Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/70

 62

CASSATION 3,500. A battle was fought here, Sept. 16, 1259, which resulted in the defeat and capture of the tyrant Ezzelino. On Aug. 16, 1705, a victory was gained here by the French under Vend6me, over the imperial troops under Prince Eugene; and on April 27, 1799, the French, under Moreau, were defeated here by the Rus- sians and Austrians, under Suvaroff. CASSATION, ourt of, the highest court of ap- peal in France. It was established by the con- stituent assembly toward the close of 1790, un- der the name of tribunal de cassation, with a view of putting an end to the confusion that had so largely prevailed in the judiciary system of the country, and of imparting to the whole juris- diction a spirit of unity, without endangering the independence of the inferior courts. In 1804 the name of courde cassation was given to the court, which it still retains. The functions of the court are not to go into the facts, but simply to revise the proceedings of the inferior courts, and any decision taken by the court of cassation is considered iinal and binding. It is composed of a president, 3 vice presidents (presidents de chambre), 45 counsellors, an at- torney general (procureur general), 6 assistant attorneys general (atocats generaux), and a chief clerk (greffier en chef) ; and only 60 advocates are permitted to plead before the court. The president and counsellors are named by the government for life ; the other officers are re- movable at pleasure. The court is divided into three chambers, one of appeals in civil and one in criminal cases, and the chamber of requests, a sort of preliminary tribunal, which decides on the locus standi and admissibility of the appeal. CASSAVA, the meal, and bread made from it, obtained from the roots of several species of the genus manihot (from the Indian manioc), Cassava (Manihot utilissima). plants of the family of the euphorliacea, which grow in the West Indies, South America, and Africa. Three species are described, but under different names by different botanists. The CASSEL genus, formerly included in the jatropha of Linnaeus, was separated by Kunth, and called janipha ; and the common species was designa- ted as J. manihot, of which two varieties, the sweet and bitter, are distinguished.- But later authorities designate the genus as manihot, and the common species as M. utilissima, another as M. aipi, and a third as M. janipha. The first is the bitter cassava, indigenous to Brazil, and cultivated in other parts of South America. It is a shrub 6 or 8 ft. high, with a large tuberous root, which sometimes weighs 30 Ibs. This root contains a large proportion of starch, which is associated with a poisonous milky juice, containing hydrocyanic acid and a bitter acrid principle. The other two species do not possess this poisonous juice. All are used alike for the preparation of the meal. The root is well washed, then scraped or grated to a pulp, and this, when of the poisonous kind, is thor- oughly pressed in order to remove the juice ; but even if some of this is left in the meal, it escapes by its volatility in the process of baking or drying the cakes upon a hot iron plate. Afterward dried in the sun, the cassava is kept as food, to be mixed with water and baked like flour in large thin cakes. These are a coarse, cheap kind of bread, much used by the negroes and poorer whites, in which the ligneous fibre is plainly visible. Its nourishing qualities con- sist in the starch of which it is principally composed. The expressed juice also furnishes by deposition a very delicate and nearly pure starch, when left to stand for some time. "Well washed with cold water, and afterward dried, this is the tapioca of commerce, sometimes called Brazilian arrowroot. CASSEL, a town of France, department of Le Nord, on the railway from Lille to Dunkirk, 28 m. N. W. of Lille; pop. in 1866, 4,242. It is situated on an isolated hill 600 ft. high, com- manding an extensive view, and has manufac- tories of lace, linen thread, and hosiery, brew- eries, tanneries, dye houses, and a considerable trade in cattle. It was the ancient capital of the Morini, and was known to the Romans as Castellum. It was strongly fortified during the middle ages. In 1071 Philip I. of France was defeated here by Robert the Frisian, count of Flanders ; in 1328 Philip VI. won a complete victory over the Flemish troops ; and in 1 f>77 Philip, duke of Orleans, brother of Louis XIV., defeated here the prince of Orange. CASSEL, or Kassel, a city of Germany, capital of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, and of the district of Cassel, formerly the electorate of Hesse-Cassel, situated on the river Fulda, 90 m. N. N.E. of Frankfort-on-the-Main ; pop. in 1871, 46,375, of whom about 5,000 were Ro- man Catholics, 1,500 Jews, and the remainder Protestants. It is connected by railway di- rectly with Frankfort and Hanover, and thence with the rest of Germany. It is divided into the old town, the lower new town, and the upper new town, and has 10 Protestant churches, a Catholic church, and a synagogue. In St.