and POLLUX. It is said that the vessel which carried Paul to Rome had the sign of Castor and Pollux, Acts xxviii, 11. Castor and Pollux were sea-gods, and invoked by sailors; and even the light balls or meteors which are sometimes seen on ships, were called Castor and Pollux. An inscription in Gruter proves that seamen implored Castor and Pollux in dangers at sea. It is to be observed, that St. Luke does not mention the name, but the sign, of the ship. By the word sign, the sacred writer meant a protecting image of the deity, to whom the vessel was in some sort consecrated; as at present in Catholic countries, most of their vessels are named after some saint, St. Xavier, St. Andero, St. Dominique, &c. It appears to be certain, that the figure which gave name to the ship was at the head, and the tutelary deity was placed on the poop.

CASTOR AND POLLUX, in Greek and Roman mythology, were twin gods, also known under the name of Dioscuri (Διόσκουροι, from Zεvς, ∆ιbς, Jupiter, and κούροι, children) for, according to one myth, they were children of Jupiter and Leda, whose love the god had won under the form of a swan. In some versions Leda is represented as having brought forth two eggs, from one of which were born the mortal babes Castor and Clytaemnestra, from the other the immortal Pollux or Polydeuces and Helen.. According to others only the latter two were children of Zeus, and in Homer all are said to be children of Leda and Tyndareus, king of Sparta. We find also that the Dioscuri were specially reverenced among people of Dorian race, and that they were said to have reigned at Sparta. Müller therefore suggests that the myth arose from the apotheosis of certain human Tyn-daridae, round whom gradually collected fables which originally referred to some ancient Peloponnesian deities....

CASTOR OIL, the fixed oil obtained from the Castor Oil Plant or Palma Christi, Ridnus communis, belonging to the Natural Order Euphorbiaceoe. The plant is a native of the East Indies, but it has been introduced, and is now cultivated in most tropical and in the warmer temperate countries. In size it varies from a shrubby plant to a tree of from 30 to 40 feet in height according to the climate in which it grows, being arborescent in tropical latitudes. On account of its very large beautiful palmate-peltate leaves, which measure as much as 2 feet in diameter, it is cultivated as an ornamental plant. In the south of England, with the habit of an annual, it ripens its seeds in favourable seasons; and it has been known to come to maturity as far north as Christiania in Norway. The fruit consists of a tricoccous capsule, covered externally with soft yielding prickles, and each cell develops a single seed. The seeds of the different cultivated varieties, of which there are a great number, differ much in size and in external markings; but average seeds are of an oval laterally compressed form, with their longest diameter about four lines. They have a shining, marble grey and brown, thick, leathery epidermis, within which is a thin dark-coloured brittle coat. The cotyledons readily separate, and show a large distinct leafy embryo. The oil is obtained from the seeds by two principal methods—expression and decoction,—the latter process being largely used in India, where the oil, on account of its cheapness and abundance, is extensively employed for illuminating as well as for other domestic and medicinal purposes. The oil exported from Calcutta to Europe, which is said to be “cold drawn and nearly tasteless,” is prepared by shelling and crushing the seeds between rollers. ...