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Rh Thus it would appear that the condition of the Aralo- Caspian area must have undergone very considerable alterations within the historic period ; and it is main tained by Major Wood (The Shores of Lake Aral, 187G) who has recently investigated the whole subject both physically and historically, that these alterations may have taken place without any such geological disturbances as some physical geographers have supposed necessary. Some of these changes, he argues, may be fairly attributed to human agency, which can be shown to have exerted a con siderable influence, not only on the amount of water carried along by the two great rivers of the Aralian area, but even, it is probable, on their course. But the hypothesis of an Asiatic Mediterranean will not of itself account for the facts which indicate that its basin was formerly in free communication with the general oceanic area. For as the water of this great inland sea must have risen to 220 feet above its present level, to have escaped across the ridge that formed its northern boundary, into the watershed uf the Obi, only an outward or overflow current could have passed that ridge, and no sea-water could have entered the basin from the outside. Hence the saltness, not only of the water of the Caspian and Aral seas, but of that of the numerous lakes still remaining in the most depressed spots formerly covered by the Asiatic Mediterranean, together with the large admixture of salt in the sand that covers what is now its dried-up bed, can only be accounted for on the supposition that this Asiatic Mediterranean was itself a &quot; survival &quot; of an extension of the oceanic area properly so called, retaining not only much of its salinity, but a portion of its characteristic fauna. And this conclusion derives confirma tion from the fact (ascertained by the researches of the Russian naturalist, Bogdanoff) that the polar fauna may be traced through the succession of salt lakes lying to the north of the Aral Sea, and that its proportion increases as we approach the Polar Ocean. Now it is certain that the whole of this area was submerged during the Cretaceous period, what is now the North Atlantic Ocean having then extended (with little interruption of its continuity) from the American continent to Siberia. The general rise of the Asiatic and European part of its sea-bed, which took place at the end of the Secondary period, may not improbably have cut off the Asiatic Mediterranean, enclos ing it within the limits already poiuted out, and at the same time elevating it above the general level of the sea. Under these conditions it would have for some time retained much of its original saltness ; and this seems the explana tion of the fact that the marine shells which are now scattered over the ancient sea-bed, and are occasionally found accumulated in masses, are much larger than the shells of the same species now inhabiting the weakly-saline Caspian. If the river-drainage into this area were more than sufficient to equalize its loss by evaporation, it may have remained without any essential alteration of its con ditions, until the opening of the Bosphorus initiated a new succession of changes, which in the case of the Aral Sea appear to be still in progress. In this later succession, such alterations in the courses of the two great rivers of the Aralian area as are distinctly indicated by historical as well as physical evidence must have exerted a very impor tant influence ; and a due appreciation of the results of these alterations seems (as already shown) to afford the clue to the differences in the accounts that have been given of the Aral Sea within the historic period.

Bibliography.—In addition to the writings of Professor Von Baer and Major Wood, of which special mention has already been made, the student of the physical geography of the Aralo-Caspian area should refer to the discussion between Sir Roderick Murchison and Sir Henry Rawlinson in the Journal of the R. Geoy. Soc. fur 1867 ; the paper of Professor Eichwald in the same journal ; the Aralseefrage of Roesler (Vienna, 1873) ; and the learned Das alle Bttt des Oxus of Professor Goeje (Leyden, 1875).  CASS, (1782-1866), an American general and statesman, was born at Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States, on the 9th October 1782. He began life as a law-student, and was called to the bar at the age of twenty. Four years later he became a member of the Ohio Legislature. During the war with England (1812- 1814) he served in the army, and rose to the rank of general. In 1813 he was appointed governor of Michi gan, a position which gave him the chief control of Indian affairs, for the territory was then occupied almost entirely by natives, there being only 6000 white settlers. This post he held for eighteen years, during which he obtained large tracts of territory from the Indians, insti tuted surveys, constructed roads, and explored the lakes and sources of the Mississippi. (For an account of these explorations see Xorth American Revieiv, 1., Iv.) About this time also he amassed the greater part of his large fortune by judicious purchase of land. In 1831 he became secretary of war under General Jackson, and he fulfilled the duties of this office during the first two years of the Florida war. Five years later he was appointed minister plenipotentiary to France, where he became acquainted with Louis Philippe, to whom he gives the highest praise in his France: its King, Court, and Government (1840). The cause of his resigning this appointment was that he disapproved of the concessions granted to England in the treaty concluded with Lord Ashburton by Daniel Webster, the American secretary of state, for the purpose of settling the dispute between England and the United States with regard to the north-eastern frontiers of the latter country. General Cass twice stood as candidate for the presidency, viz., in 1848 and 1852, but both times unsuccessfully. The last public office which he held was that of secretary of war under Buchanan; and, in the end of 1860, he retired into private life, upon the refusal of tha president to send reinforcements to Fort Sumter. He died on the 17th June 1865. The chief points of the policy of General Cass were his defence of slavery, and his consequent attack upon the quintuple treaty which aimed at its tsup- pression ; his advocacy of a high protective tariff, and of extension of territory in the case of Texas; and his support of the cause of national unity, notwithstanding his expressed opinion that the Union had no right to coerce the separate States. As an author, General Cass is known by the writ ings already mentioned, and by his history of the Indians of the United States, which appeared in 1823. Accounts of his life have been published by H. R. Schoolcrat t (1848), W. T. Young (1852), and W. L. G. Smith (1856).  CASSABA, or, a town of Asia Minor, in the sanjak of Manisa, 63 miles east of Smyrna, with which it is connected by rail. An abundant supply of water is conveyed to the town from a distance of two or three miles by an ancient aqueduct of very solid construc tion, which passes about 40 feet below the level of the soil, and is ventilated by air-shafts every 200 yards. Fountains are consequently numerous, and a stream of water flows down the middle of many of the streets ; but the lack of underground sewers keeps the channels in a very filthy condition. There is a large bazaar, and a very flourishing trade is carried on in the produce of the surrounding district. Cotton is the most important article, and there are four ginning factories in the town ; the silk-worm is largely raised and exported ; and the &quot; melons of Cassaba &quot; are sent not only to Smyrna but to Constantinople. The influence of the connection with Smyrna is shown by the comparative neglect of several Eastern customs and the 