Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/333

CASIMIR-PERIER. 283 CASS. testimony that was of any importance or public interct. CASINO, kft-se'nd (It. dim. of casa, house, Lat. casa, cottage). In Italy, a place for social reunions. The Italian nobles have long had casinos detached from the palaces in which they live, whither they can retreat and enjoy them- selves, and it is probable that the public casi- nos were the result of an attempt made by the middle classes to imitate their superiors. At the present time a casino is usually a place where musical or dancing soiri^es are held, containing a conversation-room, billiard-room, and cafe; but the name is very indefinitely applied in the United States. CASINO. See Cassino. CASINO, MoxTE. See Moxte Cassixo. CAS'XON, Wlluam (1692-1766). An Eng- lish typefounder, born at Bradley, Worcester- shire. He was recognized as the greatest stamp- cutter and type-founder of his day. The librani' of the American Antiquarian Society, at Worces- ter, Mass., contains the earliest specimen of his printing-types in book form. It is entitled, A Specimen of Printing Types hy William Caslon and Son (1763). CASORIA, ka-so're-a. A city in south Italy, 6 miles north of Xaples. It has many churches, and beautiful streets (.Map: Italy, D 10). The district produces silk and wine. Population, in 18S1 (commune), 10,000; in 1901, 12.905. CAS'PAR. In Weber's opera Der Freischiitz, an archer who, having sold himself to the Black Huntsman, is killed at the shooting-match by Max with one of the magic bullets given him by the devil. CASPARI, ka-spu're, Ivarl Paul (18U-92). A German Lutheran theologian and Orientalist. He was born, of Jewish parents, in Dessau, An- halt, studied in Leipzig and Berlin, became a convert to Christianity in 18.38, and was ap- pointed instructor of theology in the University of Christinnia, Xonvay, in "l847. In 1857 he was made full professor. He wrote many philo- logical and theological works, and made an espe- cial study of the so-called ecumenical creeds. His principal publications are the Gramniatica Arnbica (1844-48), and Mte und neue Qucllen zur Geffchichte des Taufsymhols und der Glau- lensrcgcl (1870). CASPE, kU'spa. A town in the Province of Saragossa, Spain, at the continence of the Ebro and Guadeloupe, 50 miles southeast of Saragossa (Map: Spain, E 2). It has a fine Gothic col- lege building, an ancient castle, and several eccle- siastical establishments. Olive and mulberry trees are extensively cultivated, and coal anil y iron are mined in the neighborhood. A congress of Aragonians, Catalonians, and Valencians as- sembled here in 1412 to settle the royal succes- sion. P(.|nilation, in 1901, 7S08. CASPER, kas'pcr, Johaxn Ludwig (1796- 1864). A German physician. He was bom in Berlin, and studied at the university of that city and in Halle and Giittingen. In 1820 he became lecturer in the University of Berlin, and in 18.39 full professor. From 1841 he was in charge of the medico-legal institute connected with the university. He exerted great influence, and his advice was constantly sought by the Government. His Bcitriige zur medizinischen Vol. IV— J'j. Statistik uniSlaatsarzneikunie (1825-37) marks the first serious attempt at the establishment of a .science of medical statistics. This work was followed by the Denl^uiirdiylcciten zur medi- zinischen iSlntixlik und titaatsarzneikunde, by which Caspar estaldislied himself as a high au- thority on this subject. A later work, entitled Praktif!ches Bavdhuch der gericht lichen Medizin, has passed tbrough eight editions. CAS'PIAKT SEA (translation of Lat. Maro Caspium, Gk. Kaffirla dda<r<ra, Kaspia thalassa, Kdffirtov TT^Xayos, J asp ion pclagos). A tideless inland sea or salt lake lying on the boundary between Europe and Asia, and bordered on the north by the Russian provinces of Astraklian and Uralsk, rui the east by L'ralsk and Russian Turkestan, on the south by Persia, and on the west by Persia, Transcaucasia, northern Cauca- sia, and Astrakhan. It extends about 700 miles in a nortli to south direction, and has a width varying from more than 100 to nearly 300 miles, and an area estimated at 170,000 square miles. The coa.st line is diversified by numerous capes, and by several bays or gulfs, of which the most prominent are Czarevitsa Bay and Kara Bugaz Gulf, on the east coast. The depression oecupie<l by the Caspian Sea is a part of a great basin which in recent geological times included the Aral Sea and the Black Sea, and probably con- nected by an arm w-ith the Arctic Ocean. The northern part of the Caspian depression is shal- low, the depth of water being generally less than 75 feet, but in the southern part, where the shore line conforms to the slopes of the Great Balkan, the Elburz, and the Caucasus Mountains, the depth reaches 2000 feet, and in places even 3000 feet. According to recent measurements, the water-level is about 97 feet below that of the Black Sea, and while rising and falling period- ic.tlly with the seasons, it experiences no ap- preciable permanent change. The waters in the southern part are saline, but in the northern shallow portion they are sufficiently fresh to freeze over in winter. The Casjiian Sea receives the drainage of the Volga, whose basin covers an area of 500,000 square miles: of the Ural, Emba, Kur, and of many less important rivers. Accord- ing to historical records, the Amu Dar>-a also has been a feeder of the Caspian Sea, although now it flows into the Aral Sea. The Caspian Sea is of great commercial importance to the Russian Empire, as it forms, with the Volga River, a natural waterway between the European and Asiatic provinces. Communication has been es- tablished with the Baltic Sea by wav of the Volga by means of canals. The great oil-fields on the Apsheron Peninsula, near Baku, thus find an outlet to nortlicrn Europe, while the crude and refined petroleum is also shipped by rail or transported through a pipe-line to Batum, on the Black Sea. The Caspian Sea has great sal- mon and sturgeon fislierics. The presence of seals and herring is an interesting zoological phe- nomenon. The most important Russian towns on the Caspian Sea are Astrakhan, at the em- boucliure of the Volga, Baku, Petrovsk, and Krasnovodsk. the last mentioned being the west- ern terminal of the Transcaspian railway. En- zeli, Kbnriema, and -Mialiad are Persian ports. CASQUE, kisk. See Helmet. CASS, George Washington (1810-88). An American engine<'r and railway president. He