Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/379

* CATALONIA. 323 CATAMARAN. 1SS7. 1.S,3S.700: in lltOO. 1.0S4.115. Tlic Cata- lonians are a mixed pcojile. liaviiifr the conibincil feature? of Iberian and (Jotli; are of low stature, dark lirunette in color, with wide, projeotin}; forehead>. and dark hair and eyes (cranial index, 77.7-7S.1 : French Catalans, ^S.G). Their speech is a sub-vavioty of Provencal (Tvipley, RaccK of Europe. Xew York, l.SOil). Catalonia bas been in touch with most of the ethnic ele- ments of western Euroiw, Upon its Iberian stock have l)een grafted the mixed race of Ro- mans, the Scythian .lans, the Teutonic Goths, the Semitic Arabs, and the Alpine Franks. Xo doubt their progressive vitality is due to the mixture. In enerjry, industry, and intellijrence they greatly surpass the rest of the Spaniards. Catalonia, under the name of Hispania Tar- raconensis, constituted a part of Roman Spain. It was invaded and sul>dued by the Alans, and, after them, by the Goths, who gave the country the name of Gothalania, changed in the course of time to Catalonia. In the Eighth Century the Arabs gained possession of the southern part. When Charlemagne, in 788, subjugated Spain as far as the Ebro. Catalonia fonned the central portion of the Spanish mark governed by Frankish counts who had Barcelona as their residence. They soon made themselves inde- pendent of France. In 11.51 Earl Ramon Beren- guer, by his marriage with the Princess Petronil- la (1 137), united Catalonia with Aragon, to the future greatness of which Catalonia contributed in a very great measure by reason of its wealth and the influence wielded by the citizens of Bar- celona, its capital, in the western Mediterranean. See Sp.in, paragraph on Historti: Cat.i..x L.Nr.fAGE .ND Literature. Consult: Bori y Fontesta. Uistoria <le fntaluiia (Barcelona, 1808) ; Balari y Jovany, Oriycncs historicos de Cutaluna (Barcelona, 1899). CATAL'PA (Amer. Indian). A genus of trees of the order Bigiioniace;e. C'atalpu big- iionioides is a native of the southern portion of the United States, and is cultivated there and in the cities of the Xorthem States as an orna- mental shade-tree. It may be known by the silver - gray bark, wide - spreading but few branches, and large, pale-green, heart-shaped leaves. The flowers are white, tinged with violet or purple, and dotted with the same colors. They are succeeded by long, bean-like pods, that sometimes hang on the otherwise bare linil)s all ■winter. The seeds are winged, the wings cut into a fringe. The wood is light and of fine texture, and useful in cabinet-work. (For illus- trations see Plate of Calab.sii, etc.) A second species, Catalpa upcriosa, is a larger and more hardy tree, indigenous in the United States from Indiana to Tennessee, and west through Arkansas and Missouri. It is readily distin- guished from the former species by its thicker hark, and the flowers being very inconspicuously tinged or spotted. In rich lowlands this tree makes a very rapid growth, and it has been very successfully planted in Kansas and Okla- homa for its timber, the wood being valuable for railroad ties, posts, etc. In favored locali- ties it is hardy in Minnesota. Other species are known from .lapan and China. The catalpa is subject to a leaf-spot disease, caused by I'hyllosticta cnlnlprc, that sometimes causes the leaves to I)eeome brown and ragired. and, as the disease progresses, brings about the I)artial defoliation of the trees. If a severe attack is anticipateil. it may be waided ofl" by spraying the trees with any standard fungicide. CATALYT'IC ACTION ( Fr. attnlytkiue, from Gk. Kava'/vriKuc, katalytikos. dissolving, from Kara, laid, down + /.iriv, lycin, to loose). A term applied in chemistry to the action of one substance upon a second, whereby the latter is subjected to change or deconiposititm. while the former, or acting substance, remains un- altered, and does not combine with it. The phenomenon is also often spoken of as 'action of contact.' A well-known example of catalytic action is presented by the inversion of cane- sugar — i.e. its decomposition into dextrose and levulose in the presence of acids. The quantity of acid employed for producing the inversion remains imchanged, none of the acid being actually used tip: yet the reaction could not take place if the acid were not present. The true nature of catalytic action is as yet un- known. It is now generally assumed, however, that catalytic agents do not cause reactions, but only accelerate and thus render them appreci- able. In certain cases it has even been possible to trace a quantitative relation between the nature and amount of the catalytic agent and the acceleration caused by it. (See Re.ction, Chemical.) The catalytic action of acids (q.v. ) is supposed to be due to the fact that in aqueous solution every acid dissociates, to a greater or less extent, into ions' charged with electricity, and it is the electro-positive hydrogen-ions (J) of the acid that are supposed to accelerate the reactions in question. It must be seen, however, that while this hypothesis is quite well founded on experimental facts, and thus certainly marks a step ahead, it does not by any means answer completely the question. What is the cause of catalytic action? CAT'AMAKAN' ( Fr. catamnrou. Hind, knl- waran, Malayalam lettnmarnm. logs bound to- gether, from l-etfn. binding, from katta. to bind -r maram. timber). In its original form, a craft consisting of three logs — the middle one being longest — lashed together. It was used l)y the na- tives of the Coroniandel Coast, particularly Mad- ras; also in the West Indies and on the coast of South America. The Fiji Islanders developed this idea in their war-canoes, which consist of two parallel logs joined together with a plat- foiTU, on which a mast is placed. These boats are safe and very swift, having a speed of about 14 miles an hour. This, again, is surpassed by the flying proa of the Ladrone Islanders, a boat with two hulls of unequal size. The larger hull, which carries all the rigging, is perfectly flat on one side and rounded on the other. On this are placed bamboo poles projecting lieyond the rounded side, and to their ends is fastened a lioat-sliaped log one-half or one-third the size of the larger hull. This prevents capsizing as effectually as the Fiji double canoe. Both ends of the proa are ma<le alike, and the boat is sailed with either end first; but the outrigger is always to windward. Against a head wind the proa is kept away till the stem approaches the wind, when the yard is swung round, and what was the stern l)ecomes the bow. Proas are from 40 to fi.5 feet long and or 7 feet wide,