CAST 347 CAT

CAST                                                                   347                                                                       CAT

runner and a good swimmer. On the'head is a hard bony cap or helmet. The head is carried low while running, and the vines

cassowary

and branches strike this cap and slide over the back. It feeds mostly at night on fruits and berries. The birds may be tamed. If teased, they kick powerfully sideways.

Cast, a term applied when a work of sculptured art—a figure or a group of figures—is reproduced in plaster or, less perishably, in bronze. Famous works of antiquity are often thus reproduced when replicas (duplicates or repetitions) are made of them as models for study in schools of art or for exhibition in museums or art galleries. The process of reproduction is first to lubricate the original carefully that it may not be injured or defaced, and so that the applied plaster shall not adhere to it when it is coated with the plaster, after which, when the latter is dry, the mold or shell is removed, either whole or in parts. This cast, as it is called, when it is put together, furnishes, generally speaking, a faithful reproduction of the original, and from it repeated copies may be similarly made. When the original is designed to be reproduced in bronze or other metal, the process is termed founding, the reproduction being done from suitable molds in a foundry.

Caste. See India.

Castelar (kăs'tă-lăr^r), Emilio, a Spanish orator, statesman and writer, was born at Cadiz, September 8, 1832. He was for some years professor of history and philosophy in the university at Madrid. He took part in several political uprisings and helped to bring about the downfall of King Amadeus. in 1873. Castelar became dictator, but, when Alphonso XII became king, he fled

across the frontier. He returned to Spain in 1876 and devoted himself more to literature than to political and social questions. He died in 1899.

Castile. See Spain.

Castor-Oil, a familiar and simple purgative, derived from the seeds of the castor-oil plant (Ricinus Communis), a native of the Indies. Used as a laxative, it has a nauseous smell and disagreeable taste, which can, however, be partially overcome by using it in capsules of gelatin or by floating the oil on hot coffee. It is considerably

CASTOR-OIL PLANT

used in the arts as a lubricant for machinery, while in the East Indies it is employed as an illuminant as a lamp-oil.

Cas'tor and Pol'lux, often called Sons of Zeus, were, according to Homeric story, the brothers of Helen of Troy; but another tradition makes them only half-brothers of Helen, their father being Zeus; while still a third account makes only Pollux Zeus's son, and so he alone was immortal. Castor was famous for his skill in managing horses ; Pollux for his powers in boxing. Both received divine honors at Sparta as patrons of travelers by sea. They assisted at the battle (49Ŏ B. C.) of Lake Regillus. Zeus placed the brothers among the stars. They are the principal stars in the constellation of Gemini or the twins. Their names are also given to the electric appearance known as St. Elmo's Fire.

Cat, the name of a family which includes besides the wild and domestic cat, such animals as the lion, tiger, leopard, puma, jaguar, cougar or American panther, etc. The wild cat of Europe is larger and stronger