CASTILE, a central district of Spain, divided by the mountains of Castile into Old Castile (1,800) in the N., and New Castile (3,500) in the S.:  the former consisting of a high bare plateau, bounded by mountains on the N. and on the S., with a variable climate, yields wheat and good pasturage, and is rich in minerals; the latter, also tableland, has a richer soil, and yields richer produce, breeds horses and cattle, and contains besides the quicksilver mines of Almaden.  Both were at one time occupied by the Moors, and were created into a kingdom in the 11th century, and united to the crown of Spain in 1469 by the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella.

CASTLE GARDEN, the immigration depot of New York where immigrants land, report themselves, and are advised where to settle or find work.

CASTLE OF INDOLENCE, a poem of Thomson’s, a place in which the dwellers live amid luxurious delights, to the enervation of soul and body.

CASTLEFORD (14), a town 10 m.  SE. of Leeds, with extensive glass-works, especially bottles.

CASTLEREAGH, LORD, entered political life as a member of the Irish Parliament, co-operated with Pitt in securing the Union, after which he entered the Imperial Parliament, became War Minister (1805), till the ill-fated Walcheren expedition and a duel with Canning obliged him to resign; became Foreign Secretary in 1812, and the soul of the coalition against Napoleon; represented the country in a congress after Napoleon’s fall; succeeded his father as Marquis of Londonderry in 1821, and committed suicide the year following; his name has been unduly defamed, and his services to the country as a diplomatist have been entirely overlooked (1769-1822).

CASTLES IN SPAIN, visionary projects.

CASTLETOWN, a seaport in the Isle of Man, 11 m.  SW. of Douglas, and the former capital.

CASTLEWOOD, the heroine in Thackeray’s “Esmond.”

CASTOR AND POLLUX, the Dioscuri, the twin sons of Zeus by Leda; great, the former in horsemanship, and the latter in boxing; famed for their mutual affection, so that when the former was slain the latter begged to be allowed to die with him, whereupon it was agreed they should spend a day in Hades time about; were raised eventually to become stars in the sky, the Gemini, twin signs in the zodiac, rising and setting together; this name is also given to the electric phenomenon called ST. ELMO’S FIRE (q. v.).

CASTREN, MATHIAS ALEXANDER, an eminent philologist, born in Finland, professor of the Finnish Language and Literature in Helsingfors; travelled all over Northern Europe and Asia, and left accounts of the races he visited and their languages; translated the “KALEVALA” (q. v.) the epic of the Finns; died prematurely, worn out with his labours (1813-1852).

CASTRES (22), a town in the dep. of Tarn, 46 m.  E. of Toulouse; was a Roman station, and one of the first places in France to embrace Calvinism.