See works quoted underAral; also von Baer, “Kaspische Studien,†inBull. Sci. St-Pétersbourg(1855-1859), and in Erman’sArchiv russ.(1855-1856); Radde,Fauna und Flora des sudwestlichen Kaspigebietes(1886); J.V. Mushketov,Turkestan(St Petersburg, 1886), with bibliographical references; Ivashintsev,Hydrographic Exploration of the Caspian Sea(in Russian), with atlas (2 vols., 1866); Philippov,Marine Geography of the Caspian Basin(in Russian, 1877);Memoirs of the Aral-Caspian Expedition of 1876-1877(2 vols, in Russian), edited by the St Petersburg Society of Naturalists; Andrusov, “A Sketch of the Development of the Caspian Sea and its Inhabitants,†inZapiski of Russ. Geog. Soc.: General Geog.vol. xxiv.; Eichwald,Fauna Caspio-Caucasica(1841); Seidlitz, “Das Karabugas Meerbusen,†inGlobus, with map, vol. lxxvi. (1899); Knipovich, “Hydrobiologische Untersuchungert des Kaspischen Meeres,†inPetermanns Mitteilungen, vol. l. (1904); and Spindler, inIzvestia of Russ. Geog. Soc.vol. xxxiv.
See works quoted underAral; also von Baer, “Kaspische Studien,†inBull. Sci. St-Pétersbourg(1855-1859), and in Erman’sArchiv russ.(1855-1856); Radde,Fauna und Flora des sudwestlichen Kaspigebietes(1886); J.V. Mushketov,Turkestan(St Petersburg, 1886), with bibliographical references; Ivashintsev,Hydrographic Exploration of the Caspian Sea(in Russian), with atlas (2 vols., 1866); Philippov,Marine Geography of the Caspian Basin(in Russian, 1877);Memoirs of the Aral-Caspian Expedition of 1876-1877(2 vols, in Russian), edited by the St Petersburg Society of Naturalists; Andrusov, “A Sketch of the Development of the Caspian Sea and its Inhabitants,†inZapiski of Russ. Geog. Soc.: General Geog.vol. xxiv.; Eichwald,Fauna Caspio-Caucasica(1841); Seidlitz, “Das Karabugas Meerbusen,†inGlobus, with map, vol. lxxvi. (1899); Knipovich, “Hydrobiologische Untersuchungert des Kaspischen Meeres,†inPetermanns Mitteilungen, vol. l. (1904); and Spindler, inIzvestia of Russ. Geog. Soc.vol. xxxiv.
(P. A. K.; J. T. Be.)
1By the triangulation of 1840 its level was found to be 84 ft. below the level of the Black Sea. The Caucasus triangulation of 1860-1870 gave 89 ft.
1By the triangulation of 1840 its level was found to be 84 ft. below the level of the Black Sea. The Caucasus triangulation of 1860-1870 gave 89 ft.
CASS, LEWIS(1782-1866), American general and statesman, was born at Exeter, New Hampshire, on the 9th of October 1782. He was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, joined his father at Marietta, Ohio, about 1799, studied law there in the office of Return Jonathan Meigs (1765-1825), and was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty. Four years later he became a member of the Ohio legislature. During the War of 1812 he served under General William Hull, whose surrender at Detroit he strongly condemned, and under General W.H. Harrison, and rose from the rank of colonel of volunteers to be major-general of Ohio militia and finally to be a brigadier-general in the regular United States army. In 1813 he was appointed governor of the territory of Michigan, the area of which was much larger than that of the present state. This position gave him the chief control of Indian affairs for the territory, which was then occupied almost entirely by natives, there being only 6000 white settlers. During the eighteen years in which he held this post he rendered valuable services to the territory and to the nation; he extinguished the Indian title to large tracts of land, instituted surveys, constructed roads, and explored the lakes and sources of the Mississippi river. His relations with the British authorities in Canada after the War of 1812 were at times very trying, as these officials persisted in searching American vessels on the Great Lakes and in arousing the hostility of the Indians of the territory against the American government. To those experiences was largely due the antipathy for Great Britain manifested by him in his later career. Upon the reorganization of President Jackson’s cabinet in 1831 he became secretary of war, and held this office until 1836. It fell to him, therefore, to direct the conduct of the Black Hawk and Seminole wars. He sided with the president in his nullification controversy with South Carolina and in his removal of the Indians from Georgia, but not in his withdrawal of the government deposits from the United States Bank.
In 1836 General Cass was appointed minister to France, and became very popular with the French government and people. In 1842, when the Quintuple Treaty was negotiated by representatives of England, France, Prussia, Russia and Austria for the suppression of the slave trade by the exercise of the right of search, Cass attacked it in a pamphlet entitled “An Examination of the Questions now in Discussion between the American and British Government Concerning the Right of Search,†and presented to the French government a formal memorial which was probably instrumental in preventing the ratification of the treaty by France. In this same year the Webster-Ashburton treaty between Great Britain and the United States was concluded, and, as England did not thereby relinquish her claim of the right to search American vessels, Cass, after having taken such a decided stand in this controversy, felt himself in an awkward position, and resigned his post. His attitude on this question made him very popular in America, and he was a strong, but unsuccessful, candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 1844. From 1845 to 1848 and from 1849 to 1857 he was a member of the United States Senate, and in 1846 was a leader of those demanding the “re-annexation†of all the Oregon country south of 54° 40′ or war with England, and was one of the fourteen who voted against the ratification of the compromise with England at the 49th parallel. He loyally supported Polk’s administration during the Mexican War, opposed the Wilmot Proviso, and advocated the Compromise Measures of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Bill of 1854. In his famous “Nicholson letter†of December 1847 he made what was probably the earliest enunciation of the doctrine of “popular sovereignty,†namely, that the people of the territories should decide for themselves whether or not they should have slavery.
In 1848 he received the Democratic nomination for the presidency, but owing to the defection of the so-called “Barnburners†(seeFree-Soil Party) he did not receive the united support of his party, and was defeated by the Whig candidate, Zachary Taylor. His name was again prominent before the Democratic convention of 1852, which, however, finally nominated Franklin Pierce. On account of his eminently conservative attitude on all questions concerning slavery, General Cass has been accused of pandering to the southern Democrats in order to further his political aspirations. His ideas of popular sovereignty, however, were not inconsistent with the vigorous Democratic spirit of the west, of which he was a typical representative, and it is not clear that he believed that the application of this principle would result in the extension of slavery. As the west became more radically opposed to slavery after the troubles in Kansas, Cass was soon out of sympathy with his section, and when the Republicans secured control of the legislature in 1857 they refused to return him to the Senate. President Buchanan soon afterward made him secretary of state, and in this position he at last had the satisfaction of obtaining from the British government an acknowledgment of the correctness of the American attitude with regard to the right of search (or “visitation,†as Great Britain euphemistically termed it). In December 1860 he retired from the cabinet when the president refused to take a firmer attitude against secession by reinforcing Fort Sumter, and he remained in retirement until his death at Detroit, Michigan, on the 17th of June 1866. He wrote for theNorth Americanand theAmerican QuarterlyReviews, and publishedInquiries Concerning the History, Traditions and Languages of Indians Living Within the United States(1823), andFrance: Its King, Court and Government(1840).
See W.T. Young,Life and Public Services of General Lewis Cass(Detroit, 1852); W.L.G. Smith,Life and Times of Lewis Cass(New York, 1856). The best biography is by A.G. McLaughlin,Lewis Cass(revised edition, Boston, 1899), in the “American Statesmen†series.
See W.T. Young,Life and Public Services of General Lewis Cass(Detroit, 1852); W.L.G. Smith,Life and Times of Lewis Cass(New York, 1856). The best biography is by A.G. McLaughlin,Lewis Cass(revised edition, Boston, 1899), in the “American Statesmen†series.
CASSABA,a town of Asia Minor, in the sanjak of Manisa, 63 m. E. of Smyrna, with which it is connected by rail. Pop. estimated at 23,000, of which two-thirds are Mussulman; but the estimate is probably excessive. It has considerable local trade, and exports the products of the surrounding district. Cotton is the most important article, and there are ginning factories in the town; the silkworm is largely raised and exported; and the “melons of Cassaba†are sent not only to Smyrna but to Constantinople. There are fragments of marbles built into the houses, but the modern town does not seem to occupy any ancient site of importance.
CASSAGNAC, BERNARD ADOLPHE GRANIER DE(1806-1880), French journalist, was born at Avéron-Bergelle in the department of Gers on the 11th of August 1806. In 1832 he began his career as a Parisian journalist, contributing ardent defences of Romanticism and Conservatism to theRevue de Paris, theJournal des Débats, and toLa Presse. Then he founded a political journal,L’Époque(1845-1848), in which his violent polemics in support of Guizot brought him notoriety and not a few duels. In 1851, in theConstitutionnel, he declared himself openly an imperialist; and in 1852 was elected as “official candidate†by the department of Gers. As journalist and deputy he actively supported an absolutist policy. He demanded the restoration of religion, opposed the laws in favour of the press, and was a member of the club of the rue de l’Arcade. In March 1868 he accused the Liberal deputies of having received money from the king of Prussia for opposing the emperor, and when called upon for proof, submitted only false or trivial documents. After the proclamation of the republic (4th of September 1870) he fled to Belgium. He returned to France for the elections of 1876, and was elected deputy. He continued to combat all the republican reforms, but with no advantage to his party. He died on the 31st of January 1880. In addition to his journalistic articles he published various historical works, now unimportant.
His son,Paul Adolphe Marie Prosper Granier de Cassagnac(1843-1904), while still young was associated with his father in both politics and journalism. In 1866 he became editor of the Conservative paperLe Pays, and figured in a long series of political duels. On the declaration of war in 1870 he volunteered for service and was taken prisoner at Sédan. On his return from prison in a fortress in Silesia he continued to defend the Bonapartist cause inLe Pays, against both Republicans and Royalists. Elected deputy for the department of Gers in 1876, he adopted in the chamber a policy of obstruction “to discredit the republican régime.†In 1877 he openly encouraged MacMahon to attempt a Bonapartistcoup d’état, but the marshal’s refusal and the death of the prince imperial foiled his hopes. He now played but a secondary role in the chamber, and occupied himself mostly with the direction of the journalL’Autorité, which he had founded. He was not re-elected in 1902, and died in November 1904. His sons took overL’Autoritéand the belligerent traditions of the family.
CASSANA, NICCOLÃ’(1659-1714), often calledNicoletto, Italian painter, was born at Venice, and became a disciple of his father, Giovanni Francesco Cassana, a Genoese, who had been taught the art of painting by Bernardino Strozzi (“il Prete Genoveseâ€). Having painted portraits of the Florentine court, and also of some of the English nobility, Nicoletto was invited to England, and introduced to Queen Anne, who sat to him for her likeness, and conferred on him many marks of favour. He died in London in 1714, having given way to drinking in his later years. Cassana was a man of the most vehement temper, and would wallow on the ground if provoked with his work. One of his principal paintings is the “Conspiracy of Catiline,†now in Florence.
CASSANDER(c. 350-297b.c.), king of Macedonia, eldest son of Antipater, first appears at the court of Alexander at Babylon, where he defended his father against the accusations of his enemies. Having been passed over by his father in favour of Polyperchon as his successor in the regency of Macedonia, Cassander allied himself with Ptolemy Soter and Antigonus, and declared war against the regent. Most of the Greek states went over to him, and Athens also surrendered. He further effected an alliance with Eurydice, the ambitious wife of King Philip Arrhidaeus of Macedon. Both she and her husband, however, together with Cassander’s brother, Nicanor, were soon after slain by Olympias. Cassander at once marched against Olympias, and, having forced her to surrender in Pydna, put her to death (316). In 310 or 309 he also murdered Roxana and Alexander, the wife and son of Alexander the Great, whose natural son Heracles he bribed Polyperchon to poison. He had already connected himself with the royal family by marriage with Thessalonica, Alexander the Great’s half-sister, and, having formed an alliance with Seleucus, Ptolemy and Lysimachus, against Antigonus, he became, on the defeat and death of Antigonus in 301, undisputed sovereign of Macedonia. He died of dropsy in 297. Cassander was a man of literary taste, but violent and ambitious. He restored Thebes after its destruction by Alexander the Great, transformed Therma into Thessalonica, and built the new city of Cassandreia upon the ruins of Potidaea.
See Diod. Sic. xviii., xix., xx.; Plutarch,Demetrius, 18. 31,Phocion, 31; alsoMacedonian Empire.
See Diod. Sic. xviii., xix., xx.; Plutarch,Demetrius, 18. 31,Phocion, 31; alsoMacedonian Empire.
CASSANDER(orCassant),GEORGE(1513-1566), Flemish theologian, born at Pitthem near Bruges, went at an early age to Louvain and was teaching theology and literature in 1541 at Bruges and shortly afterwards at Ghent. About 1549 he removed to Cologne, where, after a profound study of the points of difference between the Catholic and reformed churches, he devoted himself to the project of reunion, thus anticipating the efforts of Leibnitz. In 1561 he published anonymouslyDe Officiis pii ac publicae tranquillitatis vere amantis viri in hoc dissidio religionis(Basel), in which, while holding that no one, on account of abuses, has a right utterly to subvert the Church, he does not disguise his dislike of those who exaggerated the papal claims. He takes his standpoint on Scripture explained by tradition and the fathers of the first six centuries. At a time when controversy drowned the voice of reason, such a book pleased neither party; but as some of the German princes thought that he could heal the breach, the emperor Ferdinand asked him to publish hisConsultatio de Articulis Fidei inter Catholicos et Protestantes Controversis(1565), in which, like Newman at a later date, he tried to put a Catholic interpretation upon Protestant formularies. While never attacking dogma, and even favouring the Roman church on the ground of authority, he criticizes the papal power and makes reflections on practices. The work, attacked violently by the Louvain theologians on one side, and by Calvin and Beza on the other, was put on the Roman Index in 1617. He died at Cologne on the 3rd of February 1566. The collected edition of his works was published in 1616 at Paris.
(E. Tn.)
CASSANDRA,in Greek legend, daughter of Priam and Hecuba. She was beloved of Apollo, who promised to bestow on her the spirit of prophecy if she would comply with his desires. Cassandra accepted the proposal; but no sooner had she obtained the gift than she laughed at the tempter, and refused to her promise. Apollo revenged himself by ordaining that her predictions should be discredited (Apollodorus iii. 12. 5); and hence it was in vain that on the arrival of Helen she prophesied the ruin of Troy. On the capture of that city she was ravished by Ajax, the son of Oïleus, in the temple of Minerva (Strabo vi. p. 264). In the distribution of the booty, Cassandra fell to the lot of Agamemnon; but again her foresight was useless, for he would not believe her prediction that he should perish in his own country. The prophecy was fulfilled, for both were slain through the intrigues of Clytaemnestra (Odyssey, xi. 421 ff.). It is to be noticed that there is no mention in Homer of her prophetic gifts. Together with Apollo, she was worshipped under the name of Alexandra.
CASSANO ALL’ IONIO,a town of Calabria, Italy, in the province of Cosenza; its railway station (6 m. S. of the town) is 37 m. N. by E. from the town of Cosenza, while it is 6 m. W. of Sibari, on the line between Metaponto and Reggio. Pop. 6842. It is very finely situated, 820 ft. above sea-level: the rock above it is crowned by a medieval castle commanding beautiful views: a tower is still pointed out as that from which the stone was thrown which killed Milo, but this rests on an erroneous identification of Cassano with the ancient Compsa (q.v.). There are warm sulphurous springs here which are used for baths.
CASSAVA,the name given to the farinaceous root of two species of Euphorbiaceous plants, the bitter cassava,Manihot utilissima, and the sweet cassava,M. Aipi, both highly important sources of food starches; Manihot is given as the native Brazilian name in Spanish writings of the 16th century. They are herbaceous or semi-shrubby perennials with very large fleshy, cylindrical, tapering roots as much as 3 ft. long and 6 to 9 in. in diameter, and filled with milky juice. The slender stems, 5 to 9 ft. high, bear large spreading long-stalked leaves, with the blade divided nearly to the base into three to seven long narrow segments. The plants are probably natives of South America, but the bitter cassava, which is the more important of the two in an economic sense, has been introduced into most tropical regions, and is extensively cultivated in west tropical Africa and the Malay Archipelago, from which, as well as from Brazil and other South American states, its starch in the form of tapioca is a staple article of export. The sap of the bitter cassava root contains hydrocyanic acid, and the root, being therefore highly poisonous, cannot be eaten in a fresh condition; while on the other hand the sweet cassava is perfectly innocuous, and is employed as a table vegetable. Exposure to heat dissipates the poisonous principle, and the concentrated juice is in that state used as the basis of cassareep and other sauces. From the bitter cassava roots many different food preparations are made in Brazil. The roots are preserved for use by being simply cleaned, sliced and dried; from such dried slices manioc or cassava meal, used for cassava cakes, &c., is prepared by rasping. The starch also is separated and used for food under the name of Brazilian arrowroot; and this, when agglomerated into pellets on hot plates, forms the tapioca (q.v.) of commerce. Cassava starch has a stellate hilum, which readily distinguishes it under the microscope from other starches.
1, An inflorescence showing ataa fruit which will presently separate into five one-seeded parts, about ½ nat. size.
2, Pistil of female flower.
3, Stamens and fleshy disc of male flower.
4, Seed with its appendage (strophiole or caruncle).
CASSEL,a town of northern France in the department of Nord, 34 m. N.W. of Lille by rail. Pop. (1906) 1844. It stands on an isolated hill (515 ft.) from which portions of France, Belgium and England can be seen, with 32 towns and 100 villages, including St Omer, Dunkirk, Ypres and Ostend. The former hôtel de ville (1634), the hôtel de la Noble Cour, once the seat of the jurisdiction of maritime Flanders, now the town-hall, and the hôtel des ducs d’Halluin are the historic buildings of the town. Cassel has a communal college. Its industrial establishments include tanneries, oil-mills, salt refineries and breweries, and there is trade in cattle and butter.
The town, supposed to occupy the site ofCastellum Menapiorum, was a Roman station, as numerous remains of the Gallo-Roman period attest, and an important centre of roads. It is frequently mentioned in the wars of the middle ages, and was the scene of important battles in 1071, when Robert, count of Flanders, vanquished his rival Arnulf; 1328, when Philip of Valois defeated the Flemish; and 1677, when William of Orange was defeated by Philip, duke of Orleans, brother of Louis XIV. General D.R. Vandamme (1770-1830) was born in the town.
CASSEL,orKassel, a city of Germany, capital of the former electorate of Hesse-Cassel, and, since its annexation by Prussia in 1866, capital of the province of Hesse-Nassau. Pop. (1885) 64,083; (1905) 120,446. It is pleasantly situated, in a hilly and well-wooded country, on both sides of the river Fulda, over which a stone bridge leads to the lower new town, 124 m. by rail N.N.E. from Frankfort-On-Main. The river is navigable for barges, and railways connect the town with all parts of Germany. The streets of the old town are narrow and crooked, and contain many picturesque gabled houses, generally of the 17th century, but those of the upper and lower new town, and the three suburbs, are not surpassed by any in Germany. The principal streets are the Königs-strasse (5100 ft. long and 60 broad), the Schöne Aussicht, and the Stände-platz (180 ft. broad with four rows of linden trees). The large Friedrichs-platz is 1000 by 450 ft. in area. In it stands a marble statue of the landgrave Frederick II. There is a fine view from the open side. The former residence of the electors (Residenzschloss) fronts this square, as well as the Museum Fridericianum, with afaçadeof Roman-Ionic columns. The museum contains various valuable collections of curiosities, interesting mosaics, coins, casts, a library of 230,000 volumes, and valuable manuscripts. In the cabinet of curiosities there is a complete collection of clocks and watches from the earliest to the present time. Among these is the so-called Egg of Nuremberg, a watch made about 1500 by Peter Henlein. Among other public places and buildings worthy of notice are the Roman Catholic church, with a splendid interior; the Königs-platz, with a remarkable echo; the Karls-platz, with the statue of the landgrave Charles; and the Martins-platz, with a large church—St Martin’s—with twin towers, containing the burial-vaults of the Hessian princes. The gallery of paintings, housed in a handsome building erected in 1880 on the Schöne Aussicht, contains one of the finest small collections in Europe, especially rich in the works of Rembrandt, Frans Hals and Van Dyck.
The town contains numerous educational institutions, including a technical college, a school of painting, a celebrated classical school, which the emperor William II. attended, and a military academy. The descendants of the French refugees who founded the upper new town have a church and hospital of their own. There are three Roman Catholic churches, an English church, and two synagogues. Music is much cultivated, and there is an opera with a first-rate orchestra, of which Ludwig Spohr was at one time conductor. The opera-house or theatre was builtby Jerome Napoleon, but in 1906 money was voted for a new building on the Auetor. A new Rathaus (town-hall) has been erected. There are also the Bose Museum, containing collections of pictures and antiquities of Hessian origin, museums of natural history and ethnography, an industrial exhibition hall, and an industrial art school. A handsome Gothic Lutheran church was erected in 1892-1897, a post office (Renaissance) in 1881, and new administrative offices and law courts in 1876-1880. The municipal (or Murhard) library, in the Hanau park, contains 118,000 volumes. The most noticeable of the modern public monuments are those to the emperor William I. (1898), to the musician Spohr (1883), and the Löwenbrunnen (1881). In the Karlsaue, a favourite public promenade lying just below the Schöne Aussicht, are the Orangerie and the marble baths. Cassel is the headquarters of the XI. German army corps, and has a large garrison. It is a favourite residence for foreigners and retired officers and government officials. The industries embrace engine-building, the manufacture of railway carriages and plant, scientific instruments, porcelain, tobacco and cigars, lithography, jute-spinning, iron-founding, brewing and gardening.
On a slope of the Habichtswald Mountains, 3 m. W. of Cassel, and approached by an avenue, is the summer palace of Wilhelmshöhe, erected in 1787-1794. Napoleon III. resided here, as a prisoner of war, after the battle of Sedan. The surrounding gardens are adorned with fountains, cascades, lakes and grottos, the principal fountain sending up a jet of water 180 ft. high and 12 in. in diameter. Here also is an interesting building called the Löwenburg, erected in 1793-1796 in the style of a fortified castle, and containing among other things portraits of Tudors and Stuarts. The principal curiosity is the Karlsburg cascade, which is placed in a broad ravine, thickly wooded on both sides. A staircase of 900 steps leads to the top. On one of the landings is a huge rudely-carved stone figure of the giant Enceladus, and at the top is an octagon building called the Riesenschloss, surmounted by a colossal copper figure of the Farnese Hercules, 31 ft. high, whose club alone is sufficiently capacious to accommodate from eight to ten persons. In different parts of the park, and especially from the Octagon, charming views are obtained. The park was first formed by the landgrave Frederick II., the husband of Mary, daughter of George II. of England, and was finished by his successor the landgrave William, after whom it was named.
The earliest mention of Cassel is in 913, when it is referred to as Cassala. The town passed from the landgraves of Thuringia to the landgraves of Hesse in the 13th century, becoming one of the principal residences of the latter house in the 15th century. The burghers accepted the reformed doctrines in 1527. The fortifications of the town were restored by the landgrave Philip the Magnanimous and his son William IV. during the 16th century, and it was greatly improved by the landgrave Charles (1654-1730), who welcomed many Huguenots who founded the upper new town. In 1762 Cassel was captured by the Germans from the French; after this the fortifications were dismantled and New Cassel was laid out by the landgrave Frederick II. In 1807 it became the capital of the kingdom of Westphalia; in 1813 it was bombarded and captured by the Russian general Chernichev; in 1830, 1831 and 1848 it was the scene of violent commotions; from 1850 to 1851 it was occupied by the Prussians, the Bavarians and the Austrians; in 1866 it was occupied by the Prussians, and in 1867 was made the capital of the newly formed Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau.
See Piderit,Geschichte der Haupt- und Residenzstadt Kassel(Kassel, 1882); Fr. Müller,Kassel seit 70 Jahren(2 vols., 2nd ed., Kassel, 1893); and Hessler,Die Residenzstadt Kassel und ihre Umgebung(Kassel, 1902).
See Piderit,Geschichte der Haupt- und Residenzstadt Kassel(Kassel, 1882); Fr. Müller,Kassel seit 70 Jahren(2 vols., 2nd ed., Kassel, 1893); and Hessler,Die Residenzstadt Kassel und ihre Umgebung(Kassel, 1902).
CASSELL, JOHN(1817-1865), British publisher, was born in Manchester on the 23rd of January 1817. His father was the landlord of a public-house, and John was apprenticed to a joiner. He was self-educated, gaining by his own efforts a considerable acquaintance with English literature and a knowledge of French. He came to London in 1836 to work at his trade, but his energies at this time were chiefly centred in the cause of temperance, for which he was an active worker. In 1847 he established himself as a tea and coffee merchant, and soon after started a publishing business with the aim of supplying good literature to the working classes. From the offices of the firm, which became in 1859 Messrs. Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co., were issued thePopular Educator(1852-1855), theTechnical Educator(1870-1872), theMagazine of Art(1878-1903),Cassell’s Magazine(from 1852), and numerous editions of standard works. A special feature of Cassell’s popular books was the illustration. At the time of the Crimean War he procured from Paris the cuts used inL’Illustration, and by printing them in hisFamily Paper(begun in 1853) secured a large circulation for it. The firm was converted in 1883 into a limited liability company, under the name of Cassell & Company, Limited. John Cassell died in London on the 2nd of April 1865.
CASSIA(Lat.cassia, Gr.κασία), the aromatic bark derived fromCinnamomum cassia. The greater part of the supply coming from China, it is sometimes termed Chinese cinnamon. The bark is much thicker than that of true cinnamon; the taste is more pungent and the flavour less delicate, though somewhat similar to that of cinnamon. The properties of cassia bark depend on the presence of a volatile oil—the oil of cassia, which is imported in a fairly pure state as an article of commerce from Canton. Cassia bark is in much more extensive demand on the continent of Europe than in Great Britain, being preferred to cinnamon by southern nations. The chief use of both the oil and bark is for flavouring liqueurs and chocolate, and in cooking generally. When ground as a spice it is difficult to distinguish cassia from cinnamon (q.v.), and it is a common practice to substitute the cheap common spice for the more valuable article.Cassia Buds, which have a pleasing cinnamon flavour, are believed to be the immature fruits of the tree which yields Chinese cinnamon. They are brought in considerable quantities from Canton, and used as a spice and in confectionery.Cassia pulp, used as a laxative, is obtained from the pods ofCassia fistula, or pudding pipe tree, a native of Africa which is cultivated in both the East and West Indies. Some confusion occasionally arises from the fact thatCassiais the generic name of an extensive genus of leguminous plants, which, in addition to various other medicinal products, is the source of the senna leaves which form an important article of materia medica.
CASSIA, VIA,an ancient high-road of Italy, leading from Rome through Etruria to Florentia (Florence); at the 11th mile the Via Clodia (seeClodia, Via) diverged north-north-west, while the Via Cassia ran to the east of the Lacus Sabatinus and then through the place now called Sette Vene, where a road, probably the Via Annia, branched off to Falerii, through Sutrium (where the Via Ciminia, running along the east edge of the Lacus Ciminius, diverged from it, to rejoin it at Aquae Passeris, north of the modern Viterbo1), Forum Cassii, Volsinii, Clusium and Arretium, its line being closely followed by the modern highroad from Rome to Florence. The date of its construction is uncertain: it cannot have been earlier than 187b.c.,2when the consul C. Flaminius constructed a road from Bononia to Arretium (which must have coincided with the portion of the later Via Cassia). It is not, it is true, mentioned by any ancient authorities before the time of Cicero, who in 45b.c.speaks of the existence of three roads from Rome to Mutina, the Flaminia, the Aurelia and the Cassia. A milestone ofa.d.124 mentions repairs to the road made by Hadrian from the boundary of the territory of Clusium to Florence, a distance of 86 m.
See Ch. Hülsen in Pauly-Wissowa,Realencyclopadie, iii. 1669.
See Ch. Hülsen in Pauly-Wissowa,Realencyclopadie, iii. 1669.
(T. As.)
1The Via Traiana Nova, or the (viae) tres Traianae, mentioned in inscriptions with the Cassia and Clodia as under the samecurator, are not certainly identifiable.2Having regard to the military importance of Arretium during the Punic wars, it is difficult to believe that no direct road existed to this point before 187b.c.
1The Via Traiana Nova, or the (viae) tres Traianae, mentioned in inscriptions with the Cassia and Clodia as under the samecurator, are not certainly identifiable.
2Having regard to the military importance of Arretium during the Punic wars, it is difficult to believe that no direct road existed to this point before 187b.c.
CASSIANUS, JOANNES EREMITA,orJoannes Massiliensis(?360-?435), a celebrated recluse, one of the first founders of monastic institutions in western Europe, was probably born inProvence about 360, but he spent the early part of his life in the monastery of Bethlehem with his friend Germanus, and his affinities were always Eastern rather than Western. In company with Germanus he visited Egypt, and dwelt for several years among the ascetics of the desert near the banks of the Nile. In 403 he repaired to Constantinople, where he received ordination as deacon at the hands of Chrysostom. At Marseilles (after 410) he founded two religious societies—a convent for nuns, and the abbey of St Victor, which during his time is said to have contained 5000 inmates. In later times his regulations enjoyed a high reputation, and were adopted by the monks and nuns of Port Royal. He was eventually canonized; and a festival in his honour long continued to be celebrated at Marseilles on the 25th of July. Cassianus was one of the first and most prominent of the Semi-Pelagians, maintaining that while man is by nature sinful, he yet has some good remaining in him, and that, while the immediate gift of God’s grace is necessary to salvation, conversion may also be begun by the exercise of man’s will. He further asserted that God is always willing to bestow his grace on all who seek it, though, at the same time, it is true that he sometimes bestows it without its being sought. These views have been held by a very large part of the church from his time, and embrace much of the essence of Arminianism. The style of Cassianus is slovenly, and shows no literary polish, but its direct simplicity is far superior to the rhetorical affectations which disfigure most of the writings of that age. At the request of Castor, bishop of Apt, he wrote two monumental and influential treatises on the monastic life. TheDe Institutione Coenobiorum(twelve books) describes the dress, the food, the devotional exercises, the discipline and the special spiritual dangers of monastic life in the East (gluttony, unchastity, avarice, anger, gloom, apathy, vanity and pride). TheCollationes Patrum, a series of dialogues with the pious fathers of Egypt, deal with the way in which these dangers (and others,e.g.demons) may be avoided or overcome. At the desire of Leo (then archdeacon of Rome) he wrote against Nestorius hisDe Incarnatione Dominiin seven books.
Editions.—Douay (1616) by Alardus Gazäus, with excellent notes; Migne’sPatrol. Lat.vols. xlix. and l.; M. Petschenig in the ViennaCorpus Script. Eccles. Lat.(2 vols., 1886-1888). See A. Harnack,History of Dogma, v. 246 ff., 253 ff.; A. Hoch,Die Lehre d. Joh. Cassian von Natur und Gnade(Freiburg, 1895); W. Moeller,History of the Chr. Church, i. 368-370.
Editions.—Douay (1616) by Alardus Gazäus, with excellent notes; Migne’sPatrol. Lat.vols. xlix. and l.; M. Petschenig in the ViennaCorpus Script. Eccles. Lat.(2 vols., 1886-1888). See A. Harnack,History of Dogma, v. 246 ff., 253 ff.; A. Hoch,Die Lehre d. Joh. Cassian von Natur und Gnade(Freiburg, 1895); W. Moeller,History of the Chr. Church, i. 368-370.
CASSINI,the name of an Italian family of astronomers, four generations of whom succeeded each other in official charge of the observatory at Paris.
Giovanni Domenico Cassini(1625-1712), the first of these, was born at Perinaldo near Nice on the 8th of June 1625. Educated by the Jesuits at Genoa, he was nominated in 1650 professor of astronomy in the university of Bologna; he observed and wrote a treatise on the comet of 1652; was employed by the senate of Bologna as hydraulic engineer; and appointed by Pope Alexander VII. inspector of fortifications in 1657, and subsequently director of waterways in the papal states. His determinations of the rotation-periods of Jupiter, Mars and Venus in 1665-1667 enhanced his fame; and Louis XIV. applied for his services in 1669 at the stately observatory then in course of erection at Paris. The pope (Clement IX.) reluctantly assented, on the understanding that the appointment was to be temporary; but it proved to be irrevocable. Cassini was naturalized as a French subject in 1673, having begun work at the observatory in September 1671. Between 1671 and 1684 he discovered four Saturnian satellites, and in 1675 the division in Saturn’s ring (seeSaturn); made the earliest sustained observations of the zodiacal light, and published, inLes Éléments de l’astronomie vérifiés(1684), an account of Jean Richer’s (1630-1696) geodetical operations in Cayenne. Certain oval curves which he proposed to substitute for Kepler’s ellipses as the paths of the planets were named after him “Cassinians.†He died at the Paris observatory on the 11th of September 1712.
A partial autobiography left by Giovanni Domenico Cassini was published by his great-grandson, Count Cassini, in hisMémoires pour servir à l’histoire des sciences(1810). See also C. Wolf,Histoire de l’observatoire de Paris(1902); Max. Marie,Histoire des sciences, t. iv. p. 234; R. Wolf,Geschichte der Astronomie, p. 450, &c.
A partial autobiography left by Giovanni Domenico Cassini was published by his great-grandson, Count Cassini, in hisMémoires pour servir à l’histoire des sciences(1810). See also C. Wolf,Histoire de l’observatoire de Paris(1902); Max. Marie,Histoire des sciences, t. iv. p. 234; R. Wolf,Geschichte der Astronomie, p. 450, &c.
Jacques Cassini(1677-1756), son of Domenico Cassini, was born at the Paris observatory on the 8th of February 1677. Admitted at the age of seventeen to membership of the French Academy of Sciences, he was elected in 1696 a fellow of the Royal Society of London, and becamemaitre des comptesin 1706. Having succeeded to his father’s position at the observatory in 1712, he measured in 1713 the arc of the meridian from Dunkirk to Perpignan, and published the results in a volume entitledDe la grandeur et de la figure de la terre(1720) (seeGeodesy). He wrote besidesÉlémens d’astronomie(1740), and died on the 18th of April 1756 at Thury, near Clermont. The first tables of the satellites of Saturn were supplied by him in 1716.
See C. Wolf,Histoire de l’observatoire de Paris; Max. Marie,Histoire des sciences, vii. 214; R. Wolf,Geschichte der Astronomie, p. 451; J.C. Houzeau,Bibl. astronomique; J. Delambre,Histoire de l’astronomie au XVIII’e siècle, pp. 250-275 (unfairly depreciatory); J.F. Montucla,Hist. des mathématiques, iv. 145, 248.
See C. Wolf,Histoire de l’observatoire de Paris; Max. Marie,Histoire des sciences, vii. 214; R. Wolf,Geschichte der Astronomie, p. 451; J.C. Houzeau,Bibl. astronomique; J. Delambre,Histoire de l’astronomie au XVIII’e siècle, pp. 250-275 (unfairly depreciatory); J.F. Montucla,Hist. des mathématiques, iv. 145, 248.
César François Cassini, orCassini de Thury(1714-1784), son of Jacques Cassini, was born at the observatory of Paris on the 17th of June 1714. He succeeded to his father’s official employments, continued the hereditary surveying operations, and began in 1744 the construction of a great topographical map of France. The post of director of the Paris observatory was created for his benefit in 1771, when the establishment ceased to be a dependency of the Academy of Sciences. Cassini de Thury died at Thury on the 4th of September 1784. His chief works are:—Méridienne de l’observatoire de Paris(1744),Description géométrique de la terre(1775), andDescription géométrique de la France(1784).
See C. Wolf,Histoire de l’observatoire de Paris, p. 287; Max. Marie,Histoire des sciences, viii. 158; J. Delambre,Histoire de I’astronomie au XVIII’e siècle, pp. 275-309; R. Wolf,Geschichte der Astronomie, p. 451; J.J. de Lalande,Bibliographic astronomique.
See C. Wolf,Histoire de l’observatoire de Paris, p. 287; Max. Marie,Histoire des sciences, viii. 158; J. Delambre,Histoire de I’astronomie au XVIII’e siècle, pp. 275-309; R. Wolf,Geschichte der Astronomie, p. 451; J.J. de Lalande,Bibliographic astronomique.
Jacques Dominique Cassini, Count (1748-1845), son of César François Cassini, was born at the observatory of Paris on the 30th of June 1748. He succeeded in 1784 to the directorate of the observatory; but his plans for its restoration and re-equipment were wrecked in 1793 by the animosity of the National Assembly. His position having become intolerable, he resigned on the 6th of September, and was thrown into prison in 1794, but released after seven months. He then withdrew to Thury, where he died, aged ninety-seven, on the 18th of October 1845. He published in 1770 an account of a voyage to America in 1768, undertaken as the commissary of the Academy of Sciences with a view to testing Pierre Leroy’s watches at sea. A memoir in which he described the operations superintended by him in 1787 for connecting the observatories of Paris and Greenwich by longitude-determinations appeared in 1791. He visited England for the purposes of the work, and saw William Herschel at Slough. He completed his father’s map of France, which was published by the Academy of Sciences in 1793. It served as the basis for theAtlas National(1791), showing France in departments. Count Cassini’sMémoires pour servir à l’histoire de l’observatoire de Paris(1810) embodied portions of an extensive work, the prospectus of which he had submitted to the Academy of Sciences in 1774. The volume included hisÉlogesof several academicians, and the autobiography of his great-grandfather, the first Cassini.
See J.F.S. Devic,Histoire de la vie et des travaux de J.D. Cassini(1851); J. Delambre,Histoire de l’astronomie au XVIII’e siècle, pp. 309-313;Phil. Mag.3rd series, vol. xxviii. p. 412; C. Wolf,Histoire de l’observatoire de Paris(1902), p. 234 et passim.
See J.F.S. Devic,Histoire de la vie et des travaux de J.D. Cassini(1851); J. Delambre,Histoire de l’astronomie au XVIII’e siècle, pp. 309-313;Phil. Mag.3rd series, vol. xxviii. p. 412; C. Wolf,Histoire de l’observatoire de Paris(1902), p. 234 et passim.
(A. M. C.)
CASSIODORUS(notCassiodorius), the name of a Syrian family settled at Scyllacium (Squillace) in Bruttii, where it held an influential position in the 5th centurya.d.Its most important member wasFlavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator(c. 490-585), historian, statesman, and monk. “Senator†(not a title) is the name used by himself in his official correspondence. His father held the offices ofcomes privatarumandsacrarum largitionum(controller of the emperor’s private revenue and the public exchequer) under Odoacer, and subsequentlyattached himself to Theodoric, by whom he was appointedcorrector(governor) of Bruttii and Lucania, andpraefectus praetorio. The son at an early age becameconsiliarius(legal assessor) to his father, and (probably in 507)quaestor, an official whose chief duty at that time consisted in acting as the mouthpiece of the ruler, and drafting his despatches. In 514 he was ordinary consul, and at a later date possiblycorrectorof his native province. At the death of Theodoric (526) he held the office ofmagister officiorum(chief of the civil service). Under Athalaric he waspraefectus praetorio, a post which he retained till about 540, after the triumphal entry of Belisarius into Ravenna, when he retired from public life. With the object of providing for the transmission of divine and human knowledge to later ages, and of securing it against the tide of barbarism which threatened to sweep it away, he founded two monasteries—Vivarium and Castellum—in his ancestral domains at Squillace (others identify the two monasteries). The special duty which he enjoined upon the inmates was the acquisition of knowledge, both sacred and profane, the latter, however, being subordinated to the former. He also collected and emended valuable MSS., which his monks were instructed to copy, and superintended the translation of various Greek works into Latin. He further amused himself with making scientific toys, such as sun-dials and water-clocks. As he is stated to have written one of his treatises at the age of ninety-three, he must have lived till after 580. Whether he belonged to the Benedictine order is uncertain.
The writings of Cassiodorus evince great erudition, ingenuity and labour, but are disfigured by incorrectness and an affected artificiality, and his Latin partakes much of the corruptions of the age. His works are (1) historical and political, (2) theological and grammatical.
1. (a)Variae, the most important of all his writings, in twelve books, published in 537. They contain the decrees of Theodoric and his successors Amalasuntha, Theodahad and Witigis; the regulations of the chief offices of state; the edicts published by Cassiodorus himself whenpraefectus praetorio. It is the best source of our knowledge of the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy (ed. T. Mommsen inMonumenta Germaniae Historica: Auctores Antiquissimi, xii., 1894; condensed English translation by T. Hodgkin, 1886).(b)Chronica, written at the request of Theodoric’s son-in-law Eutharic, during whose consulship (519) it was published. It is a dry and inaccurate compilation from various sources, unduly partial to the Goths (ed. T. Mommsen inMon. Germ. Hist.: Auct. Ant.xi. pt. i., 1893).(c) Panegyrics on Gothic kings and queens (fragments ed. L. Traube inMon. Germ. Hist.: Auct. Ant.xii.).2. (a)De Anima, a discussion on the nature of the soul, at the conclusion of which the author deplores the quarrel between two such great peoples as the Goths and Romans. It seems to have been published with the last part of theVariae.(b)Institutiones divinarun et humanarunt litterarum, an encyclopaedia of sacred and profane literature for the monks, and a sketch of the seven liberal arts. It further contains instructions for using the library, and precepts for daily life.(c) A commentary on the Psalms and short notes (complexiones) on the Pauline epistles, the Acts, and the Apocalypse.(d)De Orthographia, a compilation made by the author in his ninety-third year from the works of twelve grammarians, ending with his contemporary Priscian (ed. H. Keil,Grammatici Latini, vii.).The Latin translations of theAntiquitiesof Josephus and of the ecclesiastical histories of Theodoret, Sozomen and Socrates, under the title ofHistoria Tripartita(embracing the years 306-439), were carried out under his supervision.Of his lost works the most important was theHistoria Gothorum, written with the object of glorifying the Gothic royal house and proving that the Goths and Romans had long been connected by ties of friendship. It was published during the reign of Athalaric, and appears to have brought the history down to the death of Theodoric. His chief authority for Gothic history and legend was Ablavius (Ablabius). The work is only known to us in the meagre abridgment of Jordanes (ed. T. Mommsen, 1882).Complete Works.—Editio princeps, by G. Fornerius (Paris, 1579); J. Garet (Rouen, 1679; Venice, 1729), reprinted in J.P. Migne,Patrologia Latina, lxix., lxx. On Cassiodorus generally, seeAnecdoton Holderi, excerpts from a treatise of Cassiodorus, edited by H. Usener (Bonn, 1877), which throws light on questions connected with his biography; T. Mommsen, preface to his edition of theVariae; monographs by A. Thorbecke (Heidelberg, 1867) and A. Franz (Breslau, 1872); T. Hodgkin,Italy and her Invaders, iii. p. 280, iv. p. 348; A. Ebert,Allgemeine Geschichte der Litteratur des Mittelaltersi.; Teuffel-Schwabe,Hist. of Roman Literature(Eng trans.), § 483; G.A. Simcox,Hist. of Latin Literature(1884); W. Ramsay in Smith’sDictionary of Greek and Roman BiographyJ.B. Bury’s edition of Gibbon’sDecline and Fall, iv. 180, 522; R.W. Church in theChurch Quarterly Review, x. (1880); J.E. Sandys inHist. of Classical Scholarship(2nd ed., 1906); A. Olleris,Cassiodore, conservateur des livres de l’antiquité latine(Paris, 1891); G. Minasi,M.A. Cassiodoro ... ricerche storico-critiche(Naples, 1895); and C. Cipolla inMemorie della r. Accademia delle scienze di Torino(2nd ser. xliii. pt. 2, 1893); L.M. Hartmann in Pauly-Wissowa’sRealencyclopadie, iii. pt. 2 (1899), with note on the musical section of Cassiodorus’Institutionsby C. von Jan.
1. (a)Variae, the most important of all his writings, in twelve books, published in 537. They contain the decrees of Theodoric and his successors Amalasuntha, Theodahad and Witigis; the regulations of the chief offices of state; the edicts published by Cassiodorus himself whenpraefectus praetorio. It is the best source of our knowledge of the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy (ed. T. Mommsen inMonumenta Germaniae Historica: Auctores Antiquissimi, xii., 1894; condensed English translation by T. Hodgkin, 1886).
(b)Chronica, written at the request of Theodoric’s son-in-law Eutharic, during whose consulship (519) it was published. It is a dry and inaccurate compilation from various sources, unduly partial to the Goths (ed. T. Mommsen inMon. Germ. Hist.: Auct. Ant.xi. pt. i., 1893).
(c) Panegyrics on Gothic kings and queens (fragments ed. L. Traube inMon. Germ. Hist.: Auct. Ant.xii.).
2. (a)De Anima, a discussion on the nature of the soul, at the conclusion of which the author deplores the quarrel between two such great peoples as the Goths and Romans. It seems to have been published with the last part of theVariae.
(b)Institutiones divinarun et humanarunt litterarum, an encyclopaedia of sacred and profane literature for the monks, and a sketch of the seven liberal arts. It further contains instructions for using the library, and precepts for daily life.
(c) A commentary on the Psalms and short notes (complexiones) on the Pauline epistles, the Acts, and the Apocalypse.
(d)De Orthographia, a compilation made by the author in his ninety-third year from the works of twelve grammarians, ending with his contemporary Priscian (ed. H. Keil,Grammatici Latini, vii.).
The Latin translations of theAntiquitiesof Josephus and of the ecclesiastical histories of Theodoret, Sozomen and Socrates, under the title ofHistoria Tripartita(embracing the years 306-439), were carried out under his supervision.
Of his lost works the most important was theHistoria Gothorum, written with the object of glorifying the Gothic royal house and proving that the Goths and Romans had long been connected by ties of friendship. It was published during the reign of Athalaric, and appears to have brought the history down to the death of Theodoric. His chief authority for Gothic history and legend was Ablavius (Ablabius). The work is only known to us in the meagre abridgment of Jordanes (ed. T. Mommsen, 1882).
Complete Works.—Editio princeps, by G. Fornerius (Paris, 1579); J. Garet (Rouen, 1679; Venice, 1729), reprinted in J.P. Migne,Patrologia Latina, lxix., lxx. On Cassiodorus generally, seeAnecdoton Holderi, excerpts from a treatise of Cassiodorus, edited by H. Usener (Bonn, 1877), which throws light on questions connected with his biography; T. Mommsen, preface to his edition of theVariae; monographs by A. Thorbecke (Heidelberg, 1867) and A. Franz (Breslau, 1872); T. Hodgkin,Italy and her Invaders, iii. p. 280, iv. p. 348; A. Ebert,Allgemeine Geschichte der Litteratur des Mittelaltersi.; Teuffel-Schwabe,Hist. of Roman Literature(Eng trans.), § 483; G.A. Simcox,Hist. of Latin Literature(1884); W. Ramsay in Smith’sDictionary of Greek and Roman BiographyJ.B. Bury’s edition of Gibbon’sDecline and Fall, iv. 180, 522; R.W. Church in theChurch Quarterly Review, x. (1880); J.E. Sandys inHist. of Classical Scholarship(2nd ed., 1906); A. Olleris,Cassiodore, conservateur des livres de l’antiquité latine(Paris, 1891); G. Minasi,M.A. Cassiodoro ... ricerche storico-critiche(Naples, 1895); and C. Cipolla inMemorie della r. Accademia delle scienze di Torino(2nd ser. xliii. pt. 2, 1893); L.M. Hartmann in Pauly-Wissowa’sRealencyclopadie, iii. pt. 2 (1899), with note on the musical section of Cassiodorus’Institutionsby C. von Jan.
CASSIOPEIA,in Greek mythology, the wife of Cepheus, and mother of Andromeda; in astronomy, a constellation of the northern hemisphere, mentioned by Eudoxus (4th centuryb.c.) and Aratus (3rd centuryb.c.). Ptolemy catalogued 13 stars in this constellation, Tycho Brahe 46, and Hevelius 37. Its most interesting stars are:—Nova Cassiopeiae, a “new†star, which burst out with extraordinary brilliancy in 1572, when it was observed by Tycho Brahe, but gradually diminished in brightness, ultimately vanishing in about eighteen months;α-CassiopeiaeandR-Cassiopeiaeare variable stars, the former irregular, the latter having a long period;η-Cassiopeiae, a binary star, having components of magnitudes 3½ and 7½;σ-Cassiopeiae, a double star, one being white and of magnitude 5, the other blue and of magnitude 7½.
CASSITERIDES(from the Gr.κασσἰτεÏος, tin,i.e.“Tin-islandsâ€), in ancient geography the name of islands regarded as being situated somewhere near the west coasts of Europe. Herodotus (430b.c.) had dimly heard of them. Later writers, Posidonius, Diodorus, Strabo and others, call them smallish islands off (Strabo says, some way off) the north-west coast of Spain, which contained tin mines, or, as Strabo says, tin and lead mines—though a passage in Diodorus derives the name rather from their nearness to the tin districts of north-west Spain. While geographical knowledge of the west was still scanty and the secrets of the tin-trade were still successfully guarded by the seamen of Gades and others who dealt in the metal, the Greeks knew only that tin came to them by sea from the far west, and the idea of tin-producing islands easily arose. Later, when the west was better explored, it was found that tin actually came from two regions, north-west Spain and Cornwall. Neither of these could be called “small islands†or described as off the north-west coast of Spain, and so the Cassiterides were not identified with either by the Greek and Roman geographers. Instead, they became a third, ill-understood source of tin, conceived of as distinct from Spain or Britain. Modern writers have perpetuated the error that the Cassiterides were definite spots, and have made many attempts to identify them. Small islands off the coast of north-west Spain, the headlands of that same coast, the Scillies, Cornwall, the British Isles as a whole, have all in turn been suggested. But none suits the conditions. Neither the Spanish islands nor the Scillies contain tin, at least in serious quantities. Neither Britain nor Spain can be called “small islands off the north-west of Spain.†It seems most probable, therefore, that the name Cassiterides represents the first vague knowledge of the Greeks that tin was found overseas somewhere in or off western Europe.