King James Bible Dictionary

CASTOR, noun

1. A beaver, an amphibious quadruped, with a flat ovate tail, short ears, a blunt nose, small fore feet, and large hind feet.

2. A reddish brown substance of a strong penetrating smell, taken from bags or cods in the groin of the beaver; a powerful antispasmodic.

3. In astronomy, a moiety of the constellation Gemini, called also Apollo.

CASTOR and Pollux, in meterology, a fiery meteor, which, at sea, appears sometimes adhering to a part of a ship, in the form of one, two and even three or four balls. When one is seen alone, it is called Helena, which portends that the severest part of the storm is yet to come. Two appearing at once are denominated castor and Pollux, or Tyndaridoe, and portend a cessation of the storm.

The "Dioscuri", two heroes of Greek and Roman mythology. Their figures were probably painted or sculptured on the prow of the ship which Luke refers to (Acts 28:11). They were regarded as the tutelary divinities of sailors. They appeared in the heavens as the constellation Gemini.

Name of a ship.
Acts 28:11

(Acts 28:11) the twin sons of Jupiter and Leda, were regarded as the tutelary divinities of sailors; hence their image was often used as a figure-head for ships. They appeared in heaven as the constellation Gemini . In art they were sometimes represented simply as stars hovering over a ship.

CASTORIN,

CASTORINE, noun An animal principle discovered in castor, and prepared by boiling castor in six times its weight of alcohol, and filtering the liquor. From this is deposited the castorin

CASTOR-OIL, noun The oil of the Ricinus, or Palma Christi, a plant of the West Indies, which grows to the highth of twenty feet, in one season. The oil is obtained from the nuts or seeds by expression or decoction. That obtained by decoction is preferred, as less liable to become rancid, being free from the mucilage and acrid matter, which is mixed with the oil when expressed. It is a mild cathartic.