catagraphs

Noun

catagraph (plural catagraphs)

1. (obsolete) A rough draft of a picture; an outline or sketch.
   • till to A picture's first rude catagraph, the art Of an ingenious pencil doth impart Each complement of skill;1820, William Chamberlayne, Pharonnida - Volume 1, page 158
2. (obsolete) A brief, incomplete description; an outline.
   • We have yet another to describe in our catagraph of the genus—the Snout. This is a nose concerning which there can be no mistake.1854, Robert Sears, The Family Instructor, Or, Digest of General Knowledge, page 156
3. A structure made from the traces of canals or cavities believed to be produced by cyanophytes or bacteria during the Late Precambrian and Lower Cambrian eras.
   • It is interesting that oncolites and catagraphs occur abundantly in limestones of the Schwarzkalk Limestone Member of the Kuib is Formation.1972, Gerard J. B. Germs, The Stratigraphy and Paleontology of the Lower Nama Group, South West Africa