Carol
a song of praise sung at Christmas-tide. It originally meant a song accompanied with dancing, in which sense it is frequently used by the old poets. It appears to have been danced by many performers, by taking hands, forming a ring, and singing as they went round. Bishop Taylor says that the oldest carol was that sung by the heavenly host when the birth of the Saviour was announced to the shepherds on the plains of Bethlehem. It is probable that the practice of singing carols at Christmas-tide arose in imitation of this, as the majority of the carols dethe title of Noels, nowells, or novelles, applied to carols, would seem to bear out this idea. Carol singing is of great antiquity among Christian communities, as the carol by Aurelius Prudentius, of the 4th century, will show.
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Carolingians
or Carlovingians, a royal house of Europe. The name is derived from the Latin word Carolus, or Charles, and may be regarded as based on Charles Martel or on his grandson, Carolus Magnus, better known as Charlemagne. There were several branches. Carolingians ruled in France 752-987; in Italy, 774-961; and in Germany, 752-911. Charlemagne was the greatest of the family. Louis, "the Child," was the last of the German Carolingians. Louis V was the last of the family to sit on the throne of France.
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Carotid
the name of an artery on each side of the neck. The common carotids are two considerable arteries that ascend on the fore part of the cervical vertebra to the head to supply it with blood. The right common carotid is given off from the arteria innominata; the left arises from the arch of the aorta.
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Carpathians
kar-pa'thi-ans, a mountain range of Europe. The chain encircles the plains of Hungary for about 800 miles and forms a natural boundary on the northwest. The range is lower than that of the Alps, but the plants and animals are the same for corresponding altitudes. Vineyards and fields are succeeded by forests. The higher part of the ranges is above the limit of vegetation. Salt deposits of great thickness and mines of gold, silver, copper, and iron are found.
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Carpel
a leaf forming the pistil. Several carpels may enter into the composition of one pistil.
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Carpentaria
GULF OF, a large gulf on the N. coast of Australia, having Cape York Peninsula, the N. extrem- See DURAN, ity of Queensland, on the E., and Arnhem Land on the W. FRANCIS CARPENTER, BICK- NELL, an American painter, born in Homer, N. Y., Aug. 6, 1830. He studied with Sanford Thayer at Syracuse, N. Y. (1844), and in 1852 became an associate of the National Academy. The best known of his works is the "Emancipation Proclamation" (1864), in the capitol at Washington. While executing the lastnamed painting he was closely associated with President Lincoln, and his observations during this period are embodied in his book entitled "Six Months in the White House with Abraham Lincoln." He died in New York City, May 23, 1900.
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Carpenter
a worker in timber. Originally the term was connected with the making of carriages, but is now applied to one who works at the construction of wooden buildings, as houses, ships, bridges, and inside woodwork. The occupation is one that requires a true eye and hand, combined with no small degree of intelligence. Before the day of the sawmill the carpenter was obliged, of course, to obtain his own lumber from trees. People still living can remember a time when a carpenter planed his own lumber for flooring, made his own doors, casings, and even window sashes. With the advent of planing mills, sash and door factories, and machine-made moldings, the house carpenter is relieved of all this work, but it can hardly be said that woodwork requires any less skill. There are about 600,000 carpenters and joiners in the United States , with an average income of about $600 per year.
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Carpentry
the art of combining pieces of timber to support a weight or sustain pressure. The work of the carpenter is intended to give stability to a structure, that of the joiner is applied to finishing and decoration.
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Carpet-Bagger
a needy or other political adventurer who goes about the ntry pandering to the prejudices of country the ignorant with the view of getting into place or power, so called because regarded as having no more property than might fill a carpet-bag. Originally applied to needy adventurers of the Northern States, who tried in this way to gain the votes of the negroes of the Southern States after the close of the Civil War. CARPET SWEEPER. See VACUUM CLEANER.
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Carpet-Baggers
a term of reproach applied by the people of the Southern States to political adventurers from the North. At the close of the Civil War a swarm of Northern men, often without principle, and usually without property interests, located in the Southern States with a view to use the negro vote to secure office. These unscrupulous, moneyless officeholders were not inappropriately dubbed "carpet-baggers." Consult Thomas Nelson Page's Red Rock, a recent novel, for a Southern view of the case.
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Carpocrates
a native of Alexandria, who in the 2d century revived several Gnostic errors. He rejected the Old Testament and the gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke; denied the resurrection of the dead, and advocated the most licentious mode of life.
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Carpocratians
A sect of Gnostics founded by Carpocrites of Alexandria. It taught that Christ derived the mysteries of his religion from the Temple of Isis in Egypt, where he had studied for six years, and that he taught them to his apostles, who transmitted them to Carpocrites. This body used theurgic incantations, and had grips, signs and words, symbols and degrees. It is believed to have endured for some centuries. (See Gnostics.)
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Carpus
the name applied by anatomists to the wrist, which is made up of eight little bones, of different figures and thickness, placed in two ranks, four in each rank. They are strongly tied together by the ligaments which come from the radius, and by the annulary ligament.
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