C A S 
of a pale colour without fpots ; but the cafes of the 
wings are ftreaked and fpeckled> the ftreaks run- 
ning in crooked lines; and the feelers are flender, 
and of a black colour. It is found in beds of 
baum and mint, and on various hortulane produc- 
tions. 
CASSILI. A Philippine name for a fpecies 
of water-raven, called alfo colocolo. 
CASSIS Li^:VIS. A name given by Rum- 
phius, though very improperly, to the genus of 
fliells called dolia, and conchseglobofte. 
CASSOWARY. A bird which inhabits the 
ifland of Java, and feveral parts of Africa, being 
one of the largeft and heavieft of the feathered fpe- 
cies. It is about five feet and a half long from 
the point of the bill to the extremity of the claws. 
The head and neck together are a foot and a lialf 
long ; and the largeft toe, including the claw, is 
five inches. The wing, which is in a great m,ea- 
fure concealed under the feathers of the back, is 
fo very fmall as to be almoft imperceptible. Part 
of the feathers of other birds accelerate their flight, 
and are different from thofe which ferve merely 
for a covering; but, in the Caflbwary, all the 
feathery are of one kind, and externally of the 
fame colour; they are alfo generally double, hav- 
ing two long fnafts proceeding from a ftiort focket 
fixed in the fl-:in. Thofe which are double are al- 
ways of unequal lengths, fome being fourteen inches 
long, particularly on the rump ; while others are 
not more than three. The beards which adorn 
the ftem or fliaft are, from about half way to the 
end, very long, and as thick as a horfe-hair, with- 
out being fijbdivided into fibres. The ftem or 
lhaft is flat, fliining, black, and knotted below, 
and from each joint proceeds a beard; and the 
beards at the extremity of the large feathers are 
perfedlly black, and of a grey tawny colour to- 
wards their roots. The feathers on the head and 
neck are fo fhort, as well as thinly difperfed, 
that the fkin of the bird appears naked, except to- 
wards the hind-part of the head, where they are 
fomewhat longer; while thofe on the rump are ex- 
tremely thick, though in other refpecls they differ 
very little from the reft, except in being longer. The 
wings, when ftripped of the feathers, are only three 
inches Ions;. The extremities of the wings are 
adorned v/ith five prickles of different lengths 
and thickneffes, bend like a bow, are hollow from 
the roots to the very points, and contain only 
that flight fubftance which is found in all quills. 
The longeft of thefe prickles is eleven inches: 
it is a quarter of an inch diameter at the root; 
but, towards the extremity, the point feems broken 
The moft remarkable part of the Caflx)wary, 
however, is it's head ; which, though li-nall like 
that of an oftrich, infpires fome degree of terror. 
It is, as already obferved, deftitute of feathers, 
and arnied with a kind of helmet of a horny fub- 
ftance, which covers it from the bafe of the bill to 
near half the head backwards. This helmet is 
black before, and yellow behind ; and it's fubftance 
is extremely hard, being formed by the elevation of 
the bone of the fl^ull, confifting of feveral plates, 
one over another, like the horns of an ox. Some 
naturalifts have fuppoied that this helmet is fhed 
every year with the feathers ; but the moft proba- 
ble opinion is, that it only exfoliates' flowly like 
the beak. To the peculiar Angularity of this na- 
tural armour of the animal may be added the co- 
lour of the e)'e, which is a bright yellow; and the 
pupil being above an inch and a half in diameter^ 
gives it an air equally fierce and extraordinary. Ac 
the bottom of the iupcrior eye-lid there is a row 
of fmall hairs ; over which is another of black hair, 
having pretty much the rcfemiblance of an eye- 
brow. The inferior eye-lid, which is the largeft 
of the tv/o, is alfo furnifhed with a confidcrable 
quantity of black hair. The aperture of the ear 
is very large and open, being only fliaded with 
flnall black featliers. The fides of the head, about 
the eye and the ear, which have no covering, are 
blue, except them.iddle of the lovv-er eye-lid, which 
is white. The upper part of the bill is very hard 
at the fuperior edges, and it's extremity is like that 
of a turkey-cock. The end of the lower miandible 
is fiightly notched; and the whole is of a greyifh 
brown, except a green fpot on each fide. As the 
beak admits of a very wide opening, this circum- 
ftance contributes greatly to the formidable ap- 
pearance of the bird. The neck is of a violet- 
colour, inclining to that of flate ; and red behind in 
feveral places, but particularly in the centre. 
About the middle of the neck before, at the rife of 
the large feathers, there are two protuberances formed 
by the fl<in, which fomievvhat reiemble the gills of 
a cock, excepting that they are blue as well as red. 
The flcin which covers the fore-part of the breaft, 
on which this bird leans and refts, is hard, callous, 
and deftitute of feathers. The thighs and legs, 
which are feathered, are extremely thick, ftrong, 
and ftraight, and covered with fcales of various 
fhapes. The toes, which are only three in num- 
ber, are likewife covered with fcales ; and the clav/s 
are of a hard folid lubftance, externally black, and 
internally red. 
If anatomically regarded, the other parts of the 
Caffowary are equally remarkable. It unites with 
the double ftomach of animals which live on ve- 
getables, the fhort inteftines of thofe which live on 
flefh. The inteftines of this bird are amazingly 
fhort ; and the heart is not more than an inch and 
a half long, and an inch broad at the bafe. On 
the whole, it has the head of a warrior, the eye of 
a lion, the defence of a porcupine, and the fwift- 
nefs of a courfer. Thus formed for a life of hof- 
tility, for terrifying others, and for it's own de- 
fence, it might naturally enough be concluded that 
the Caffowary is one of the moft fierce and ter- 
rible animals of it's kind; but nothing is fo oppo- 
fite to it's natural chara6ler, nothing fo different 
from the life it is contented to lead. It never at- 
tacks other birds; and, inftead of it's bill, when 
attacked, it makes ufe of it's legs, and either kicks 
like a horfe, or runs againft it's purfuer, beating 
him down, and treading him under it's feet. 
Nor is the motion of this animal lefs extraordi- 
nary than it's appearance. Inftead of going di- 
re6tly forward, it feems to kick up behind with one 
leg; and then making a bound onward with the 
oriier, it advances with fuch prodigious velocity, 
that the fwifteft racer would be left far behind it. 
The Caffowary is fo little fufceptible of the fenfe 
of tafting, that it indifcriminately fwallows every 
thing within it's reach. The Dutch affert, that it 
not only devours glafs, iron, and ftones, but even 
burning coals, without either betraying the iinall- 
eft fymptoms of fear, or receiving any injury. It 
is faid that the paffage of food through it's . gul- 
let is performed fo rapidly, that even the very eggs 
which it fwallows pais through it without the fmall - 
eft vifible alteration. In facl, the alimentary canal 
of this animal, as bcfure obferved, ismoftremark- 
2 R ably 
