Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/439

LEFT CAUCASIAN RACE 385 CAUTIN equal, is 181,173 square miles, and the population, Trans-caucasia being the more thickly settled, about 13,500,000. CAUCASIAN RACE, the white man, one of the three more remarkable varie- ties of the species Man, the two others being the Yellow, or Mongolian, and the Black, or Ethiopian. The Caucasian Race occupies all Europe and western Asia as far as the Ganges, likewise northern Africa, and the greater part of America. To it belong the more highly civilized nations. The region of the Cau- casus has been supposed to have been the cradle of the race, hence its name. A fair skin, elevated forehead, small cheek-bones, hair varying in color, but always smooth or wavy, together with high intellectual qualities, characterize the race. CAUCASUS, a chain of mountains ly- ing to the S. E. of Russia Proper, be- tween the Black Sea and the Caspian. It traverses the former Russian province of Caucasia (now the Kuban, Georgian, and Azerbaijan republics) from N. W. to S. E. through a length of 700 miles. It does not form a single chain, but is divided for part of its length into two, three, or four chains, which sometimes run parallel to one another, and some- times meet and form mountain gangli- ons. The heights of the chief summits are Elbruz, 18,572 feet; Koshtan-tau, 17,123; Dych-tau, 16,928; Kasbek, 16,546. Those mountains, as they lie N. of the Caucasian watershed, are to be looked upon as European. The chief rivers are the Terek and Kur, flowing into the Caspian, and the Kuban and Rion (ancient Phasis) into the Black Sea. The N. part of the country pro- duces little but grass, but the slopes and valleys on the S. and especially those nearest the Black Sea, produce various kinds of fruits, grain of every descrip- tion, rice, cotton, hemp, etc. The min- erals are valuable. At Baku on the Cas- pian immense quantities of petroleum are obtained. The inhabitants consist of small tribes of various origin and lan- guage — Georgians, Abassians, Lesghians, Ossete^s, Circassians, Tartars, Armeni- ans, etc. Some of them are Greek and Armenian Christians, others are Mo- hammedans, Jews, etc. CAUCUS, in the political nomenclature of the United States, a gathering pre- liminary to a public meeting of citizens for election or for other purposes, gen- erally political; a private conclave desig- nated to influence the general body of the citizens. Also a secret preliminary meeting of the leaders of a political party to determine on a course of action, the conclusions of the Caucus being bind- ing on all the members. CAUDINE FORKS, a pass of southern Italy, in the form of two lofty fork- shaped defiles, in the Apennines (now called the valley of Arpaia), into which a Roman army was enticed by the Sam- nites, 321 B. C, and being hemmed in was forced to surrender. CAULIFLOWER, an esculent vege- table consisting of the fleshy, young, un- developed inflorescence of a variety of Brassica oleracese, hardly different from broccoli, except in being whiter and less hardy. It is said to have been imported from Cyprus about the middle of the 16th century. A very rich, light, warm soil is required for cauliflower, which must be sown in beds, and afterward transplanted into sheltered situations, where they can be protected when young with hand-glasses. They are sown in August for a spring crop, in February for a summer crop, and in May in order to come in at the end of autumn and beginning of winter. The cauliflower is a light, easily digested, and nutritious vegetable aliment. CAULKING, of a ship, driving a quantity of oakum into the seams of the planks in the ship's decks or sides in order to prevent the entrance of water. After the oakum is driven very hard into these seams it is covered with hot melted pitch to keep the water from rotting it. CAURA (ko'ra), a river of Venezuela, over 400 miles long, rises among the sierras of the frontier, and flows N. N. W. to the Orinoco. CAUTERETS, a watering-place in the department of Hautes-Pyrenees, France, 3,250 feet above sea-level, in the valley of the Laverdan, 42 miles S. S. E. of Pau. The stationary population of the place is only about 1,500, but it is annu- ally swelled in summer by about 50,000 visitors, for whose accommodation nu- merous sumptuous hotels and bathing- establishments have been built. It is a good center and guide-station for ascents among the Pyrenees. The sulphurous springs, 25 in number, and varying in temperature from 60° to 131° F., are the most abundant in the Pyrenees (330,000 gallons per day), and have been known from Roman times; though their modern reputation dates from the 16th century, when Margaret, sister of Francis I., held her literary court and wrote much of her "Heptameron" at Cauterets. CAUTIN. a river in Chile; flows W. through a province named after it, and