first to perform cellular chemical studies on the giant chromosomes found in insect larvae. He also investigated the role of the nucleolus in protein synthesis.
Caspian Sea Inland salt lake between Europe and Asia, bordering Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Iran. With a basin 750 mi (1,200 km) long and up to 200 mi (320 km) wide and an area of 149,200 sq mi (386,400 sq km), it is the largest inland body of water in the world. Though it receives many rivers, including the Volga, Ural, and Kura, the sea itself has no outlet. It was important as a commercial route in the premodern era, when it formed part of the Mongol-Baltic trade route for goods from Asia. It is now a major source of petroleum. Its numerous ports include Baku in Azerbaijan and Bandar-e Anzall and Bandar-e Torka- man in Iran.
Cass, Lewis (b. Oct. 9, 1782, Exeter, N.H., U.S.—d. June 17, 1866, Detroit, Mich.) U.S. politician. He fought in the War of 1812 and served as governor of Michigan Territory (1813-31). As secretary of war (1831- 36) under Pres. Andrew Jackson, he directed the conduct of the Black Hawk and Seminole wars. He served as U.S. minister to France (1836— 42). In the U.S. Senate (1845^18, 1849-57), he supported westward expansion and the Compromise of 1850. He was the Democratic nominee in the presidential election of 1848, which he lost to Zachary Taylor. He later served as secretary of state (1857-60) but resigned when Pres. James Buchanan took no action to counter the secession of the Southern states.
Cassandra In Greek mythology, the daughter of King Priam of Troy. Apollo promised her the gift of prophecy if she would grant his desires; she accepted the gift but rebuffed the god, who took his revenge by ordaining that her prophecies should never be believed. She predicted the fall of Troy and the death of Agamemnon, but her warnings went unheeded. Given as part of the war spoils to Agamemnon, she was mur¬ dered with him.
Cassatt \ko-'sat\, Mary (b. May 22, 1844, Allegheny City, Pa., U.S.—d. June 14, 1926, Chateau de Beaufresne, near Paris, France) U.S. painter and printmaker, active in Paris. She spent her early years travel¬ ing in Europe with her wealthy family. After attending the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1860-65) she later studied in Paris, copying Old Masters. In 1874 Cassatt chose Paris as her permanent residence and established her studio there. She shared with the Impressionists an inter¬ est in experiment and in the use of bright colours inspired by the out-of- doors. Edgar Degas became her friend, and at his request she exhibited with the Impressionists. She portrayed scenes of everyday life, particu¬ larly images of mothers and children, and was skilled at drawing and printmaking. Some of her best works were executed in pastel. Through her social contacts with wealthy private collectors, she promoted Impres¬ sionism in the U.S. and exerted a lasting influence on U.S. taste.
cassava \k3-'sa-v3\ or manioc or yuca Tuberous edible perennial plant (. Manihot esculenta ) of the spurge family, from the New World trop¬ ics. It is cultivated for its tuberous roots, from which cassava flour, breads, tapioca, a laundry starch, and an alcoholic beverage are derived. It has conspicuous, almost palmate (fan-shaped) leaves and fleshy roots. Dif¬ ferent varieties range from low herbs through many-branched shrubs to slender, unbranched trees adapted to diverse habitats.
Cassavetes X.ka-so-'ve-tezV John (b. Dec. 9, 1929, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Feb. 3, 1989, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. film director and actor. He acted in films and in television dramas before making his directorial debut with the critically praised Shadows (1961), a low-budget indepen¬ dent film in the cinema verite style. He played featured roles in such films as The Dirty Dozen (1967) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and returned to directing independent films, including Faces (1968), Husbands (1970), and A Woman Under the Influence (1974), which dramatized marital prob¬ lems.
cassia \'ka-sha\ Spice, also called Chinese cinnamon, consisting of the aromatic bark of the Cinnamomum cassia plant, of the laurel family. Simi¬ lar to true cinnamon bark, cassia bark has a more pungent, less delicate flavor and is thicker. It is used as a flavoring in cooking. Whole buds, the dried, unripe fruits of C. cassia and C. loureirii , taste like the bark and are added to foods for flavoring. Confusion sometimes arises with another group of plants because Cassia is the name of an extensive genus of legumes, the source of various medicinal products and of senna leaves.
Cassidy, Butch orig. Robert Leroy Parker (b. April 13, 1866, Beaver, Utah, U.S.—d. 1909?, Concordia Tin Mines, near San Vicente,
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Bol.?) U.S. outlaw. Taking his name from an older outlaw mentor, Cassidy was a cattle rustler and a robber from the mid-1880s. In 1900 he became the criminal partner of Harry Longabaugh, the “Sundance Kid” (1870- 1909?), whose nickname derived from a town where he had once been imprisoned. They became the foremost members of the Wild Bunch, a group of bank and train robbers. The two eluded Pinkerton detectives by escaping to South America in 1901. They bought a ranch in Argentina but returned to a life of outlawry in 1906. In 1909, trapped by soldiers in Bolivia, Sundance was mortally wounded, and Cassidy shot himself. The time, place, and circumstances of their deaths vary widely in different accounts.
Cassini, Gian Domenico (b. June 8, 1625, Perinaldo, Republic of Genoa—d. Sept. 14, 1712, Paris, France) Italian-born French astronomer. His early studies were mainly observations of the Sun, but, after obtain¬ ing more powerful telescopes, he turned his attention to the planets. He calculated Jupiter’s and Mars’s rotational periods and compiled a table of the positions of Jupiter’s satellites. His observations of the Moon (1671— 79) led to his compiling a large map. In 1683, after a study of the zodia¬ cal light, he concluded it was of cosmic origin. He discovered four of Saturn’s moons: Iapetus (1671), Rhea (1672), Tethys (1684), and Dione (1684). The dark gap between two of Saturn’s main rings (Cassini’s divi¬ sion) is named for him.
Cassiodorus \,ka-se-o- l dor-os\ in full Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus (b. 490, Scylletium, Bruttium, kingdom of the Ostrogoths—d. c. 585, Vivarium Monastery, near Scylletium) Historian, statesman, and monk who helped preserve Roman culture after the col¬ lapse of the Roman Empire. He was secretary to Theodoric and later held other high imperial offices. Soon after 540 he founded a monastery to per¬ petuate the culture of Rome. He collected pagan and Christian manu¬ scripts and had the monks copy them, establishing a practice continued in later centuries. His own works included the Chronicon, a history of mankind to 519; De anima, on the soul after death; and Institutiones div- inarum et saecularium litterarum, on the study of scripture and the seven liberal arts.
Cassirer \ka-'sir-9r\, Ernst (b. July 28, 1874, Breslau, Silesia, Ger.—d. April 13, 1945, New York, N.Y., U.S.) German philosopher and educa¬ tor. He taught at the University of Berlin (1905-19) and the University of Hamburg (1919-33) before the rise of Nazism forced him to flee to Sweden and the U.S. Cassirer’s philosophy, based primarily on the work of Immanuel Kant, expanded that philosopher’s doctrines concerning the ways in which human experience is structured by innately existing con¬ cepts. After examining various forms of cultural expression, Cassirer con¬ cluded that man is uniquely characterized by his ability to use the “symbolic forms” of myth, language, and science to structure his expe¬ rience and thereby to understand both himself and the natural world. His most important original work is The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms (1923-29); he also wrote works on Kant, G.W. Leibniz, Renaissance cos¬ mology, and the Cambridge Platonists.