Defn: (Mus.) Gradually diminishing in rapidity and loudness.

CALASH Ca*lash", n. Etym: [F. calèche; of Slavonic origin; cf. Bohem. kolesa, Russ. koliaska calash, koleso, kolo, wheel.]

1. A light carriage with low wheels, having a top or hood that can be raised or lowered, seats for inside, a separate seat for the driver, and often a movable front, so that it can be used as either an open or a close carriage. The baroness in a calash capable of holding herself, her two children, and her servants. W. Irving.

2. In Canada, a two-wheeled, one-seated vehicle, with a calash top, and the driver's seat elevated in front.

3. A hood or top of a carriage which can be thrown back at pleasure.

4. A hood, formerly worn by ladies, which could be drawn forward or thrown back like the top of a carriage.

CALAVERAS SKULL
Ca`la*ve"ras skull.

Defn: A human skull reported, by Prof. J. D. Whitney, as found in 1886 in a Tertiary auriferous gravel deposit, lying below a bed of black lava, in Calaveras County, California. It is regarded as very doubtful whether the skull really belonged to the deposit in which it was found. If it did, it indicates an unprecedented antiquity for human beings of an advanced type.

CALAVERITE
Ca`la*ve"rite (, n. (Min.)

Defn: A bronze-yellow massive mineral with metallic luster; a telluride of gold; — first found in Calaveras County California.