CASSELL, JOHN (1817-1865), British publisher, was born in Manchester on the 23rd of January 1817. His father was the landlord of a public-house, and John was apprenticed to a joiner. He was self-educated, gaining by his own efforts a considerable acquaintance with English literature and a knowledge of French. He came to London in 1836 to work at his trade, but his energies at this time were chiefly centred in the cause of temperance, for which he was an active worker. In 1847 he established himself as a tea and coffee merchant, and soon after started a publishing business with the aim of supplying good literature to the working classes. From the offices of the firm, which became in 1859 Messrs. Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co., were issued the Popular Educator (1852-1855), the Technical Educator (1870-1872), the Magazine of Art (1878-1903), Cassell’s Magazine (from 1852), and numerous editions of standard works. A special feature of Cassell’s popular books was the illustration. At the time of the Crimean War he procured from Paris the cuts used in L’Illustration, and by printing them in his Family Paper (begun in 1853) secured a large circulation for it. The firm was converted in 1883 into a limited liability company, under the name of Cassell & Company, Limited. John Cassell died in London on the 2nd of April 1865.
CASSIA (Lat. cassia, Gr. κασία), the aromatic bark derived from Cinnamomum cassia. The greater part of the supply coming from China, it is sometimes termed Chinese cinnamon. The bark is much thicker than that of true cinnamon; the taste is more pungent and the flavour less delicate, though somewhat similar to that of cinnamon. The properties of cassia bark depend on the presence of a volatile oil—the oil of cassia, which is imported in a fairly pure state as an article of commerce from Canton. Cassia bark is in much more extensive demand on the continent of Europe than in Great Britain, being preferred to cinnamon by southern nations. The chief use of both the oil and bark is for flavouring liqueurs and chocolate, and in cooking generally. When ground as a spice it is difficult to distinguish cassia from cinnamon (q.v.), and it is a common practice to substitute the cheap common spice for the more valuable article. Cassia Buds, which have a pleasing cinnamon flavour, are believed to be the immature fruits of the tree which yields Chinese cinnamon. They are brought in considerable quantities from Canton, and used as a spice and in confectionery. Cassia pulp, used as a laxative, is obtained from the pods of Cassia fistula, or pudding pipe tree, a native of Africa which is cultivated in both the East and West Indies. Some confusion occasionally arises from the fact that Cassia is the generic name of an extensive genus of leguminous plants, which, in addition to various other medicinal products, is the source of the senna leaves which form an important article of materia medica.
CASSIA, VIA, an ancient high-road of Italy, leading from Rome through Etruria to Florentia (Florence); at the 11th mile the Via Clodia (see [Clodia, Via]) diverged north-north-west, while the Via Cassia ran to the east of the Lacus Sabatinus and then through the place now called Sette Vene, where a road, probably the Via Annia, branched off to Falerii, through Sutrium (where the Via Ciminia, running along the east edge of the Lacus Ciminius, diverged from it, to rejoin it at Aquae Passeris, north of the modern Viterbo[1]), Forum Cassii, Volsinii, Clusium and Arretium, its line being closely followed by the modern highroad from Rome to Florence. The date of its construction is uncertain: it cannot have been earlier than 187 b.c.,[2] when the consul C. Flaminius constructed a road from Bononia to Arretium (which must have coincided with the portion of the later Via Cassia). It is not, it is true, mentioned by any ancient authorities before the time of Cicero, who in 45 b.c. speaks of the existence of three roads from Rome to Mutina, the Flaminia, the Aurelia and the Cassia. A milestone of a.d. 124 mentions repairs to the road made by Hadrian from the boundary of the territory of Clusium to Florence, a distance of 86 m.
See Ch. Hülsen in Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyclopadie, iii. 1669.
(T. As.)
[1] The Via Traiana Nova, or the (viae) tres Traianae, mentioned in inscriptions with the Cassia and Clodia as under the same curator, are not certainly identifiable.