. The red cap is a mark of dignity, allowed only to those who are raised to the cardinalate. The secular clergy are distinguished by black leathern caps, the regulars by knit and worsted ones.

Churchmen, and the members of universities, students in law, physic, &c. as well as graduates, wear square caps. In most universities doctors are distinguished by peculiar caps, given them in assuming the doctorate. Wickliff calls the canons of his time bifurcati, from their caps. Pasquier observes, that, in his time, the caps worn by the churchmen, &c. were called square caps; though, in effect, they were round yellow caps.

The Chinese have not the use of the hat, like us; but wear a cap of a peculiar structure, which the laws of civility will not allow them to put off: it is different for the different seasons of the year: that used in summer is in form of a cone, ending at top in a point. It is made of a very beautiful kind of mat, much valued in that country, and lined with satin; to this is added, added, at top, a large lock of red silk, which falls all round as low as the bottom; so that, in walking, the silk fluctuating regularly on all sides, makes a graceful appearance: sometimes, instead of silk, they use a kind of bright red hair, the lustre whereof no weather effaces. In winter they wear a plush cap, bordered with martlet's or fox's skin: as to the rest, like those for the summer. These caps are frequently sold for eight or ten crowns; but they are so short, that the ears are exposed.

The cap is sometimes used as a mark of infamy; in Italy the Jews are distinguished by a yellow cap; at Lucca by an orange one. In France, those who had been bankrupts were obliged ever after to wear a green cap, to prevent people from being imposed on in any future commerce. By several arrrets in 1584, 1622, 1628, 1688, it was decreed, that if they were at any time found without their green cap, their protection should be null, and their creditors empowered to cast them into prison: but the sentence is not now executed.

Cap of Maintenance, one of the regalia, or ornaments of state, belonging to the kings of England, before whom it was carried at the coronation and other great solemnities. Caps of maintenance are also carried before the mayors of the several cities in England.

Cap and Button, are two small islands, lying in longitude 105° 48' 30" east; and in latitude, the former 5° 58' 30", the latter 5° 49' south. They are thus described by Sir George Staunton:

"At a little distance they might be mistaken for the remains of old castles, mouldering into heaps of ruins, with tall trees already growing upon the tops; but at a nearer view, they betrayed evident marks of a volcanic origin. Explosions from subterraneous fires, produce, for the most part, hills of a regular shape, and terminating in truncated cones; but when from a subaqueous volcano eruptions are thrown up above the surface of the sea, the materials, falling back into the water, are more irregularly dispersed, and generally leave the sides of the new creation naked and mishapen, as in the instance of Amsterdam, and of those smaller spots called, from some resemblance in shape, the Cap and Button.

"In the Cap were found two caverns, running horizontally into the side of the rock; and in these were a number of those birds nests so much prized by the Chinese epicures. They seemed to be composed of fine filaments cemented together by a transparent viscid matter, not unlike what is left by the foam of the sea upon stones alternately covered by the tide, or those gelatinous animal substances found floating on every coast. The nests adhere to each other, and to the sides of the cavern, mostly in rows, without any break or interruption. The birds that build these nests are small grey swallows, with bellies of a dirty white. They were flying about in considerable numbers; but they were so small and their flight so quick, that they escaped the shot fired at them. The same nests are said also to be found in deep caverns, at the foot of the highest mountains in the middle of Java, and at a distance from the sea, from which the birds, it is thought, derive no materials, either for their food or the construction of their nests; as it does not appear probable they should fly, in search of either, over the intermediate mountains, which are very high, or against the boisterous winds prevailing thereabouts. They feed on insects, which they find hovering over stagnated pools between the mountains, and for catching which their wide-opening beaks are particularly adapted. They prepare their nests from the best remnants of their food. Their greatest enemy is the kite, who often intercepts them in their passage to and from the caverns, which are generally surrounded with rocks of gray limestone or white marble. The nests are placed in horizontal rows at different depths, from 50 to 500 feet. The colour and value of the nests depend on the quantity and quality of the insects caught, and perhaps also on the situation where they are built. Their value is chiefly determined by the uniform fineness and delicacy of their texture; those that are white and transparent being most esteemed, and fetching often in China their weight in silver. These nests are a considerable object of traffic among the Javanese, and many are employed in it from their infancy. The birds having spent near two months in preparing their nests, lay each two eggs, which are hatched in about fifteen days. When the young birds become fledged, it is thought time to seize upon their nests, which is done regularly thrice a-year, and is effected by means of ladders of bamboo and reeds, by which the people descend into the caverns; but when it is very deep, rope ladders are preferred. This operation is attended with much danger; and several break their necks in the attempt. The inhabitants of the mountains generally employed in it begin always by sacrificing a buffalo; which custom is constantly observed by the Javanese on the eve of every extraordinary enterprise. They also pronounce some prayers, anoint themselves with sweet-scented oil, and smoke the entrance of the cavern with gum-benjamin. Near some of those caverns a tutelar goddess is worshipped, whose priest burns incense, and lays his protecting hands on every person preparing to descend into the cavern. A flambeau is carefully prepared at the same time, with a gum which exudes from a tree growing in the vicinity, and is not easily extinguished by fixed air or subterraneous vapours. The swallow, which builds these nests, is described as not having its tail feathers marked with white spots, which is a character attributed to it by Linnaeus; and it is possible that there are two species or varieties of the swallow, whose nests are alike valuable."

ship-building, a strong thick block of wood, used to confine two masts together, when one is erected at the head of the other in order to lengthen it. It is for this purpose furnished with two holes perpendicular to its length and breadth, and parallel to its thickness: one of these is square, and the other round: the former being solidly fixed upon the upper end of the lower mast, whilst the latter receives the mast employed to lengthen it, and secures it in this position.