Capri
ka'pre, or Goat Island, an island in the Bay of Naples. Its area is about ten square miles. The inhabitants number between 4,000 and 5,000. They are occupied chiefly in fishing and in raising olives and grapes. Capri wine is famous. In the migrating season immense flocks of quails light to feed and rest. They are taken in great numbers. Capri is noted chiefly for a number of remarkable grottoes or caves in the steep limestone coast. They are entered by boats. One is known as the blue grotto, another as the green, from the soft, delightful colors that prevail within. It is thought that the rays of the sun enter the sea and are decomposed, as in the case of the rainbow, and that only the blue or the green portion of the spectrum, as the case may be, is refracted at an angle requisite to enter the cave. The island is about nineteen miles from the city of Naples. It is a favorite resort of tourists and of artists. See Italy
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Capride
a family of ruminant mammals , of which the genus Capra, or goat, is the type.
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Caprification
a process of fertilizing or accelerating the production of fruit, practiced in the Levant, particularly with the wild fig. It consists in suspending on the cultivated fig branches of the wild fig, which bring with them a small insect which penetrates the female flowers, carrying the pollen of the male flower on its body, or punctures the fruit in order to lay its eggs, which hastens the ripening, and may be the only effect. The Egyptians pretend to obtain the same result by puncturing the eye of the fruit with a needle that had been dipped in oil.
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Caprivi
GEORG LEO, GRAF VON (kä -prē'vē), a German soldier and statesman; born in Berlin, Feb. 24, 1831; entered the army in 1849; fought in the campaigns of 1864 and 1866, and in the Franco-German war of 1870. In 1883- 1888 he was at the head of the Admiralty. On the fall of Bismarck, in 1890, he became Imperial Chancellor and Prussian Prime Minister. His principal measures were the army bills of 1892 and 1893, and the commercial treaty with Russia in 1894, in which year he resigned. He died at Skyren, Feb. 6, 1899.
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Capsicum
a genus of plants of the order Solanaceæ, consisting of annual or biennial plants, bearing membranous pods containing several seeds, noted for their hot, pungent qualities. C. annuum, a native of South America, furnishes fruits known as chillies. These, as well as the fruits of C. frutescens and other species, are used to form cayenne pepper. this purpose the ripe fruits are in the sun or in an ground to powder, which is mixed with a oven, and then large quantity of wheat flour. The mixed powder is then turned into cakes with leaven; these are baked till they become as hard as biscuit, and are then ground and sifted. C. fructus is the dried ripe fruit of C. fastigiatum, imported from Zanzibar. It is a small, oblong, scarlet, membranous pod, divided internally into two or three cells containing numerous flat, white, reniform seeds. It has no odor; its taste is hot and acrid. Capsicum fruits are used medicinally, in powder or as a tincture, externally, or as a gargle in cases of malignant sore throat, and internally as a stimulant in cases of impaired digestion .
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Capstan
a strong, massive appaand shaped like a truncated cone, and ratus of wood or iron made to revolve, having the upper part provided with holes for the reception of bars or levers thus raise a heavy weight by winding a with which to cause it to revolve, and rope round it. It is especially used on shipboard for weighing the a stans are single or double, according as the anchor. Capthey have one or two barrels upon the same spindle. The double capstan is revolved by two sets of men on two decks. They are known as "fore" or "aft" capstans, according to position. The fore capstan stands between the heel of the bowsprit and the foremast; the aft capstan abaft the mainmast. The drum capstan, for weighing heavy anchors, was invented by Sir Samuel Morland about 1661. has authority over others, especially:
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Capua
a city of ancient Italy. It was situated in the Plain of Campania, seventeen miles north from Naples. It was founded by the Etruscans, came under Samnite rule about 423 B. C., and was taken over by the Romans in 340 B. C. Capua was second only to Rome in size and exceeded that city in wealth and luxury. Capua opened its gates to Hannibal, who wintered here 216-15 B. C. The Romans retook the city and punished the inhabitants for disloyalty. Capua was headquarters for gladiatorial sports. The remains of an amphitheater rival those of the Roman Colosseum. Capua was sacked by Genseric 456 A. D., and was destroyed by the Saracens in 840. The site is now occupied by a small Italian village. See Hannibal; Campania ; Gladiator
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Capuchin
a branch of the monastic order of St. Francis. The order was a seceding body of men who desired to reform the Franciscans by a return to greater austerity of life. By a bull of Pope Clement VII, Capuchins obtained leave to wear a pointed hood or capuccio, from which comes the name Capuchins. "Consistently with the austerity of their professions, their churches were unadorned, and their convents built in the simplest style. They became very serviceable to the Church, and their fearlessness and assiduity in waiting upon the sick during the plague, which ravaged the whole of Italy, made them extremely popular." In the United States they have houses in New York , Milwaukee, and elsewhere.
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Capuchins
a branch of the Franciscan order of monks, so called from their peculiar capuche or cowl-a pointed hood attached to the ordinary Franciscan coat, and said to have been worn by St. Francis himself. This branch was founded by Matthew de Baschi, an Italian, but with him may be named the famous Lewis de Fossembrun. The Capuchins sought to restore the original rigor of the institutes of St. Francis, which Pope Innocent IV. had relaxed by granting the right to possess property to the members of the Franciscan order. In 1525 they received the solemn sanction of Pope Clement VII. Because of their severe austerity, and especially for the innovation of the capuche, they were much persecuted by the other Franciscans. Bernard Ochino-their first Vicar- General-became a Protestant, as, afterward, did also their third. Eventually, however, they spread in great numbers over Italy, Germany, France, and Spain. In the 17th century they showed much zeal in prosecuting missions to Africa. There are two provinces in the United States, one centered at Detroit, Mich., and the other at Pittsburgh, Pa.
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