Encyclopædia americana. A popular dictionary of arts, sciences, literature, history, politics and biography, a new ed.; including a copious collection of original articles in American biography; on the basis of the 7th ed. of the German Conversations-lexicon. Ed. by Francis Lieber, assisted by E. Wigglesworth ...

560 CASSIODORUS-CASSOWARY.
learned Roman, lived at the time of the CASSITERIDES, in ancient geography
donminion of the Ostrogoths, and contrib- a name given by Strabo to 10 islands, N.
uted to the promotion and preservation W. of Spain, in the open ocean, aboundof learning. He was born at Squillace ing in tin and lead. Strabo says the
(Scylaceumn), 480 A. D., or, as some say, Phlenicians only visited them. There
470, filled several public offices in Rome, are no islands where he describes them
and became secretary of the Ostrogoth to have been. They are, perhaps, the
king Theodoric, but, in 537, voluntarily modern Scillyislands. It isprobablethat
retired to a monastery in Calabria, where the ancient merchants kept their true
he died, 577. He made the monks of his situation secret from interested views,
convent copy the manuscripts of the an- which, in those times, could easily be
cient authors, and his book De Septema done.
Disciplinis liberalibus,' in which he treat- CAssIus, Longinus Caius, the friend of
ed of the trivium and quadrivium, and in- Brutus, was the questor of Crassus, and
serted extracts from the ancient classic preserved the few troops of that general
literature, was of much value in the mid- who escaped fromn the bloody battle with
dle ages. For Theodoric lie also wrote the Parthians. With these he defended
lis compilation of letters, Variarum Epis- Syria against the Parthians till the arrival
tollrum i)ri XH. He likewise composed of Bibulus. In the famous civil walr that
Historia Gothoruw (a History of' the broke out between Pompey and C@esar,
Gothls),-of which we have an epitome by he espoused the cause of the former, and,
Jornandes, and several theological works as commander of his naval forces, renof little importance. His works have dered him important services. When
been collected by J. Caret (Venice, 1679, Ceesar, after the victory at Pharsalia, was
fol.; new edit. 1721). in pursuit of Pompey, he advanced with
CASSIOPEIA; daughter of Arabus, and a few vessels, while crossing the Hlelleswife of Cepheus, to whoml she bore An- pont, against a fleet of 70 sail commandl -
dromeda. She dared to compare her ed by Cassius, and called upon him to
beauty to that of the Nereides, who, en- surrender. The latter, astonished by his
raged thereat, besought Neptune for ven- daring courage, surrendered at his sumgeance. The god, in compliance with mons. But, when it became evident that
the request of the water-nymphs, laid Cuesar was aiming at sole sovereignty,
waste the dominions of Cepheus by Cassius, who was a zealous republican,
means of a deluge and a dreadful sea- resolved to destroy the usurper, and exemonster. Thus it appears that in ancient cuted his plan, with the aid of several
timnes, as well as in modern, nations have fellow-conspirators, B. C. 44. He then,
had to suffer for the faults of their mas- together with Brutus, raised an army to
ters. Cassiopeia was the mother ofAtyml- maintain his country's freedom. They
ni us by an intrigue with Jupiter.-In were met by Octavius and Antony, who
astronomy, Cassiopeia is a conspicuous professed themselves the avengers of Cmeconstellation in the northern hemisphere, sar, at Philippi. The wing which Cassituated next to Cepheus. In 1572, a sius commanded being defeated, he imanew and brilliant star appeared in it, gined that all was lost, and killed himself,
which, however, after a short time, gradu- B. C. 42. Brutus called him the last of
ally diminished, and at last disappeared the Romans. (See Brutus and Ccesar.)
entirely. It was thought, at that time, by CASSOwaRY (casuarius, Briss.); a genuis
niany persons, that this was the star of birds, arranged by Cuvier in his family
which appeared to the wise men in the brevipennes, the first of the order grallc,
East. The constellation Cassiopeia con- waders, to which they are related solely
tains 52 stars of the first six magnitudes. by, their long, naked, stilt-like legs, and
CASSIQUIARI; a river of Colombia, be- long neck. In the form of the bill and
mg a large branch of the Rio Negro, and their mode of living, they more closely
remnarkable as forming a communication resemble the gallinaceous birds. The
between the two great rivers, the Amazon shortness of their wings totally unfits
and Orinoco. The Cassiquiari flows them for flying, and it would seem imifom the Orinoco, and joins the Rio Ne- possible for nature to have furnished musgro, which last is a large tributary of the cular power sufficient to move wings
Amazon. The reality of this comrnmuni- large enough to sustain their great weight,.ation, which had been previously assert- in the air. Unlike other birds, their peced by the Jesuit missionaries, was con- toral oi wing muscles are comparatively
firmed by the celebrated traveller Hum- slight and weak, while those of their pos-.
t.oldt. terior limbs are very robust and powerful