CASSEL 



1217 



CASTE 



commerce is made from cassava. The only 

 state in which the cultivation of sweet cassava 

 has attracted attention is Florida, but it is not 

 an important industry there, owing to the high 

 cost of labor in its production compared with 

 labor conditions elsewhere in its range. 



CASSEL, or KASSEL, kahs'el, one of the 

 most picturesque towns of Germany, capital 

 of the province of Hesse-Nassau. It is situated 

 on both banks of the Fulda River, ninety-one 

 miles northeast of Frankfort -on -the -Main. 

 The city possesses one of the finest collections 

 of pictures in Europe, with splendid examples 

 of the works of Frans Hals, Rembrandt and 

 Van Dyck. It is also an important musical 

 center and has a fine opera house, built by 

 Jerome Bonaparte. The commerce is exten- 

 sive and the chief articles of manufacture are 

 engines, mathematical and scientific instru- 

 ments, porcelain, knives and chemicals. There 

 are large lithographing plants, where some of 

 the world's finest lithography is produced. 

 Population in 1910, 153,196. 



CASSIA, kash'a, a large group of pod-bear- 

 ing plants found in tropical regions. The cas- 

 sias consist of trees, shrubs and herbs. The 

 leaflets of several kinds form the well-known 

 drug called senna. The pods contain a thick 

 pulp which belongs to the sugar class of laxa- 

 tives; both leaves and flowers are also used 

 as medicines. The bark of an entirely differ- 

 ent plant of the laurel family is commonly 

 called cassia bark. Having the flavor of. cin- 

 namon, and being cheaper, it is often substi- 

 tuted for it. The cassia of the Bible was prob- 

 ably cassia bark. 



CASSIOPEIA, kasiope'ya, one of the most 

 conspicuous constellations in the northern 

 hemisphere, sometimes called the "Lady in her 

 Chair." It is about the same distance from 

 the North Pole as the Great Bear, and con- 

 tains a large num- 

 ber of stars; five 

 of the brightest 

 are arranged 

 somewhat in the 

 form of a W. 

 According to leg- 

 end, Cassiopeia 

 was the mother 

 o f Andromeda, 

 who was chained 



to a rock on the 

 seashore to ap- 

 pease the anger of the gods and was rescued 

 from a monster by Perseus. See ANDROMEDA. 

 77 



CASSOWARY, kas'owari, a large, shy but 

 inquisitive bird belonging to the same family 

 as the ostrich and emu. It is a native of New 

 Guinea and stands about five feet high. Its 

 peculiar hairlike feathers are black in both 



CONSTELLATION OF 

 CASSIOPEIA 



CASSOWARY 



sexes. The head and neck are bare and bluish 

 in color, and its head is crowned by a bony 

 crest of brilliant blue, scarlet and purple. The 

 wings are so short that the bird is unable to 

 fly, but its legs are powerful and it can run 

 with nearly the speed of a horse. Disliking 

 the sunshine, this timid bird builds its rough 

 nest of leaves and grass in dense, wooded 

 places, and comes out in the morning and 

 evening for its meal of fallen fruit, bulbs or 

 insects. The plumage of the cassowary is used 

 by the natives for head-ornaments, mats and 

 rugs, and the flesh is considered delicious. 



CAST, a reproduction of a statue or other 

 work of art in a mold. The model to be 

 copied is covered with plaster, so applied that 

 it may be removed in sections. When these 

 sections are carefully put together they form 

 a mold which is filled with liquid plaster. 

 When the plaster is dry the mold is removed, 

 uncovering a copy of the original model. Most 

 of the famous statues of the world have been 

 copied in this way, thus furnishing models for 

 museums and schools. 



CASTE, kast, a word from the Portuguese 

 casta, meaning family, strain, breed or race. 

 In a general sense it means a hereditary divi- 

 sion of society on the basis of occupation, 

 wealth, religion, etc. Specifically, however, it 

 applies to the classes into which the Hindus 

 are divided by religious laws. It is probable 

 that caste was originally grounded on a differ- 

 ence of descent and mode of living, and that 



