CARACAL, The(Felis caracal), belongs to a group of Lynxes characterized by comparative slenderness of body and length of tail and ears. It is somewhat larger than a fox, of a uniform reddish brown colour above, and whitish beneath, with two white spots above each of the eyes, and with a long black tuft of hair at the tip of the ears, the latter, according to Sir W. Jardine, being only present in spring, or at the commencement of the breeding season. It is to the ear-tufts that it owes its name, which is derived from two Turkish words signifying “black-ear.” The caracal is widely distributed, being found throughout Africa and South-western Asia. It feeds on the smaller quadrupeds and birds, hunting the former in packs after the manner of wolves, and climbing trees in pursuit of the latter. It is said also to resemble the jackal in following in the wake of the lion and other large carnivora, in order to feed on what those lords of the lower creation may leave, and on this account has received the name of the “lion’s provider.” Like the cheetah, it was formerly trained by Eastern princes to hunt the smaller quadrupeds, and such birds as the crane and pelican; but from its fierceness, and the extreme irritability which it displays in confinement, it does not seem well-fitted for domestication.

Frequent reference is made in Greek and Roman literature to the lynx, and from such descriptions as are given of it there is little doubt that the caracal, and not the more northerly species now known as the lynx, was referred to. In South Africa, where the caracal abounds, its hide is made by the Kaffres into skin cloaks, known as karosses.

CARACALLA, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (188— 219 a.d. ), a Roman emperor, son of the Emperor Septimius Severus, was born at Lyons in 188. His original name, Bassianus, has been entirely dropped in favour, either of the nickname Caracalla (taken from the long hooded tunic which he wore, and introduced into the army), or of the imperial title of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, which he received at the time when his father declared himself the adopted son of Μ. Aurelius. Dion Cassius regularly calls him Tarantus, from his resemblance to a certain coarse and bloodthirsty gladiator. The heartless cruelty of his disposition was early displayed in an attempt to assassinate his father; and when, on his father’s death, he mounted the throne (211) as colleague of his brother Geta, he did not shrink from murdering him in the presence of his mother, to seize the supreme power, nor from making himself secure by butchering 20,000 persons whom he suspected. It is said that he was, however, unable to rid himself of remorse, and that it was the torment of conscience which drove him to spend the rest of his life in the maddest acts of destruction and bloodshed. He visited Gaul, Germany, France, Egypt, and various parts of Asia, plundering everywhere, and committing the most atrocious crimes. In Alexandria he took vengeance for the sarcasms of the people by a general massacre; and he laid Mesopotamia waste because Artabanus, the Parthian king, refused to give him his daughter in marriage. In 217 he was killed at the instigation of Macrinus, who succeeded him. See Roman History.

CARACCI, Lodovico, Agostino, and Annibale, three celebrated Italian painters, were born at Bologna in 1555, 1558, and 1560 respectively. Lodovico, the eldest, son of a butcher, was cousin to the two younger, Agostino and Annibale, sons of a tailor, and had nearly finished his professional studies before the others had begun their education. From being a reputed dunce while studying under Tintoretto in Venice, he gradually rose, by an attentive observation of nature and a careful examination of the works of the great masters preserved at Bologna, Venice, Florence, and Parma, to measure himself with the teachers of his day, and ultimately projected the opening of a rival school in his native place. Finding himself unable to accomplish his design without assistance, he sent for his two cousins, and induced them to abandon their handicrafts (Agostino being a goldsmith, and Annibale a tailor) for the profession of painting. Agostino he first placed under the care of Fontana, retaining Annibale in his own studio; but he afterwards sent both to Venice and Parma, to copy the works of Titian, Tintoretto, and Correggio, on which his own taste had been formed. On their return, the three relatives, assisted by an eminent anatomist, Anthony de la Tour, opened, in 1589, an academy of painting under the name of the Incamminati (or, as we might paraphrase it, the Right Road), provided with numerous casts, books, and bassi-rilievi,which Lodovico had collected in his travels. From the affability and kindness of the Caracci, and their zeal for the scientific education of the students, their academy rose rapidly in popular estimation, and soon every other school of art in Bologna was deserted and closed. They continued together till, at the invitation of Cardinal Farnese, Annibale and ...

CARACTACUS, a chief of the Silures in ancient Britain. See Britannia, vol. iv. p. 353.

CARÁCAS, a large city of South America, capital of the United States of Venezuela and of the federal district, is situated on the declivity of a mountain 2880 feet above the level of the sea, 16 miles south-south-east of La Guayra, its port on the Caribbean Sea, in 10° 30' N. lat., 67° 4' W. long. Population in 1873, 48,897. The city is finely-situated, and has a temperate and healthy though variable climate. The mean temperature of the year is about 72° Fahr., being in the hot season 75°, and in the cold season 6G 0 . The thermometer, however, sometimes rises to 84° or 85°, and at other times descends as low as 51° or 52°. Rain is abundant during the months of April, May, and June, but not so incessant as in other tropical countries; the rest of the year is rather dry. The city is much subject to earthquakes, from which it has frequently suffered; in that of 1812,12,000 persons are said to have perished. Carácas is separated from the sea-coast, and from its port of Guayra by the high ridge of the Cerro de Avila, and lies on the western skirt of the plain of Chacao, which has a steep slope from north-north-west to south-south-east. The Guayra, a tributary of the River Tuy, which falls into the ocean thirty-six miles east of Cape Codera, flows past the southern side of the city, and is joined by the streams called the Anauco, Catuche, and Caroata passing through the town from the north. Two miles east the great double-peaked mountain known as the Silla de Carácas rises to 8600 feet. The Cal vario hill, west of the city, was the scene of a battle between the Spaniards and patriots in June 1821. The town is well and regularly built; the streets are wide and well paved, crossing each other at right angles. There are several squares, of which the Plaza Mayor, or ...