CASS 372 CASSIUS of more than 3 feet at 100 yards from the shore, and in many places a depth of 12 feet is not reached within several miles of the beach. On the N. E. and E. it is especially shallow. The water level of the Caspian Sea is about 85 feet below that of the Black Sea. It receives the waters of a number of large rivers, of which the greatest is the Volga. The Ural, the Tereh, and the Kur also fall into it. The most important towns on its shores are Baku in the Azerbaijan republic, Astrakhan, Petrovsk, and Krasnovodsk in Russia, and Enzeli and Resht in Persia. Communication with the Baltic Sea is possible by way of the Volga and various canals. Baku is the eastern terminal of two railways, and Krasnovodsk the western terminal of the Transcaspian railway. CASS, LEWIS, an American states- man, diplomatist, and soldier, born in Exeter, N. H., Oct. 9, 1782; served in the War of 1812 ; was governor of Michi- gan Territory (1813-1831); Secretary of War (1831-1836) ; minister to France (1836-1842); United States Senator (1845-1848); Presidential candidate (1848); United States Senator (1849- 1857); Secretary of State (1857-1860). He wrote: "History, Traditions, and Languages of the Indians" (1823); "France, Its King, Court, and Govern- ment"; etc. He died in Detroit, Mich., June 17, 1866. CASSANDRA, according to Homeric legend, was daughter of Priam and He- cuba. She was passionately loved by Apollo, who promised to grant her what- ever she might require, if she would look with favor on his suit. She demanded the power of prophecy, and as soon as she had received it, refused to perform her promise, and slighted Apollo. The god, thus disappointed, wetted her lips with his tongue, and thus no belief was ever placed in her predictions. She en- deavored to prevent the entrance into Troy of the wooden horse of the Greeks, but was unsuccessful. CASSATT, ALEXANDER JOHN- STON, an American railway executive; born at Pittsburgh, Pa., Dec. 8, 1839. He received his education at the Uni- versity of Heidelberg and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N. Y. He entered the service of the Pennsylvania railroad in 1861 in the capacity of a surveyor and worked his way up through the various branches of the service until in June, 1899, he became president of the system. He was a successful execu- tive, and had many interests in banks, trust companies, and large corporations. It was chiefly due to his vision and en- terprise that the Pennsylvania terminal in New York, with its tunnels under the Hudson and East rivers, was planned and built. He died at Philadelphia, Dec. 28, 1906. CASSATT, MARY, an American figure and portrait painter, born in Pitts, burgh, Pa.; studied art in Philadelphia and in Europe; and lived some time in Spain and France. One of the first to adopt impressionistic methods, she ex- hibited some excellent work in the Paris Exposition of 1878; became a member of the Society of American Artists in 1880. As an etcher she ranks among the best. She painted almost exclusively women and children. Specimens of her art are in many American and Euro- pean private and public collections. Her studio is at Paris. CASSEL, or KASSEL, formerly the residence of the Elector of Hesse-Cassel, is now the chief town in the province of Hessen-Nassau, Prussia, on the Fulda, 91 miles N. N. E. of Frankfort-on-the- Main. The Old and New Town are con- nected by a bridge over the Fulda. There are several fine squares, in the principal of which, the Friedrichsplatz, the largest in any town in Germany, stands the palace of the ex-elector, an indifferent structure. There is a mu- seum and library (250,000 vols.), and a valuable picture-gallery. The city has manufactories of machinery, mathemati- cal instruments, gold and silver wares, chemicals, knives, gloves, leather, porce- lain, etc. There are many fine walks and public gardens in the viainity; among the latter are the gardens of Wil- helmshohe, in which is situated the ex- elector's summer palace, the residence of Napoleon III., while he was a prisoner of war, from Sept. 5, 1870, to March 19, 1871. Pop. about 170,000. CASSIOPEIA, or CASSIEPEIA, (1) the wife of Cepheus, King of .(Ethiopia, and mother of Andromeda. (2) "The Lady in her Chair," one of the northern circumpolar constellations included in Ptolemy's original 48. The figure is that of a woman seated in a chair and turn- ing backward round the pole of the heavens. The constellation is bounded by Cepheus, Camelopardalis, Perseus, An- dromeda, and Lacerta. It is in this con- stellation that the Nova (Lat. "new") of 1572, or Tycho Brahe's wonderful star, burst forth in November of that year. CASSIUS, full name, CAIUS CASSIUS LONGINUS, one of the assassins of Julius Csesar. In the civil war that broke out between Pompey and Caesar he espoused the cause of the former, and.
