Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/336

* CASSABD. 286 CASSAVA. bound for Marseilles. In 1710 he released a con- voy of wheat blockaded in iSicih- by an English fleet, and safely brought it to Toulon; and two years later, with eight vessels, he attacked the Portuguese colonics for ransom, and after seiz- ing Saint Eustaehe sailed for Martinique with spoil of great value. In 1713 Cassard was declared by Duguay Trouin to be the greatest mariner of his day. Afterwards he became in- volved in a quarrel with Cardinal Fleury, by whom he was accused of irregularity in his ac- counts, was imprisoned, ami died after a cap- tivity of fifteen years. CASSAS, ka'sii'. Loris Francols (17561827). A French collector and designer, born in Azay-le- Fcrron (Indre). He was a great traveler, and during his journeys made drawings of the vari- ous views, buildings, and monuments that he had seen. These were i)ublislied in several volumes: Voi/age pittorcstjuc de la ISyrie, dc la Phciiicie, de la Palestine ct de la, liasse-Egypte {1799; incomplete) ; Voyage pittorcsqiic de I'Istrie et dc hi Uahnulie (1802); and others. He after- wards prejiarcd a collection of models of cele- brated buildings and examples of architecture which was bought by the Government for the institute. For eleven years Cassas was chief inspector of the Gobelins' manufactory in Paris. CASSATION (Fr.,from Lat. cassare, to annul, from cassu.s, empty), Court of. The supreme judicial tribunal of France. In French law the act of annulling the decision of a court is called cassation, and the function of cassation, as re- gards the judgments of all the other courts, is assigned to a special tril)unal, called the Court of Cassation. The present organization and pow- ers of the court date from t.lie Constitution of the revolutionary year VIII. (1799-1800), which enacted that there should be "for the whole of France a tribunal of cassation, which shall pro- nounce on demands for cassation against judg- ments in the last resort pronoimced by the tribunals," .and that this supreme tribunal shall pronounce no judgment on the foundation or merits of the cause, 1)ut that, in case of its break- ing the judgment pronounced, it shall remit the cause to the tribunal appealed from to pronounce another. Substantially the institution has re- tained its original character, notwithstanding all the changes of government which have occurred in France. The demand for cassation can be made only by the parties to the suit, or by the procureur-gi'iicral of the Court of Cassation, act- ing in the ])ublic interest. Criminal as well as civil judgincnt may be reviewed by the court, even imdcr certain circun)stances the judgments of justices of the peace and of courts-martial, military and naval. The del.ay allowed for bring- ing a civil case before the Court of Cassation is three months for pei-sons domiciled in France, six months for those in Corsica, a year for Amer- ican colonists, and two for all persons resident beyond the Cape of Good Hope. In criminal matters the procedure is nuieli more prompt, three full days only being allowed to the person condemned to bring his action of cassation, and the same space being given to the proeureur- gf^nf-ral. In all criminal and police cases, the Court of Cassation may pronounce judgment im- mediately after the expiration of this time, and miist do so within a mcmth. The court is divided into three sections, one of which deals exclusively with criminal matters. It consists of a presi- dent, who has the title of first president, and three vice-presidents, who are called jiresidcnts. 45 counselors ur ordinary judges, a procureur- general, or public prosccut(jr, substitutes, who have the title of advocates-general, and several inferior officers. The presidents and counselors are named by the executive for life, the other officers being removable at pleasure. No judg- ment can be pronounced imless eleven judges are present, the decision being determined by the majority. Where the numbers are equally di- vided, live judges are called in, and cases of ])ecu- liar difficulty ma_v be judged of by the tliree sections united. The whole court, when presided over by the ^linister of .Justice, possesses also the right of discipline and censure over all judges for grave offenses, not specially provided for by the law. Wlien thus constituted, the Court of Cassation may suspend the judges of the im- perial courts from the exercise of their functions, and call them to its bar. The proeureur-genfral of the Court of Cassation likewise possesses a suneillance over the procureiirs-gfnerau.x of the iiiip<'rial courts. See Ari'EAL; Court. CASSATT', Alexander .Toii.n'ston (1839—). An American railway president, born in Pitts- burg, Pa. He studied at Heidelberg and at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and from 1861 to 1882 rose in the service of the Pennsylvania Railway from rodman to first vice-president. In 1899 he became president of the Pennsylvania Company. CAS'SAVA, Mandioc, or MA^'IO0 (Neo-T.at., Fr. citssure, Sp. casahc, eazahe, from Haitian kasahi). Manihot iitiliasiiiia. A large, slirub- by plant belonging to the order Eui)liorbiaceir. Cassava is the West Indian name, and is used in the United States; manioc, or mandioc. the Brazilian; and in Peru and other parts of South America, it is called juca, or yuca. It is a native of tropical America, commonly grown in equatorial South America, in Central America, and the West Indies, where it was a chief source of food to the natives at the time of the dis- covery of America. Cassava is -now also <'Xtcn- sivcly grown in Africa, and has been introduced into other tropical countries. In the United States it is cultivated in Florida. The plant grows in a bushy form usually 6 to 8 feet high and with a spread of about the same dimensions. The brittle stems, containing a large, soft, white pith, spread out into many crooked branches bearing the green flowers and the broad, dark green, [)almately ilividcil Invcs. Cassava grows best mi light, sandy, dry soils. It is propagated by cuttings from the stems and branches, which are drop])ed into furrows and covered. The crop, cultivated with the imple- ments used in the cultivation of corn, matures in about seven months. The roots are harvested by hand. They are large, usually from one to three inches thick and from one to three feet long. For illuslratinn, see Plate of Carnations. Two varieties of Cassava are recognized, the poisonous and the non-poisonous, also called bitter and sweet cassava. The poisonous prin- ciple is hydrocyanic acid, which is contained in the juice of the plant. Both varieties yield a wholesome food, the volatile poison being driven off by heat in the process of preparation. In South America a sauce and an intoxicating beverage are prepared from the juice, while the root, grated, dried on hot metal plates, and