G24 
eS 
ea 
CASSIA. 
nial of a foot in height, introduced from Peru,— 
all possess an acknowledged and well-known 
character as medicinal plants. 
CASSIA,—botanically Cinnamomum Cassia. 
An evergreen, tropical tree, of the laurel tribe. 
It has, on the one hand, been very often ranked 
as a true laurel ; and, on the other, has sometimes 
been regarded asa mere variety of the cinnamon- 
tree; but now it is generally regarded as a dis- 
tinct species of the cinnamon genus. It is a na- 
tine of Ceylon, Malabar, Sumatra, and Java, and 
was introduced from the first of these countries 
to Britain in 1763. Its stem rises to the height 
of about fifty feet, and sends out, almost from 
the bottom, large, spreading, horizontal branches ; 
its leaves are smooth, green above, pale grey 
below, elliptical, pointed, entire, narrow, and from 
four to six inches long; its flowers are small, white, 
and monopetalous, and are produced in axillary 
clusters, and appear from May till September; 
and its fruit is a black, longish-ovate berry, con- 
taining a bitterish pulp. The cuticle or outer 
bark and the hexagonal fleshy receptacle of the 
seed, are the well-known cassia-bark and cassia- 
buds of commerce, possessing the same proper- 
ties as cinnamon bark, but in a less powerful de- 
gree. Yet though the cassia-tree is quite a dis- 
tinct plant from the cinnamon-tree, most or even 
all of the cassia-bark and cassia-buds of com- 
merce are probably the produce of the latter, 
either badly harvested or from inferior trees. 
See the article Cinnamon. 
CASSINE. Several groups of shrubs, partly of 
the honeysuckle family, but chiefly of the staff- 
tree tribe. The Cassioberry bush, or bastard 
cassine, Viburnum cassinoides, is a native of Vir- 
ginia, and has long had a place in the shrubberies 
of Britain. Its stems rise, in groups of three or 
four, to the height of about ten feet ; its branches 
are numerous, and grow from the lower as well 
as the upper parts of the stems, so as to produce 
a thoroughly bush-like appearance ; its leaves are 
opposite, oblong, lanceolate, and serrated, and 
are so long in falling as to give the shrub a char- 
acter intermediate between deciduous and ever- 
green; and its flowers have a white colour, and 
are produced in bunches from the sides of the 
branches, and appear in the end of July, and are 
succeeded by red berriesin autumn. This plant, 
when grown in the open shrubberry, requires a 
naturally warm and dry soil, and a thoroughly 
sheltered situation. An infusion of its leaves is 
exceedingly bitter, and is said to act efficaciously 
as a tonic. The dried leaves have sometimes 
been mistaken for those of the Paraguay or South 
Sea tea. 
The Cassine holly, Zlex Cassine, is a native of 
Carolina, and was introduced thence to Britain 
in 1726. It is an evergreen shrub of ten or 
twelve feet in height, and is so branched from the 
ground upward as to have a sort of pyramidal 
outline; its leaves are alternate, lanceolate, and 
similar in colour and texture to those of alater- 
CAST-IRON. 
nus; its flowers are white, and grow in close 
whorls round the branches, and appear in Au- 
gust ; and its berries are bright red, and continue | 
through most of the winter, and combine with 
the leaves to produce a very ornamental appear- 
ance. This plant may, with careful rearing and 
good management, grow in the open shrubberies 
of the south and centre of England. Its leaves 
have gently narcotic properties, yet, in certain 
doses, operate either as tonics or as emetics; they 
were long used by the American Indians as a 
panacea and universal preservative ; and they are 
supposed to be the Paraguay or South Sea tea, 
which the Jesuits of a former period turned to 
most lucrative account by exporting in large 
quantities from the southern parts of South 
America. Another species of Caroline holly is 
exceedingly similar to the Cassine holly, but 
smaller, and has the name of Dahoon. 
Seven species of plants of the staff-tree tribe 
constitute the genus Cassine. All the species are 
ornamental, white-flowering, evergreen shrubs, 
and have been introduced to Great Britain; and 
most are natives of the Cape of Good Hope, and 
are there popularly known as Hottentot cher- | 
ries. Maurocenis’ species, Cassine Mauwrocenia, 
was introduced to Britain in 1690; and usually 
grows here to the height of about five feet. Its 
stem is woody, strong, and covered with a pur- 
plish bark; its branches are numerous and stiff; 
its leaves are opposite, dark-green, very thick, 
entire, about two inches long, and nearly two 
inches broad ; its flowers are produced in clusters 
from the sides of the old branches, and appear in 
July and August; and the fruit is a dark purple 
berry, and ripens in winter. The Cape-phillyrea 
species is only about a foot high; each of two 
otner Cape species is about two feet high; the 
tall species from Nepaul is nearly twenty feet 
high; and the remaining two species are about 
the same height as Maurocenis’. 
CASSIOBERRY. See Cassine. 
CASSYTHA. A small genus of tender para 
sitic plants, of the laurel tribe. 
cies, Cassytha filiformis, is a curious native of 
India, growing a yard high, and carrying white 
flowers from April till August. Its leaves are 
used by the Brahmins of the Madras presidency 
for seasoning buttermilk. An ornamental spe- 
cies was recently introduced from New Holland. 
CAST. A swarm or flight of bees. 
CASTANEHA. See Curstyvut. 
CAST-IRON. In our article Iron, a general 
account will be given of the first production or 
reduction, as it is called, of iron from its ore, and 
of the kind of metal produced, which, owing to 
its being very hard, viscid, and incapable of flow- 
ing freely, is unfit for making castings in iron. 
The first running of the iron is called crude or 
forge tron, because it has not been refined, but is 
in a proper state for the forge or mill, where it 
is converted into bar-iron, for which it is well 
suited as containing very little carbon. Now, 
The filiform spe- | 
