catastrophism (katas trofizm)

[ I find three, more or le contradictory, systems of geologic thought, each of which might fairly enough claim these appellations, standing side by side in Britain. I shall call one of them Catastrophism , another Uniformitarianism, the third Evolutionism. By Catastrophism , I mean any form of geological speculation which, in order to account for the phenomena of geology, supposes the operation of forces different in their nature, or immeasurably different in power, from those which we at present see in action in the universe. Huxley , Lay Sermons, p. 229. catastrophist (ka-tas'tro-fist), n. [ catastrophe + -ist .] One who believes in catastrophism; a cataclysm ist. The term is used in geology by writers on theoretical dynamic geology as the opposite of uniform i tarian , that is, of one who considers that geological causes now in action are, and have been, e entially the same from the beginning. The catastrophist maintains that there have been catastrophes, or sudden violent changes in the order of nature, such, for instance, as would cause the extermination of all forms of life upon the globe, or cover it with ice. The catastrophist is affirmative, the uniformitarian is negative in his a ertions. Whewell. For a generation after geologists had become uniformitarians in Geology, they remained catastrophists in Biology. cat as trophył (ka-tas'tro-fi), n. Obsolete spelling of catastrophe. Catawba (ka-ta'ba), n. 1. A variety of native grape, with red fruit, much cultivated in the middle United States, taking its name from the Catawba river in the Carol in as, where it was first raised.-2. The wine made from this grape. It is a light wine, of rich muscadine flavor, much used in the United States. Both still and sparkling Catawba wines are made. H. Spencer, Data of Ethics, § 17. Very good in its way Is the Verzenay, Or the Sillery soft and creamy; But Catawba wine Has a taste more divine, More dulcet, delicious, and dreamy. Long fellow, Catawba Wine. cat-back (kat'bak), n. Naut., a small rope fastened to the hook of the cat-block to facilitate hooking into the ring of the anchor. cat-beamt (kat'bēm), n. Naut., the longest beam of a ship, and one of the principal ones. catbill (kat'bil), n. A woodpecker. [North. Eng.] cat-bird (kat'bėrd), n. A well known oscine pa erine bird of North America, Mimus caro linens is, one of the mocking thrushes, related to the mocking-bird. It is of a dark slate-color, with a black cap and a red vent, and is so called because its cry of alarm re Cat-bird (Mimus carol in ens is). sembles the mewing of a cat. varied, and highly musical. Its proper song is voluble, It abounds in the shrubbery IMG:content-3270.png:[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]