book 8

was printed with those of Eustratius and others by Aldus Manutius at Venice in 1536. They were partly (2-4) translated into Latin by Felicianus in 1541, and have frequently been republished, but their authenticity has been disputed. The most recent edition is by G. Heylbut in _Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca_, xix. 1 (Berlin, 1889).

Another ASPASIUS, in the 3rd century A.D., was a Roman sophist and rhetorician, son or pupil of the rhetorician Demetrianus. He taught rhetoric in Rome, and filled the chair of rhetoric founded by Vespasian. He was secretary to the emperor Maximin. His orations, which are praised for their style, are lost.

ASPEN, an important section of the poplar genus (_Populus_) of which the common aspen of Europe, _P. tremula_, may be taken as the type,--a tall fast-growing tree with rather slender trunk, and grey bark becoming rugged when old. The roundish leaves, toothed on the margin, are slightly downy when young, but afterwards smooth, dark green on the upper and greyish green on the lower surface; the long slender petioles, much flattened towards the outer end, allow of free lateral motion by the lightest breeze, giving the foliage its well-known tremulous character. By their friction on each other the leaves give rise to a rustling sound. It is supposed that the mulberry trees (_Becaim_) mentioned in 1 Chronicles xiv. 14, 15 were really aspen trees. The flowers, which appear in March and April, are borne on pendulous hairy catkins, 2-3 in. long; male and female catkins are, as in the other species of the genus, on distinct trees.

The aspen is found in moist places, sometimes at a considerable elevation, 1600 ft. or more, in Scotland. It is an abundant tree in the northern parts of Britain, even as far as Sutherland, and is occasionally found in the coppices of the southern counties, but in these latter habitats seldom reaches any large size; throughout northern Europe it abounds in the forests,--in Lapland flourishing even in 70 deg. N. lat., while in Siberia its range extends to the Arctic Circle; in Norway its upper limit is said to coincide with that of the pine; trees exist near the western coast having stems 15 ft. in circumference. The wood of the aspen is very light and soft, though tough; it is employed by coopers, chiefly for pails and herring-casks; it is also made into butchers' trays, pack-saddles, and various articles for which its lightness recommends it; sabots are also made of it in France, and in medieval days it was valued for arrows, especially for those used in target practice; the bark is used for tanning in northern countries; cattle and deer browse greedily on the young shoots and abundant suckers. Aspen wood makes but indifferent fuel, but charcoal prepared from it is light and friable, and has been employed in gunpowder manufacture. The powdered bark is sometimes given to horses as a vermifuge; it possesses likewise tonic and febrifugal properties, containing a considerable amount of salicin. The aspen is readily propagated either by cuttings or suckers, but has been but little planted of late years in Britain. _P. trepida_, or _tremuloides_. is closely allied to the European aspen, being chiefly distinguished by its more pointed leaves; it is a native of most parts of Canada and the United States, extending northwards as far as Great Slave Lake. The wood is soft and neither strong nor durable; it burns better in the green state than that of most trees, and is often used by the hunters of the North-West as fuel; split into thin layers, it was formerly employed in the United States for bonnet and hat making. It is largely manufactured into wood-pulp for paper-making. The bark is of some value as a tonic and febrifuge. _P. grandidentata_, the large-leaved American aspen, has ovate or roundish leaves deeply and irregularly serrated on the margin. The wood is light, soft and close-grained, but not strong. In northern New England and Canada it is largely manufactured into wood-pulp; it is occasionally used in turnery and for wooden-ware.

ASPENDUS (mod. _Balkis Kale_, or, more anciently in the native language, ESTVEDYS (whence the adjective _Estvedijys_ on coins), an ancient city of Pamphylia, very strongly situated on an isolated hill on the right bank of the Eurymedon at the point where the river issues from the Taurus. The sea is now about 7 m. distant, and the river is navigable only for about 2 m. from the mouth; but in the time of Thucydides ships could anchor off Aspendus. Really of pre-Hellenic date, the place claimed to be an Argive colony. It derived wealth from great _salines_ and from a trade in oil and wool, to which the wide range of its admirable coinage bears witness from the 5th century B.C. onwards. There Alcibiades met the satrap Tissaphernes in 411 B.C., and thence succeeded in getting the Phoenician fleet, intended to co-operate with Sparta, sent back home. The Athenian, Thrasybulus, after obtaining contributions from Aspendus in 389, was murdered by the inhabitants. The city bought off Alexander in 333, but, not keeping faith, was forcibly occupied by the conqueror. In due course it passed from Pergamene to Roman dominion, and according to Cicero, was plundered of many artistic treasures by Verres. It was ranked by Philostratus the third city of Pamphylia, and in Byzantine times seems to have been known as Primopolis, under which name its bishop signed at Ephesus in A.D. 431. In medieval times it was evidently still a strong place, but it has now sunk, in the general decay of Pamphylia, to a wretched hamlet.

The ruins still extant are very remarkable, and, with the noble Roman theatre, the finest in the world, have earned for the place (as is the case with certain other great monuments) a legendary connexion with Solomon's Sheban queen. On the summit of the hillock, surrounded by a wall with three gates, lie the remains of the city. The public buildings round the forum can all be traced, and parts of them are standing to a considerable height. They consist of a fine nympheum on the north with a covered theatre behind it, covered market halls on the west, and a peristyle hall and a basilica on the east. In the plain below are large thermae, and ruins of a splendid aqueduct. But all else seems insignificant beside the huge theatre, half hollowed out of the north-east flank of the hill. This was first published by C.F.M. Texier in 1849, and has now been completely planned, &c., by Count Lanckoronski's expedition in 1884. It is built of local conglomerate and is in marvellous preservation. Erected to the honour of the emperors Marcus Aurelius and L. Verus by the architect Zeno, for the heirs of a local Roman citizen (as an inscription repeated over both portals attests), its auditorium has a circuit of 313.17 feet. There are forty tiers of seating, divided by one _diazoma_, and crowned by an arched gallery of rather later date, repaired in places with brick. This auditorium held 7500 spectators. The seats are not perfect, but so nearly so as to appear practically intact. The wooden stage has, of course, perished, but all its supporting structures are in place, and the great scena wall stands to its full height, and produces a magnificent impression whether from within or from without. Inwardly it was decorated with two orders of columns one above the other, with rich entablatures, much of which survives. In the _tympanum_ is a relief of Bacchus (wrongly supposed to be of a female, and called the Bal-Kis, i.e. "Honey Girl"). The position of the sounding board above the stage is apparent. Under the forepart of the auditorium, built out from the hill, are immense vaults. The whole structure was enclosed within one great wall, pierced with numerous windows. This structure was probably put to some ecclesiastical Byzantine use, as certain mutilated heads of saints appear upon it; and later it became a fortress and received certain additions. It is now under the care of the local _agha_ and not allowed to be plundered for building stone.

See C. Lanckoronski, _Villes de la Pamphylie et de la Pisidie_, i. (1890). (D. G. H.)

ASPER, AEMILIUS, Latin grammarian, possibly lived in the 2nd century A.D. He wrote commentaries on Terence, Sallust and Virgil. Numerous fragments of the last show that as both critic and commentator he possessed good judgment and taste. They are printed in Keil, _Probi in Vergilii Bucolica Commentarius_ (1848); see also Suringar, _Historia Critica Scholiastarum Latinorum_ (1834); Grafenhan, _Geschichte der klassischen Philologie im Alterthum._ iv. (1843-1850). Two short grammatical treatises, extant under the name of Asper, and of very little value, have nothing to do with the commentator, but belong to a much later date--the time of Priscian (6th century). Both are printed in Keil, _Grammatici Latini_. See also Schanz, _Geschichte der romischen Litteratur_, S 598.

ASPER, HANS (1499-1571), Swiss painter, was born and died at Zurich. He wrought in a great variety of styles, but excelled chiefly in flower and fruit pieces, and in portrait-painting. Many of his pictures have perished, but his style may be judged from the illustrations to Gessner's _Historia Animalium_, for which he is said to have furnished the designs, and from portraits of Zwingli and his daughter Regula Gwalter, which are preserved in the public library of Zurich. It has been usual to class Asper among the pupils and imitators of Holbein, but an inspection of his works is sufficient to show that this is a mistake. Though Asper was held in high reputation by his fellow-citizens, who elected him a member of the Great Council, and had a medal struck in his honour, he seems to have died in poverty.

ASPERGES ("thou wilt sprinkle," from the Latin verb _aspergere_), the ceremony of sprinkling the people with holy water before High Mass in the Roman Catholic Church, so called from the first word of the verse (Ps. iv. 9) _Asperges me, Domini, hyssopo et mundabor_, with which the priest begins the ceremony. The brush used for sprinkling is an aspergill (_aspergillum_), or aspersoir, and the vessel for this water an _aspersorium_. The act of sprinkling the water is called _aspersion_.

ASPERN-ESSLING, BATTLE OF (1809), a battle fought on the 21st and 22nd of May 1809 between the French and their allies under Napoleon and the Austrians commanded by the archduke Charles (see NAPOLEONIC CAMPAIGNS). At the time of the battle Napoleon was in possession of Vienna, the bridges over the Danube had been broken, and the archduke's army was on and about the Bisamberg, a mountain near Korneuburg, on the left bank of the river. The first task of the French was the crossing of the Danube. Lobau, one of the numerous islands which divide the river into minor channels, was selected as the point of crossing, careful preparations were made, and on the night of the 19th-20th of May the French bridged all the channels from the right bank to Lobau and occupied the island. By the evening of the 20th great masses of men had been collected there and the last arm of the Danube, between Lobau and the left bank, bridged. Massena's corps at once crossed to the left bank and dislodged the Austrian outposts. Undeterred by the news of heavy attacks on his rear from Tirol and from Bohemia, Napoleon hurried all available troops to the bridges, and by daybreak on the 21st, 40,000 men were collected on the Marchfeld, the broad open plain of the left bank, which was also to be the scene of the battle of Wagram. The archduke did not resist the passage; it was his intention, as soon as a large enough force had crossed, to attack it before the rest of the French army could come to its assistance. Napoleon had, of course, accepted the risk of such an attack, but he sought at the same time to minimize it by summoning every available battalion to the scene. His forces on the Marchfeld were drawn up in front of the bridges facing north, with their left in the village of Aspern (Gross-Aspern) and their right in Essling (or Esslingen). Both places lay close to the Danube and could not therefore be turned; Aspern, indeed, is actually on the bank of one of the river channels. But the French had to fill the gap between the villages, and also to move forward to give room for the supports to form up. Whilst they were thus engaged the archduke moved to the attack with his whole army in five columns. Three under Hiller, Bellegarde and Hohenzollern were to converge upon Aspern, the other two, under Rosenberg, to attack Essling. The Austrian cavalry was in the centre, ready to move out against any French cavalry which should attack the heads of the columns. During the 21st the bridges became more and more unsafe, owing to the violence of the current, but the French crossed without intermission all day and during the night.

The battle began at Aspern; Hiller carried the village at the first rush, but Massena recaptured it, and held his ground with the same tenacity as he had shown at Genoa in 1800. The French infantry, indeed, fought on this day with the old stubborn bravery which it had failed to show in the earlier battles of the year. The three Austrian columns fighting their hardest through the day were unable to capture more than half the village; the rest was still held by Massena when night fell. In the meanwhile nearly all the French infantry posted between the two villages and in front of the bridges had been drawn into the fight on either flank. Napoleon therefore, to create a diversion, sent forward his centre, now consisting only of cavalry, to charge the enemy's artillery, which was deployed in a long line and firing into Aspern. The first charge of the French was repulsed, but the second attempt, made by heavy masses of cuirassiers, was more serious. The French horsemen, gallantly led, drove off the guns, rode round Hohenzollern's infantry squares, and routed the cavalry of Lichtenstein, but they were unable to do more, and in the end they retired to their old position. In the meanwhile Essling had been the scene of fighting almost as desperate as that of Aspern. The French cuirassiers made repeated charges on the flank of Rosenberg's force, and for long delayed the assault, and in the villages Lannes with a single division made a heroic and successful resistance, till night ended the battle. The two armies bivouacked on their ground, and in Aspern the French and Austrians lay within pistol shot of each other. The latter had fought fully as hard as their opponents, and Napoleon realized that they were no longer the professional soldiers of former campaigns. The spirit of the nation was in them and they fought to kill, not for the honour of their arms. The emperor was not discouraged, but on the contrary renewed his efforts to bring up every available man. All through the night more and more French troops were put across.

At the earliest dawn of the 22nd the battle was resumed. Massena swiftly cleared Aspern of the enemy, but at the same time Rosenberg stormed Essling at last. Lannes, however, resisted desperately, and reinforced by St Hilaire's division, drove Rosenberg out. In Aspern Massena had been less fortunate, the counter-attack of Hiller and Bellegarde being as completely successful as that of Lannes and St Hilaire. Meantime Napoleon had launched a great attack on the Austrian centre. The whole of the French centre, with Lannes on the right and the cavalry in reserve, moved forward. The Austrian line was broken through, between Rosenberg's right and Hohenzollern's left, and the French squadrons poured into the gap. Victory was almost won when the archduke brought up his last reserve, himself leading on his soldiers with a colour in his hand. Lannes was checked, and with his repulse the impetus of the attack died out all along the line. Aspern had been lost, and graver news reached Napoleon at the critical moment. The Danube bridges, which had broken down once already, had at last been cut by heavy barges, which had been set adrift down stream for the purpose by the Austrians. Napoleon at once suspended the attack. Essling now fell to another assault of Rosenberg, and though again the French, this time part of the Guard, drove him out, the Austrian general then directed his efforts on the flank of the French centre, slowly retiring on the bridges. The retirement was terribly costly, and but for the steadiness of Lannes the French must have been driven into the Danube, for the archduke's last effort to break down their resistance was made with the utmost fury. Only the complete exhaustion of both sides put an end to the fighting. The French lost 44,000 out of 90,000 successively engaged, and amongst the killed were Lannes and St Hilaire. The Austrians, 75,000 strong, lost 23,360. Even this, the first great defeat of Napoleon, did not shake his resolution. The beaten forces were at last withdrawn safely into the island. On the night of the 22nd the great bridge was repaired, and the army awaited the arrival of reinforcements, not in Vienna, but in Lobau.

See sketch map in article WAGRAM.

ASPHALT, or ASPHALTUM. The solid or semi-solid kinds of bitumen (q.v.) were termed [Greek: asphaltos] by the Greeks; and by some ancient classical writers the name of _pissasphaltum_ ([Greek: pissa], pitch) was also sometimes employed. The asphalt of the Dead Sea (known as _Lacus Asphaltites_) received considerable notice from early travellers, and Diodorus the historian states that the inhabitants of the surrounding parts were accustomed to collect it for use in Egypt for embalming. In common with other forms of bitumen, asphalt is very widely distributed geographically and occurs in greater or less quantity in rocks of all ages. There is some divergence in the views expressed as to the precise manner of its production, but it may certainly be said that the principal asphalt deposits are merely the result of the evaporation and oxidation of liquid petroleum which has escaped from outcropping strata. The celebrated Pitch Lake of Trinidad was long regarded as the largest deposit of asphalt in existence, but it is said to be exceeded in area, if not in depth also, by one in Venezuela. The Trinidad "Lake" has an area of 99.3 acres, and is sufficiently firm in places to support a team of horses. The deposit is worked with picks to a depth of a foot or two, and the excavations soon become filled up by the plastic material flowing in from below and hardening. The depth of the deposit is not accurately known. The surface is not level but is composed of irregularly tumescent masses of various sizes, each said to be subject to independent motion, whereby the interior of each rises and flows centrifugally towards the edges. As the spaces between them are always filled with water, these masses are prevented from coalescing. The softer parts of the lake constantly evolve gas, which is stated to consist largely of carbon dioxide and sulphuretted hydrogen, and the pitch, which is honeycombed with gas-cavities, continues to exhibit this

## action for some time after its removal from the lake. The working of the

deposit is in the hands of the New Trinidad Asphalt Company, who hold the concession up to the year 1930 on payment to the government of a minimum royalty of L10,000 a year. A circular line of tramway, supported on palm-leaves, has been laid on the lake to facilitate the removal of the asphalt. Very large quantities are exported for paving and other purposes, the annual shipments amounting to about 130,000 tons from the lake and about 30,000 tons from other properties. The amount of asphalt in the lake has been estimated at 158,400 tons for each foot of depth, and if the average depth be taken at 20 ft. this would give a total of 3,168,000 tons; but in 1908, though 1,885,600 tons had been removed in the previous thirty-five years, there was but little evidence of reduction in the quantity. The Venezuelan deposit already referred to is in the state of Bermudez, and the area of it is reported to be more than 1000 acres. The asphalt of Cuba is a well-known article of commerce, of which 7252 tons was exported to the United States in 1902. The principal deposits are near the harbour of Cardenas (70 ft. thick), in the Pinar del Rio, near Havana (18 ft. thick), at Canas Tomasita (105 ft. thick); and a specially pure variety near Vuelta.

The comparative composition of Trinidad and Cuba asphalt is given in the following table:--

+---------------------+---------+------------+------------+ | | Refined | Refined | Refined | | |Trinidad,|Cuba (soft),|Cuba (hard),| | | Melting | Melting | Melting | | |point 185| point 115 | point 160 | | | deg. F. | deg. F. | deg. F. | +---------------------+---------+------------+------------+ | Water. | 0.17 | 0.13 | 0.11 | | Volatile bitumen. | 51.81 | 64.03 | 8.34 | | Sulphur. | 10.00 | 8.35 | 8.92 | | Ash (earthy matter).| 28.30 | 19.51 | 16.60 | | Fixed carbon. | 9.72 | 7.98 | 66.03 | | +---------+------------+------------+ | | 100.00 | 100.00 | 100.00 | +---------------------+---------+------------+------------+

The chemical composition of Trinidad asphalt has been given as:--

+-------+------+------+------+-------+ | C. | H. | N. | O. | S. | +-------+------+------+------+-------+ | 80.32 | 6.30 | 0.50 | 1.40 | 11.48 | +-------+------+------+------+-------+

The following is a comparison of Trinidad and Venezuela (Bermudez) asphalt:--

Refined Refined Trinidad. Bermudez. Specific gravity at 60 deg. F. 1.373 1.071 Bitumen soluble in carbon bisulphide. 61.507 % 92.22 % Mineral matter (ash). 34.51 " 1.50 " Non-bituminous organic matter. 3.983 " 1.28 " Portion of total bitumen soluble in alcohol. 8.24 " 11.66 " Portion of total bitumen soluble in ether. 80.01 " 81.63 " Loss at 212 deg. F. 0.65 " 1.37 " Loss at 400 deg. F. in ten hours. 7.98 " 17.80 " Loss at 400 deg. on total bitumen. 12.811 " 18.308 " Evolution of sulphuretted hydrogen at 410 deg. F. none at 437 deg. F. Softening-point. 160 deg. F. " 113 deg. F. Flowing-point. 192 deg. F. " 150 deg. F.

Asphalt in its purest forms is generally black or blackish brown in colour, and is frequently brittle at ordinary temperatures. Apart from its principal use in the manufacture of paving materials, it is largely employed in building as a "damp-course" and as a water-excluding coating for concrete floors, as well as in the manufacture of roofing-felt. It also enters largely into the composition of black varnish. The material chiefly used in the construction of asphalt roadways is an asphaltic or bituminous limestone found in the Val de Travers, canton of Neuchatel; in the neighbourhood of Seyssel, department of Ain; at Limmer, near the city of Hanover; and elsewhere. The proportion of bitumen present in asphalt rock usually ranges from 7 to 20%, but it is found that rock containing more than 11% cannot be satisfactorily used for street pavements, and it is accordingly customary to mix the richer and poorer varieties in fine powder in such respective quantities that the proportion of bitumen present is from 9 to 10%. The richer rock is utilized as a source of asphalt "mastic," which is employed for footpaths, floors, roofs, &c. Excellent foundations for steam-hammers, dynamos and high-speed engines are made of asphaltic concrete. (B. R.)

ASPHODEL (_Asphodelus_), a genus of the lily order (Liliaceae), containing seven species in the Mediterranean region. The plants are hardy herbaceous perennials with narrow tufted radical leaves and an elongated stem bearing a handsome spike of white or yellow flowers. _Asphodelus albus_ and _A. fistulosus_ have white flowers and grow from 1-1/2 to 2 ft. high; _A. ramosus_ is a larger plant, the large white flowers of which have a reddish-brown line in the middle of each segment. Bog-asphodel (_Narthecium ossifragum_), a member of the same family, is a small herb common in boggy places in Britain, with rigid narrow radical leaves and a stem bearing a raceme of small golden yellow flowers.

In Greek legend the asphodel is the most famous of the plants connected with the dead and the underworld. Homer describes it as covering the great meadow ([Greek: asphodelos leimon]), the haunt of the dead (_Od._ xi. 539, 573; xxiv. 13). It was planted on graves, and is often connected with Persephone, who appears crowned with a garland of asphodels. Its general connexion with death is due no doubt to the greyish colour of its leaves and its yellowish flowers, which suggest the gloom of the underworld and the pallor of death. The roots were eaten by the poorer Greeks; hence such food was thought good enough for the shades (cf. Hesiod, _Works and Days_, 41; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xxi. 17 [68]; Lucian, _De luctu_, 19). The asphodel was also supposed to be a remedy for poisonous snake-bites and a specific against sorcery; it was fatal to mice, but preserved pigs from disease. The Libyan nomads made their huts of asphodel stalks (cf. Herod. iv. 190).

No satisfactory derivation of the word is suggested. The English word "daffodil" is a perversion of "asphodel," formerly written "affodil." The d may come from the French _fleur d'affodille_. It is no part of the word philologically.

See Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencyclopadie_, s.v.; H.O. Lenz, _Botanik der alten Griechen und Romer_ (1859); J. Murr, _Die Pflanzenwelt in der griechischen Mythologie_ (1890).

ASPHYXIA (Gr. [Greek: a-] priv., [Greek: sphaexis], a pulse), a term in medicine, literally signifying loss of pulsation, which is applied to describe the arrestment of the function of respiration from some hindrance to the entrance of air into the lungs. (See RESPIRATORY SYSTEM: _Pathology_.)

ASPIC (French, from Lat. _aspis_), an asp or viper found in Egypt whose bite is supposed to cause a swift and easy death, hence poetically a term for any venomous snake. From association, perhaps, with the coldness of the aspic (as in the French proverb, _froid comme un aspic_), the word is used for a savoury jelly containing meat, fish or eggs, &c. It is also the botanical name of the _Lavandula spica_, or spikenard, from which a white, aromatic and highly inflammable oil is distilled, called _huile d'aspic_.

ASPIDISTRA, a small genus of the lily order (Liliaceae), native of the Himalayas, China and Japan. _Aspidistra lurida_ is a favourite pot-plant, bearing large green or white-striped leaves on an underground stem, and small dark purplish, cup-shaped flowers close to the ground.

ASPIROTRICHACEAE (O. Butschli), an order of Ciliate Infusoria, characterized by an investment, general or partial, of nearly uniform cilia, without any distinct adoral wreath, and one or two adoral endoral undulating membranes. With the Gymnostomaceae it formed the Holotricha of Stein.

ASPIROZ, MANUEL DE (1836-1905), Mexican statesman and diplomatist, was born at Puebla, and educated at the university of Mexico, where he took his degree in 1855. He took part in the war against the emperor Maximilian, and in 1867, on the establishment of the republic, was appointed assistant secretary of state for foreign affairs. In 1873 he became Mexican consul at San Francisco, where he remained till his election to the Senate in 1875. He was professor of jurisprudence at the college of Puebla from 1883 to 1890, when he was again appointed assistant secretary of foreign affairs. From 1899 till he died in 1905 he was Mexican ambassador to the United States. Among his writings may be mentioned; _Codigo de extranjeria de los Estados-Unidos Mexicanos_ (1876), and _La liberdad civil como base del derecho internacional privado_ (1896).

ASPROMONTE, a mountain of Calabria, Italy, rising behind Reggio di Calabria, the west extremity of the Sila range. The highest point is 6420 ft. and the slopes are clad with forest. Here Garibaldi was wounded and taken prisoner by the Italian troops under Pallavicini in 1862.

ASQUITH, HERBERT HENRY (1852- ), English statesman, son of Joseph Dixon Asquith, was born at Morley, Yorkshire, on the 12th of September 1852. He came of a middle-class Yorkshire family of pronounced Liberal and Nonconformist views, and was educated under Dr Edwin Abbott at the City of London school, from which he went as a scholar to Balliol, Oxford; there he had a distinguished career, taking a first-class in classics, winning the Craven scholarship and being elected a fellow of his college. He was president of the Union, and impressed all his contemporaries with his intellectual ability, Dr Jowett himself confidently predicting his signal success in any career he adopted. On leaving Oxford he went to the bar, and as early as 1890 became a K.C. In 1887 he unsuccessfully defended Mr R.B. Cunninghame Graham and Mr John Burns for their share in the riot in Trafalgar Square; and in 1889 he was junior to Sir Charles (afterwards Lord) Russell as counsel for the Irish Nationalists before the Parnell Commission--an association afterwards bitterly commented upon by Mr T. Healy in the House of Commons (March 30, 1908). But though he attained a fair practice at the bar, and was recognized as a lawyer of unusual mental distinction and clarity, his forensic success was not nearly so conspicuous as that of some of his contemporaries. His ambitions lay rather in the direction of the House of Commons. He had taken a prominent part in politics as a Liberal since his university days, especially in work for the Eighty Club, and in 1886 was elected member of parliament for East Fife, a seat which he retained in subsequent elections. Mr Gladstone was attracted by his vigorous ability as a speaker, and his evidence of sound political judgment; and in August 1892, though comparatively unknown to the general public, he was selected to move the vote of want of confidence which overthrew Lord Salisbury's government, and was made home secretary in the new Liberal ministry. At the Home Office he proved his capacity as an administrator; he was the first to appoint women as factory inspectors, and he was responsible for opening Trafalgar Square to Labour demonstrations; but he firmly refused to sanction the proposed amnesty for the dynamiters, and he was violently abused by extremists on account of the shooting of two men by the military at the strike riot at Featherstone in August 1893. It was he who coined the phrase (Birmingham, 1894) as to the government's "ploughing the sands" in their endeavour to pass Liberal legislation with a hostile House of Lords. His Employers' Liability Bill 1893 was lost because the government refused to accept the Lords' amendment as to "contracting-out." His suspensory bill, with a view to the disestablishment of the church in Wales, was abortive (1895), but it served to recommend him to the Welsh Nationalists as well as to the disestablishment party in England and Scotland. During his three years of office he more than confirmed the high opinion formed of his abilities.

The Liberal defeat in 1895 left him out of office for eleven years. He had married Miss Helen Melland in 1877, and was left with a family when she died in 1891; in 1894, however, he had married again, his second wife being the accomplished Miss Margaret ("Margot") Tennant, daughter of the wealthy ironmaster, Sir Charles Tennant, Bart., a lady well known in London society as a member of the coterie known as "Souls," and commonly identified as the original of Mr E.F. Benson's _Dodo_ (1893). On leaving the Home Office in 1895, Mr Asquith decided to return to his work at the bar, a course which excited much comment, since it was unprecedented that a minister who had exercised judicial functions in that capacity should take up again the position of an advocate; but it was obvious that to maintain the tradition was difficult in the case of a man who had no sufficient independent means. During the years of Unionist ascendancy Mr Asquith divided his energies between his legal work and politics; but his adhesion to Lord Rosebery (q.v.) as a Liberal Imperialist at the time of the Boer War, while it strengthened his position in the eyes of the public, put him in some difficulty with his own party, led as it was by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (q.v.), who was identified with the "pro-Boer" policy. He was one of the founders of the Liberal League, and his courageous definiteness of view and intellectual vigour marked him out as Lord Rosebery's chief lieutenant if that statesman should ever return to power. He thus became identified with the Roseberyite attitude towards Irish Home Rule; and, while he continued to uphold the Gladstonian policy in theory, in practice the Irish Nationalists felt that very little could be expected from his advocacy. In spite of his Imperialist views, however, he did much to smooth over the party difficulties, and when the tariff-reform movement began in 1903, he seized the opportunity for rallying the Liberals to the banner of free-trade and championing the "orthodox" English political economy, on which indeed he had been a lecturer in his younger days. During the critical years of Mr Chamberlain's crusade (1903-1906) he made himself the chief spokesman of the Liberal party, delivering a series of speeches in answer to those of the tariff-reform leader; and his persistent following and answering of Mr Chamberlain had undoubted effect. He also made useful party capital out of the necessity for financial retrenchment, owing to the large increase in public expenditure, maintained by the Unionist government even after the Boer War was over; and his mastery of statistical detail and argument made his appointment as chancellor of the exchequer part of the natural order of things when in December 1905 Mr Balfour resigned and Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (q.v.) became prime minister.

During Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's premiership, Mr Asquith gradually rose in political importance, and in 1907 the prime minister's ill-health resulted in much of the leadership in the Commons devolving on the chancellor of the exchequer. At first the party as a whole had regarded him somewhat coldly. And his unbending common-sense, and sobriety of criticism in matters which deeply interested the less academic Radicals who were enthusiasts for extreme courses, would have made the parliamentary situation difficult but for the exceptional popularity of the prime minister. In the autumn of 1907, however, as the latter's retention of office became more and more improbable, it became evident that no other possible successor had equal qualifications. The session of 1908 opened with Mr Asquith acting avowedly as the prime minister's deputy, and the course of business was itself of a nature to emphasize his claims. After two rather humdrum budgets he was pledged to inaugurate a system of old-age pensions (forming the chief feature of the budget of 1908, personally introduced by him at the beginning of May), and his speech in April on the Licensing Bill was a triumph of clear exposition, though later in the year, after passing the Commons, it was thrown out by the Lords. On the 5th of April it was announced that Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman had resigned and Mr Asquith been sent for by the king. As the latter was staying at Biarritz, the unprecedented course was followed of Mr Asquith journeying there for the purpose, and on the 8th he resigned the chancellorship of the exchequer and kissed hands as prime minister. The names of the new cabinet were announced on the 13th. The new appointments were: Lord Tweedmouth as lord president of the council (instead of the admiralty); Lord Crewe as colonial secretary (instead of lord president of the council); Mr D. Lloyd George, chancellor of the exchequer (transferred from the Board of Trade); Mr R. McKenna, first lord of the admiralty (instead of minister of education); Mr Winston Churchill, president of the Board of Trade; and Mr Walter Runciman, minister of education. Lord Elgin ceased to be colonial secretary, but Lord Loreburn (lord chancellor), Lord Ripon (lord privy seal), Mr H. Gladstone (Home Office), Sir E. Grey (foreign affairs), Mr Haldane (War Office), Mr Sinclair (secretary for Scotland; created in 1909 Lord Pentland), Mr Burns (Local Government Board), Lord Carrington (Board of Agriculture), Mr Birrell (Irish secretary), Mr S. Buxton (postmaster-general), Mr L. Harcourt (commissioner of works), Mr John Morley (India) and Sir Henry Fowler (duchy of Lancaster) retained their offices, the two latter being created peers. The Budget (see LLOYD GEORGE) was the sole feature of political interest in 1909, and its rejection in December by the Lords led to the general election of January 1910, which left the Liberals and Unionists practically equal, with the Labour and Irish parties dominating the situation (L. 275, U. 273, Lab. 40, I. 82). Mr Asquith was in a difficult position, but the ministry remained in office; and he had developed a concentration of forces with a view to attacking the veto of the House of Lords (see PARLIAMENT), when the death of the king in May caused a suspension of hostilities. A conference between the leaders on both sides was arranged, to discuss whether any compromise was possible, and controversy was postponed to an autumn session. (H. Ch.)

ASS (O.E. _assa_; Lat. _asinus_), a common name (the synonym "donkey" is supposed to be derived either by analogy from "monkey," or from the Christian name Duncan; cf. Neddy, Jack, Dicky, &c.) for different varieties of the sub-genus _Asinus_, belonging to the horse tribe, and especially for the domestic ass; it differs from the horse in its smaller size, long ears, the character of its tail, fur and markings, and its proverbial dulness and obstinacy. The ancient Egyptians symbolized an ignorant person by the head and ears of an ass, and the Romans thought it a bad omen to meet one. In the middle ages the Germans of Westphalia made the ass the symbol of St Thomas, the incredulous apostle; the boy who was last to enter school on St Thomas' day was called the "Ass Thomas" (Gubernatis's _Zoological Mythology_, i. 362). The foolishness and obstinacy of the ass has caused the name to be transferred metaphorically to human beings; and the fifth proposition of

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