CAS 
CAS 
and capable of resisting any edged tool. 
The process of case-hardening, which is in 
troth a superficial conversion of iron into 
steel, depends on the cementation of it 
with vegetable or animal coals. We have 
seen small articles of iron converted into 
steel, by heating it in a crucible with pieces 
of leather, horn, &c. fhe whole must be 
raised to a great heat by means of a forge, 
furnace, &c. See Iron. 
CASE-shot, in the militaiy art, musket- 
ball, stones, old iron, &c. put into cases, and 
shot out of great guns. 
CASERNS, in fortification, lodgings built 
in garrison towns, generally near tiie. ram- 
part, or in the waste places of the town, -for 
lodging the soldiers of the garrison. There 
are usually two beds in each casern for six 
soldiers to lie, who mount the guard alter- 
nately ; the third part being always on 
duty. 
CASH, in the commercial style, signifies 
the stock of money which a merchant, 
trader, or banker has at his disposal in order 
to trade. 
CASHEW nut, the fruit of the acajou 
ti'ee, reckoned by Linnaeus a species of ana- 
cardium. See Anacardium. 
CASHIER, a person who is entrusted 
with the cash of some public company. 
CASI, in the Persian policy, one of tlie 
two judges under the nadab, who decide alt 
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 timber work, among builde'’s, 
is the plastering a house all over on the out- 
side with mortal', and then striking it while 
wet by a ruler with the corner of a trowel, 
to make it resemble the joints of free stone. 
Some direct it to be done upon heart laths, 
because the mortar would, in a little time, 
decay the sap latiis; and to lay on the mor- 
tar in two thicknesses, viz, a second before 
the first is dry. 
CASSAVA, in chemisti'y, a species of 
starch prepared from the roots of the jatro- 
pha 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 ar- 
rows. It deposits, however, awdiite stai'ch, 
which when properly washed is perfectly 
innocent, and when dried is used in the 
preparation of bread. 
CASSIA, in botany, a genus of the De- 
candria Monogynia class and order. Natu- 
ral order of Loraentace®. Leguminos®, 
Jussieu. Essential character: calyx pen- 
taphyllous ; petals five ; the three superior 
anthers sterile ; the three inferior beaked ; 
legume. There are 51 species, of which C. 
diphylla, two-leaved cassia, is a shnib with 
a round stem ; two semi-orliiculate, obtuse, 
striated leaves on a short petiole ; stipules 
covering the whole branches. It is an an- 
nual. Native of the West Indies. Some of 
the cassias are, however, very tall trees, as 
the C. fistula, Alexandrian 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 Indies. 
C, senna, Egyptian cassia, or senna, the 
plant which produces the leaves commonly 
known in medicine by the name of senna, 
is an annual : it rises with an upright branch- 
ing stalk, a foot high. It gi'ows 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. 
CASSIPA, in natural history, a genus of 
Coleopterous insects, which, according to 
Linnaeus, have moniliform antenn®, that be- 
come rather thicker towards the end : tho- 
rax and wing-cases with a broad margin, the 
former flat, and forming 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 beneath, are a 
strong criterion of this genus. The surface 
above is commonly smooth, and in some 
species glossy ; eyes oval, and placed near 
each other ; antenn® 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 brilliancy 
of colours in the height of perfection after 
death j in others, however, and those espe-* 
cially of a small size, these are altogether 
evanescent, their rich metallic or golden 
hues fading as the insect dies, and totally 
disappearing in the dried specimens. Cas- 
sid® 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 allorved 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 colours of the living insect may how* 
