I told you that Sir Francis Bacon thinks that the carp lives but ten years: but Janus Dubravius has writ a book _Of Fish and Fish Ponds_, in which he says, that carps begin to spawn at the age of three years, and continue to do so till thirty: he says also, that in the time of their breeding, which is in summer, when the sun hath warmed both the earth and water, and so apted them also for generation, that then three or four male carps will follow a female; and that then, she putting on a seeming coyness, they force her through weeds and flags, where she lets fall her eggs or spawn, which sticks fast to the weeds; and then they let fall their melt upon it, and so it becomes in a short time to be a living fish: and, as I told you, it is thought that the carp does this several months in the year.—_Walton._ CARRIER, _s._ One who carries something; a species of pigeons. CARRION, _s._ The carcass of something not proper for food; flesh corrupted. Relating to carcasses. CARRION CROW, (_Corvus corone_, LINN.; _Le Corneille_, BUFF.) _s._ [Illustration: THE CARRION CROW.] The carrion crow is less than the raven, but similar to it in its habits, colour, and external appearance. It is about eighteen inches in length; its breadth about three feet. Birds of this kind are more numerous and as widely spread as the raven. They live mostly in woods, and build their nests on trees. The female lays five or six eggs, much like those of a raven. They feed on putrid flesh of all sorts; likewise on eggs, worms, insects, and various sorts of grain. They live together in pairs, and remain in England during the whole year.—_Bewick._ CARROT, _s._ A garden root. The varieties of food, as I have termed them, are such articles as, by their saccharine matter, prove highly nutritious, although their gluten is in small proportion. Carrots stand foremost on this list, and hardly too much can be said on their excellent qualities. They appear particularly favourable to condition, as the skin and hair always look well under their use: they are highly nutritious, as we know from the fat accumulated when they are used; and so favourable are they to the free exercise of the lungs, that horses have been found even to hunt on them: and, in conjunction with a certain portion of corn, perhaps they would form as good a food as could be devised for our coach and machine horses, our hackneys, and, in fact, for all horses not used on “fast work.” In the _Museum Rusticum_ is an account of two hunters fed with carrots and small loaves made of barley and oatmeal mixed; and these horses were said to be the pride of the field. Agricultural horses may be supported on them wholly, when sliced and mixed with chaff. CART, _s._ A wheel-carriage, used commonly for luggage. CART-HORSE, _s._ A coarse unwieldy horse. CARTILAGE, _s._ A smooth and solid body, softer than a bone, but harder than a ligament.