Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/172

ASPIRATOR. AS'PIRA'TOR (Lat. ad, to + spirare, to breathe I . An apparatus used to draw air or other gases through bottles or similar vessels, which 'finds extensive use in the examination of gases by chemists. The simplest form con- sists of a tight vessel filled with water, with a stopcock connected with the upper end, and a second stopcock at the lower end. By opening these two stopcocks, the suction produced by the passage of the water out of the lower open- ing draws the gas into the receptacle. Various forms of apparatus based on this principle are used for industrial purposes.

ASPIROZ, as-pe'roth, Manuel de ( 183G — ). A ilexican statesman and diplomat. He was born at Puebla, and graduated in 1855 at the University of Mexico.' He fought in the war against the French, and in 1SG7 was appointed Assistant Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the newly established republic. From 1873 to 1875 he "was Mexican consul at San Fran- cisco, and in 1875 was elected to the Senate. He was a professor of law in the College of Puebla from 1883 to 1800; again became As- sistant Secretary of State for Foreign Afl'airs in 1890; and iii 1899 succeeded Senor Romero as Mexican Ambassador to the United States. His works include Codigo de extranjeria de los Estados-Vnidos ilexicanos (1876) and La liber- fad civil como hase del derecho internacional privado (1896).

ASPLE’NIUM (Gk. aaTrXipov, aspUnon, spleenwort, from d, a euphonic + o-ttXij^, splen, spleen). A genus of ferns, of the order or sub-order Polvpodiacefe. The species are nu- merous, there' being about 200, widely diffused both in the Xorthern and Southern hemi- spheres. Many of them are of great beauty; and the small" size of some recommends them to cultivators of ferns who find themselves much limited as to space. The species of this genus may lie readily recognized by their free veins and" their elongated sori, which are covered by the indusium. Some of the species bear the English name Spleenwort, as Asplenium trichomanes, viride, adiantmn - nigrum, etc., having been formerly supposed efficacious in removing obstruction's of the viscera. They have now fallen completely into disuse, but were at one time very much employed, princi- pally in the form of sirupy decoctions. Some of them, as Asplenium trichomanes and As- plenium adiantum-nigrum, are frequently called Maidenhair. At least a dozen species are met with in the eastern United States, of which the tall-growing ones, 1 to 4 feet high, Asplenium filix-fa-mina, Asplenium angustifolium, and As- plenhwi thehjpleroides are the best known. They are often cultivated, especially the first named, of which there are said to be at least half a hundred varieties. The genus Asplenium has had a long life-period upon the earth, it having appeared first during Middle Jurassic time, since which period it has spread over the entire land sirface of the globe.

ASPRAMONTE, as'pra-mun'ta. An Italian epic poem fnimded on thi^ traditional defeat of the Saracens by Charlemagne near a place called in the legend Asparamonte. Its author is un- known, but it was published in 1516, at Milan, a year after Orlando Furioso. 142 ASS.

ASPROMONTE, as'pro-mOn'ta (It., 'steep mount'). A mountain near Keggio, in South- western Italy (ilap: Italy, K 9). It rises 6365 feet above the sea, and is famous on account of the defeat and capture of Garibaldi by the forces of Victor Emmanuel, August 29, 1862, which took place near it.

ASPROPOTAMO, as'pr6-pot'a-m6. See AcHE- LOUS.

AS'QUITH, Herbert Henry (1852—). An English statesman, born at Morley, York- shire. He was educated at the City of London School and at Balliol College. Oxford. His college training prepared him especially for the practice of law. and he was admitted at Lin- coln's Inn in 1876, and four years afterwards became a queen's counsel. His political career began in 1886, when he was elected to Parlia- ment for East Fife, by which district he was re- elected in 1892 and in 1895. It was his intro- duction of the amendment to the Queen's speech in August, 1892, that led to the dissolution of Lord Salisbury's Government, and he became Home Secretji'ry in ilr. Gladst<me's Cabinet which followed." He served on the Ecclesiastical Commission until 1S95. His activity and effec- tiveness during the Home Rule debates made him the most conspicuous figure in the House. The position he assumed during the labor troubles of 1893 won the confidence of Parlia- ment, and led to his appointment as an arbi- trator of the strike of the London cabmen in 1894, a difficult office which he. discharged liy an award that was satisfactory to both sides. He drew up the bill providing for the dis- establishment of the Church of Wales intro- duced in 1894, and supported that measure until it was rejected by the House. Although technically a Liberal, and usually a thorough- going supporter of that party's policies. Jlr. Asquith declared in a public speech in London, on June 20, 1901, that he and the branch of the party he represented favored the Government's policy in the Boer War; and he contended that this "attitude did not justify an attack upon his party loyalty.

ASS (A. S. assa, Goth, asilus, Rus. oselii, Lat. asinus, probably of Eastern origin; cf. Heb. athon, she -ass) or Donkey, when domesti- cated. A member of the family Equida?. and genus Equus. of horses, zebras, etc. Two species are recognized by Blanford and other specialists — one Asiatic iind the other African. Asses resemble zebras rather than horses, in their less size, the presence of callosities on the forelegs alone, and the shortness of the hairs of the mane and tail, the latter (rather long) bearing mainly a terminal tuft. They differ from the zebras in color, in not having stripes (except as hereafter mentioned) and in having some- what longer ears — but never so long as in the donkey. Both species roam desert regions in small" bands, and are extremely hardy, agile, and swift. Their colors are pale, harmonizing with their surroundings, and their voices are between the neighing of the horse and the bray- ing of a donke}'^ Both are killed for food, and occasionally captured, bxit are intractable.

Asiatic ".4ss. The Asiatic ass [Equus hemionus) is distributed over all the arid interior of Asia, from Syria to eastern Mongolia and northern India, although more restricted now