CAS 



CAS 



CASHIER, a person who Is entrusted 

 \vith the cash of some public company. 



CASI, in the Persian policy, one of the 

 two judges under the nadab, who decide 

 all religious matters, grant all divorces, 

 and are present at all public acts, having 

 deputies in all the cities of the kingdom. 

 See the article NADAB. 



CASING of limber work, among build- 

 ers, is the plastering a house all over on 

 the outside with mortar, and then strik- 

 ing it while wet, by a ruler, with the cor- 

 ner of a trowel, to make it resemble the 

 joints of free-stone. Some direct it to 

 be done upon heart laths, because tlie 

 mortar would, in a little time, decay the 

 sap laths ; and to lay on the mortar in two 

 thicknesses, viz. a second before the first 

 is dry ; this process is commonly called 

 rough-casting. 



. CASSAVA, in chemistry, a species of 

 starch prepared from the roots of the 

 jatropha manihat, an American plant. 

 They are peeled and pressed, and the 

 juice that is forced out is a deadly poison, 

 and employed by the Indians to poison 

 their arrows. It deposits, however, a 

 \vhite starch, which, when properly wash- 

 ed, is perfectly innocent, and when dried, 

 is used in the preparation of bread. 



CASSIA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Decandria Monogynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Lomentaceae. Legumi- 

 noste, Jussieu. Essential character : calyx 

 pentaphyllous ; petals five; the three su- 

 perjor anthers sterile ; the three inferior 

 beaked ; legume. There are 51 species, 

 of which C. diphylla, two-leaved cassia, is 

 :i shrub with a round stem ; two semi- 

 orbiculate, obtuse, striated leaves on a 

 short petiole ; stipules covering the whole 

 branches. It is an annual. Native of the 

 West Indies. Some of the cassias are, 

 however, very tall trees, as the C. fistula, 

 Ale xandrian purging cassia, cassia stick 

 tree, or pudding pipe tree, which is 50 

 feet high, with a large trunk dividing 

 into many branches. Native of both In- 

 dies. C. senna, Egyptian cassia, or senna, 

 the plant which produces the leaves com- 

 monly known in medicine by the name 

 of senna, is an annual : it rises with an 

 upright branching stalk, a foot high. 

 It grows naturally in Persia, Syria, and 

 Arabia, whence the leaves are brought, 

 dried, and picked from the stalks, to 

 Alexandria in Egypt, and being thence 

 annually imported into Europe, it has the 

 title Alexandrian added to it. 



CASSIDA, in natural history, a genus 

 of Coleopterous insects, which, accord- 

 ing to Linnjeus, have moniliform anten- 

 nae, that become rather thicker towards 



the end : thorax and wing-cases with a 

 broad margin, the former fiat, and form- 

 ing a kind of shield, beneath which the 

 head is concealed. There are about 90 

 species. 



The rotundate figure of the body, 

 gibbous back, and flattened surface be- 

 neath, are a strong criterion of this ge- 

 nus. The surface above is commonly 

 smooth, and in some species glossy ; 

 eyes oval, and placed near each other ; 

 antennze inserted between the eyes : 

 scutel triangular and small ; wing-cases 

 same length as the abdomen ; legs short, 

 thighs compressed, shanks rounded, and 

 the tarsi consisting of four joints. Many 

 of the species are very beautiful when 

 alive, some of which retain their bril- 

 liancy of colours in the height of perfec- 

 tion after death ; in others, however, and 

 those especially of a small size, these 

 are altogether evanescent, their rich me- 

 tallic or golden hues fading as the insect 

 dies, and totally disappearing in the dried 

 specimens. Cassidze, immersed in spirit 

 of wine alive, are observed to retain the 

 splendour of those golden hues for years, 

 in as high perfection as they appear in 

 the living insect ; but if taken out, and 

 allowed to dry, these change colour, in 

 the same manner as the insect would in 

 dying- without being steeped in spirits. 

 For immediate observation, the true co- 

 lours of the living insect may, however, 

 be revived in the dried specimens at any 

 time, by leaving them for the space of 

 15 or 20 minutes in warm water ; the 

 colours re-appearing while the insect is 

 kept moist, and fading again as the insect 

 dries. 



The larvae of the cassidae are common- 

 ly found concealed on the under surface 

 of the leaves of the plants on which they 

 feed, and often hide themselves under a 

 cover of their own excrements, which 

 they support in the air above their bo- 

 dies by means of their lateral spines, and 

 the bristles at the extremity of their tail, 

 to shelter themselves from the sun and 

 rain. The larvae cast their skins several 

 times before they pass into the pupa state. 

 The perfect female insect deposits the 

 eggs in regular order on the leaves of 

 plants, and covers them with excrements 

 to conceal them. The common English 

 name of the insects of this tribe is the 

 tortoise beetle. We have only an incon- 

 siderable number of the species indige- 

 nous to this country, and those only of a 

 small size : many of the large kinds, 

 and those distinguished for their vivid 

 hues and colours, are natives of South 

 America. 



