CASSIN. 



CASTLE. 



.19 



guities in these parliamentary decisions. The process by which thin 

 was done, known at Bnt under the name of " lettres de gr*ce de <lire 

 centre ! arrftte," and afterwards under that of " propositions d'erreur," 

 was ruled by the ordonnanee of 1844, which established the principle 

 that the decisions of the parliament oould only be reviewed by a 

 ' proportion d'erreur," or by special letter* to be referred to and heard 

 by the " oonseil du roi," and then to be returned to the parliament, by 

 whom the error*, if established, were to be amended. 



6. From thi* period then dates, and to thin ordonnanoe is to be 

 ascribed, the form of appeal which eventually arrived at the process 

 adopted by the oour de cassation. Sufficient has been said on the 

 mibject of the origin of this system, nor is it necessary to dwell upon 

 the alterations that took place in consequence of abuses, alterations 

 effected by the vigour of Olivier and L'Hdpital, and framed into the 

 ordonnanoe of 1579. 



By the order of procedure established under Louis XIV., in 1667, 

 two model of setting aside the decisions of the parliament were finally 

 adopted ; one was by " requite civile," which annulled a decision and 

 restored the parties to their previous condition, in consequence of 

 either fraud or legal mistakes being discovered in the proceedings; 

 and the other was by "cassation," in consequence of a violation of 

 either the principle or form of the law in the decision of the court. 

 In the latter case the cause was tried anew in a council consisting of 

 the chancellor, the four secretaries of state, the council of state, and 

 the maltres de requite. The national assembly, in November, 1790, 

 having abolished this system, and established a distinct, permanent, 

 and independent court, called Tribunal de Cassation, by a senatus 

 consultum of the 20 Floreal, year XII., declared the precise posi- 

 tion, and marked the limits, of the new tribunal, which afterwards 

 received its full organisation under Napoleon, and has ever since 

 continued under the name of Cour de Cassation. It is the highest 

 court of France, receiving appeals from all other courts, and may be 

 denned in the words of the Constitutional Act of the 22nd Frimaire, 

 year VIII., as " a tribunal which pronounces on applications to quash 

 the judgments given by tribunals of last resort. It does not go 

 into the merits, but quashes judgments in cases where the forms of 

 procedure have been violated, or which are founded on erroneous 

 interpretation of the law, sending back the merits to the tribunal which 

 U to take cognizance of them." (Acts 65 and 66.) It consists of forty- 

 eight members, who, by the charter of Louis XVIII., are appointed 

 by the sovereign, but retain their places for life. The court has its 

 president, although on certain occasions the keeper of the seals, or 

 minister of justice, has the right of presiding in it. It is divided into 

 three sections : 1. Section des Requetes, which examines whether the 

 petitions or appeals are to be received. 2. Section de Cassation civile, 

 which decides upon appeals in civil cases. 3. Section de Cassation 

 criminelle, which decides upon appeals in criminal matters. The 

 sections do not decide upon the main question, but only on the com- 

 petency of the other courts, and the legality of the forms and principle 

 of law by which the case has been already tried. If the law in found 

 to have been violated, the sentence of the inferior court is annulled, 

 and the case is sent to be tried again by another court. If this second 

 court decides the case in the same manner as the first, and a petition 

 against the decision is again laid before the Court of Cassation, tin n 

 the three sections unite together in order to examine the case anew, 

 and if they find reason to pass a second reversal, the case is sent to be 

 tried before another court. Should this third court decide in the same 

 manner as the other courts, and a petition against the decision be again 

 presented to the Court of Cassation, the court requests a final explana- 

 tion of the law on the point at issue from the legislature. 



The institution of the Court of Cassation has proved highly bene- 

 ficial to France ; it has acted as a watchful guardian of the laws ; it 

 has afforded protection to the citizens against the arbitrary acts, and 

 the mij judgment* or misconstructions of the other judicial courts of 

 the country. Placed by the nature of its office out of the immediate 

 influence of political passions, it has maintained its high character for 

 strict impartiality throughout all the changes of government and 

 administration. Many of the most distinguished jurists of France ore 

 numbered among its members. We can only mention here the names 

 of Henrion de Pansey, who was long president, and is known for his 

 juridical works ; and Merlin de Douai, who was procureur to the court, 

 and is the author of the Repertoire de Jurisprudence,' 16 vols. 4to. 

 Bee an able article on the Cour de Cassation in the ' EamlopMb 

 de Droit ' (voL viL), by Monsieur Dclangle. 



CASSIS". A bitter principle of unknown composition contained in 



CASSIOPEIA. This constellation is called Cassiopeia (uWia) 

 by Antus, and Cassiopea by Manilius. In the Greek fable, Cassiopeia 

 is the wife of Cepheus and mother of Andromeda, placed in the heavens 

 with her head from the pole, so as to turn round apparently upside 

 down, because (according to Hyginus) she boasted of her own beauty 

 as superior to that of the Nereids. This constellation may be found 

 by looking on the side of the pole opposite to the Great Bear, where 

 will be seen five rather bright stars disposed in something like an M. 

 These stars are also in a line drawn from Capella to the bright star in 

 Cygnus,and about half way between them. The old figure is that of a 

 woman sitting in a chair or throne, with a branch in her hand. The 

 constellation is on the meridian at midnight, about the end of Septem- 



ber, and at eight P.M. about the end f November. The remarkable 

 star which appeared in this constellation in 1572 has been noticed in 

 TYCHO BiiAHfe, in the BIOGRAPHICAL DIVISION, who also affirms that 

 similar stars appeared in 945 and 1264, whence Sir J. Herschel thinks 

 it possible another such appearance may take place in 1872. But the 

 authority for the first appearance is that of a contemporary of Tyi-lm 

 15 rah (5, from nameless manuscripts, and as comets are recorded in or 

 about both 945 and 1264, these may have been the stars spoken of. 

 See the ' Companion to the Maps of the Stars, of the Society fr the 

 Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.' Baldwin, 1836, p. 86. 



The following are the principal stars in this constellation : 



No. in Catalogue 



Character. of Flanutccd. 



3 11 



K 15 



C 17 



a 18 



1 24 



7 27 



6 33 



87 



c 45 



No. in Catalogue 



of British 



Association. 



7 



126 

 153 

 169 

 218 

 253 

 ::.: 

 416 

 :,<> i 



Magnitude. 

 2'5 

 4 

 4 

 B 

 4 

 3 

 4-5 



3 



CASTANETS, a musical instrument of percussion, of Moorish 

 origin, composed of two small concave pieces of chestnut wood (hence 

 the name) or of ivory, in the fonn of cockle-shells, united at one end 

 by a string, hung on the forefinger and thumb, and struck together in 

 musical time, while the performer is dancing. 



CASTES. [HINDOOS, CASTES OP]. 



CASTIN. A substance hitherto imperfectly examined, contained in 

 the fruit of the ritex Ay nut txatiu. 



CASTING. It is desirable to point out under what headings the 

 reader will find descriptions of those processes which are known by the 

 common name of Catting. This operation is generally understood to 

 mean, the pouring of a metal 'or some other substance, while in a 

 fluid or semi-fluid state, into a mould. The fluidity may be caused by 

 heat or by some other agent, but the cast, or moulded article, always 

 solidities in the mould. The manufacture of great iron costings is 

 described under FOUNDING ; that of bells under BELL ; that of metal 

 statues under BRONZE ; that of plaster statues under SCULPTURE ; that 

 of artillery under CANNON ; that of ornamental earthenware, or china- 

 ware (where the material is poured in a liquid state into a mould, 

 instead of being pressed in a dough-like state on a mould), under 

 POTTERY and PORCELAIN. Various other applications are incidentally 

 noticed under BUTTON, COPPER, LEAD, STEEL, Ate. We will simply 

 notice in this place a remarkable patented invention in casting, not 

 because it applies to any one department of industry, but because it 

 seems to have a useful applicability to many kinds. It was patented a 

 few yearn ago by Mr. Fairbairn, and relates not so much to the casting 

 in moulds, as to the making of the moulds themselves. The article 

 or model of which a mould U to be made is to be cut in half in the 

 direction of its widest plane. The two parts are then attached to 

 opposite sides of a plate or diaphragm. Two half-moulds are succes- 

 sively mode from these two parts, and are fitted accurately together 

 when regular castings are to be taken from the mould. It is con- 

 sidered that time and labour may be economised by this means, by 

 attaching two or more articles to the opposite sides of the diaphragm, 

 and then forming suitable channels for the flow of the molten metal. 

 For under-cut articles, those parts require to be loosely attached, so as 

 to be raised with the sand-mould. 



CASTLE, from the Latin c<utellum, a diminutive of rostrum, an 

 encampment, is a walled inclosure with a tower or towers, strongly 

 constructed and intended OH a place of safety. Numerous castles, for 

 the most part in ruins, still remain in various parts of Great Britain, 

 France, Germany, Italy, and in the Kast ; but our remarks will be 

 principally confined to those of this country. The castles of England 

 consist almost entirely of those erected after the Norman Conquest ; 

 but there are a few fragments of Roman date, and some portions 

 erected prior to the Norman invasion. 



In various parts of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, there are 

 numerous encampments or castles, mostly occupying the summits of 

 hills, which have been ascribed to the aboriginal inhabitant*. Among 

 the most remarkable are the Herefordshire Beacon, on the Malvern 

 Hills, in Worcestershire; the Caer-Caradock, near Church Stretton, in 

 Shropshire ; Moel Arthur, in Flintshire ; Chun Castle, in Cornwall ; 

 and Maiden Castle, in Dorsetshire. (Britton's ' Arch. Diet.') 



Roman Castra were probably mum-times formed on the sites of 

 British works. Richboniugh Castle, in Kent, perhaps the earliest 

 Roman castle con*t this island, has been conjectured to have 



been formed in the reign of Claudius, and completed by Severus 

 (Battoley's 'Antiq. Rutupinic,' ]>]>. 6, 14, Ac.), but this is mere con- 

 jecture. The leading features of a stationary castle or encampment 

 built by the Romans still remain. The basement of the Sacellum, or 

 small temple for depositing the ensigns, forms on important feature in 

 this castle ; and in the walls some antiquaries believe they can find 

 traces of the four gates. King (' Muniinenta Antiqua,' vol. ii. p. 10) 

 gives a plan and full particulars, mode out when the ruins were in a 



