dicates his family connection with the untamable members of his race, the zebra and quagga, who are yet more conspicuously striped, and of whose character and disposition the ass possesses many points. The usual color of the ass is gray, mouse-colored, or black; and as he tends to bay, dun, or chestnut, the horse colors, the quality deteriorates. The dental system of the ass assimilates that of the horse, and in like manner indicates the age of the animal by the changes and marks of the teeth. The male ass is capable of propagation at two years, the female somewhat earlier; the latter carries her foal 11 months, producing it in the beginning of the 12th. The sexual vigor in both sexes is excessive, which may explain the fact that in the hybrids of the ass and horse the offspring are much nearer, as well in organization as in temper and appearance, to the former than to the latter progenitor. In all cases the mule is an ass modified by a strain of the horse; not a horse modified by a cross with the ass. The hybrid foal of the male ass and the mare is the true mule; that of the stallion and the she ass, the hinny-the latter being less strongly tinctured with the blood and having less of the form of the ass, owing to the superior influence of the male in the physical form and external organization of the progeny. The mule, like the ass, brays, owing to a peculiar construction of the larynx; while the hinny neighs, like its sire.-There is no doubt but that with careful breeding, grooming, stabling, and nutritious feeding, the ass might be improved at least as much as any other domestic animal. As it is, he is admirably adapted for a beast of burden in cold, mountainous countries, in which, on a quarter of the food required by a horse, he will safely carry burdens under which the more generous animal would break down, over places in which the other could not keep its footing. Under kind treatment, he is hardly inferior in docility to the horse or the dog. The female is excessively fond of her young, and both sexes are susceptible of strong attachment to their owner. In elevated countries, where the soil is light, asses are serviceable in an agricultural point of view; although in the United States, to which they were first introduced by Gen. Washington, they are little used except for the propagation of mules. The best asses are obtained either from Smyrna, the island of Cyprus, or from Spain, where the race has been particularly cultivated, as it has also in Peru, with a view to the business of mule-raising, which in both these countries is important.

ASSAB, or Saba, a bay in the Red sea, on the coast of Africa, 40 m. N. W. of the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, in lat. 12° 55′ N., lon. 42° 45' E., 16 m. long and 5 m. wide. It is bordered on the W. by high table land, and in its front are the coral islands of Darmabah and Darmahie, the last forming near Cape Luma a safe harbor for small craft. The neighboring inhabitants are the Danakil, who are

virtually governed by their own sultan, though the khedive of Egypt claims to be their legitimate ruler. The bay of Assab was purchased in 1869 by an Italian steamboat company as a coaling station on the voyage from Italy to Egypt through the Suez canal to India. ASSAM, a province at the N. E. extremity of British India, presidency of Bengal, between lat. 25° 50′ and 28° 20' N., lon. 90° 40′ and 97° 30' E., bounded N. by Bhotan and Thibet, N. E. by Thibet, E. and S. by Burmah, and S. W. by Bengal; area, 21,800 sq. m.; pop. variously estimated at from 200,000 to 700,000, the smaller number being probably more nearly correct. The country lies between two mountain ranges, branches of the Himalaya, which are joined at its eastern end, and rise both on its northern and southern side to the height of nearly 20,000 feet. These send out offshoots along the sides of the valley which forms the province, and which consists of a long and level plain, studded here and there with groups of hills. The number of considerable streams exceeds 60, so that Assam is supposed to contain more rivers than any other equal extent of territory in the world. The Brahmapootra is the chief of these, flowing through the centre of the country from E. to W. The soil is fertile, and the climate temperate and agreeable. A regular rainy season, like that of the tropics, lasts from March till October, swelling the rivers and flooding great districts of the plain, obliging the inhabitants to construct high causeways between the towns and villages. Earthquakes are frequent, but seldom severe. The country is rich in minerals, containing coal and petroleum, iron, and gold dust in some of the river sands. Tea, silk, sugar, tobacco, and ivory form leading articles of trade. The tea plant is indigenous here, and is largely cultivated under the auspices of the English "Assam Tea Company," more than 17,000 acres of tea plantations having been under cultivation within the last few years. Tigers, leopards, bears, deer, and other wild animals abound, and elephants are very numerous. The Assamese are akin to the Hindoo races. They are lithe and active, though generally slight in frame; they are almost beardless, and have unusually smooth skin. They live in huts of bamboo and mats, and lead rather indolent lives, carrying on few and unimportant industries. The most widespread religion is Brahminism, but there are also many Mohammedans. Assam was governed by a series of kings, concerning whose origin and reigns little is known, until the 17th century, when a formidable attempt was made by the Mogul emperors to attach it to their dominions. This was defeated; but from that time the country became the prey of revolutions, and gradually declined in power till 1770, when the British troops interfered in a revolution against the rajah, and occupied a portion of the territory. In 1826, in the war with Burmah, the British finally took possession of the country.

ASSASSINS (Arab. Hashashin, hashish smokers), a secret political society in Persia, Syria, and Arabia, in the middle ages, a branch of the Ismaëlians, so called from the imam Ismael ben Jafar. It took its origin in Persia about A. D. 840 from Abdallah, son of Maimun Kadah, a believer in the ancient Magian worship, who undertook by the preaching of his dais or missionaries to reestablish the old religion, or at least to overthrow the power of the Abbasside caliphs. His followers were sometimes called Ibabié, "indifferents," and sometimes Ismaëlians, because they favored the pretensions of the descendants of Mohammed ben Ismael, of the house of Ali. One of his disciples, Ahmed, called Karmath, raised the standard of revolt, and for a whole century the East was involved in wars. Another partisan of the sect, the dai Abdallah, who styled himself a descendant of Mohammed ben Ismael, escaped from prison, where he had been confined by the caliph Motadhad, and succeeded in seating himself on the throne of Africa under the name of Obeidallah Mahdi, A. D. 909. This person was the founder of the dynasty of the Egyptian caliphs, who, tracing their descent to Ismael ben Jafar Sadik, and from him to Fatima, the prophet's daughter, are known by the name of Fatimites or eastern Ismaëlians. The secret policy of this sect was to overthrow the Abbasside caliphate. In the reign of Hakem-biamr-illah a lodge was instituted at Cairo called Dar el-Hikmet, house of wisdom. Access to this lodge, and the use of the books and mathematical instruments kept in it, as well as instruction by the professors, who were paid by the government, were free to all. In this lodge were taught nine secret doctrines deduced from those of Abdallah ben Maimun Kadah. In the first degree the mind of the novice was purposely perplexed, and a hidden meaning of the text of the Koran was suggested. After an oath of unconditional obedience the pupil was initiated into the second degree, which inculcated the recognition of divinely appointed imams, who were the source of all knowledge. The third degree taught their number, which could not exceed seven; these were Ali, Hassan, Hossein, Ali Seinolabidin, Mohammed el-Bakir, Jafar esSadik, and Ismael his son. The fourth grade taught that since the beginning of the world there have been seven divine lawgivers, or speaking apostles of God, each of whom had by command of heaven altered the doctrine of his predecessor. Each of these had seven coadjutors in succession, who, as they did not appear openly, were called mutes (samit). The first of the mutes was named Sus, and the seven speaking prophets were Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, and Ismael ben Jafar. The fifth degree taught that each of the seven mute prophets had twelve apostles for the extension of the true faith, the number twelve being the most excellent after After these five degrees the precepts

seven.

of Islamism were examined, and it was shown that all positive religious legislation must be subordinate to the general and philosophical. The dogmas of Plato, Aristotle, and Pythagoras were adduced as proofs and laid down as axioms. In the seventh the student passed from philosophy to mysticism. In the eighth the pupil was perfectly enlightened as to the superfluity of all prophets and apostles, the non-existence of heaven and hell, the indifference of all actions, for which there is neither punishment nor reward either in this world or the next; and thus was he matured for the ninth and last degree, in which he became the blind instrument of his superior. This lodge was closed by the general of the caliph Amer Biakim-illah, but was soon reopened.-One of the initiated dais was Hassan ben Sabah, who became the founder of the eastern branch of Ismaëlians, the Assassins. Banished from Egypt, he went to Aleppo, Bagdad, and Persia, preaching his doctrine and making proselytes. Partly by stratagem and partly by force, he got possession of the almost impregnable castle of Alamut (eagle's nest) in the Persian province of Ghilan, strengthened it, and made it the seat of the central power of the Assassins. The basis of his political and religious system was: "Nothing is true, and everything is lawful." The knowledge of all the degrees was to be imparted only to a chosen few. The bulk of his followers were only initiated far enough to confuse their minds and leave them dependent upon their leaders, and the observance of all the precepts of Islamism was most strictly enjoined. At Alamut, and when their power was extended in other places also, the Assassins had splendid walled gardens with flower beds and fruit trees of every description, limpid streams, luxurious halls, and porcelain kiosks, adorned with Persian carpets and Grecian stuffs, drinking vessels of gold and silver and crystal, and charming maidens and handsome boys. A youth who was deemed worthy by his strength and resolution to be initiated, was invited to the table and conversation of the grand master; he was then intoxicated with hashish and carried into the garden, which on awakening he believed to be paradise. Sleeping again, he was carried back to the side of the master; and when the effect of the drug had passed away he believed that he had actually had a foretaste of the bliss of paradise, and henceforth blindly devoted himself to the will of his master, eagerly seeking an opportunity to sacrifice himself in order to attain eternal life. Later, when one of the grand masters allowed the enjoyment of every pleasure to all, the sect frequently intoxicated themselves with hashish, whence their name Hashashin, corrupted by the crusaders into Assassins, which, in view of their bloody deeds, came to signify men who practise secret murder in general. Jelal ed-Din Malek, sultan of the Seljuks, having sent an ambassador to the grand master to require his obedience and fealty, Hassan ben Sabah called into his presence

several of his followers. Beckoning to one of them, he said, "Kill thyself," and he instantly stabbed himself; to another, "Throw thyself from the rampart," and the next moment he lay a mutilated corpse in the moat. Then turning to the envoy, the grand master said, "Go tell thy lord, in this way I am obeyed by 70,000 faithful subjects." The grand master was called seyed, the lord, or more commonly sheikh el-jebel, chief of the mountain region (incorrectly translated old man of the mountain), because the order always maintained itself in castles among the mountains in Persia, Irak, and Syria. He never assumed the title of sultan or emir, and preached not in his own name, but in that of the invisible imam who was to appear at a future period. Immediately under the grand master were the duah el-kibar, grand recruiters or priors, his lieutenants in the three provinces to which his order extended. Under these were the duah or dais, the religious nuncios and political emissaries, the initiated masters. Then followed the refiks, fellows, who were advancing to the mastership through the several grades of initiation into the secret doctrine. Next came the sedavi, the guards of the order, the warriors, and devoted murderers; then the sassik (aspirants), the novices; and finally the profane or the people. Hassan laid down for his dais seven rules of conduct: 1. The ashinai-risk (knowledge of the calling) comprised the maxims for the judgment of character necessary in selecting subjects. 2. The teenis (gaining confidence) taught them to gain over candidates by flattering their inclinations and passions. 3. As soon as they were won, it was necessary to involve them by doubts and questions on the religious commands and absurdities of the Koran. 4. The ahd, or oath, bound the aspirant in the most solemn manner to inviolable silence and submission. 5. The candidates were taught how their doctrines agreed with those of the greatest men in church and state. 6. The tessis (confirmation) recapitulated all that preceded. 7. The teevil (allegorical instruction), in opposition to the tensil or literal sense of the divine word, was the principal essence of the secret doctrine, reserved only to a few of the initiated.-Hassan ben Sabah was speedily attacked by the sultan Malek, but he sustained himself, and even gained new strongholds. The practice of assassination by which he became the terror of eastern monarchs was first tried upon his early friend the grand vizier Nizam ul-Mulk. The death of the sultan, apparently by poison, soon followed, and then ensued a fearful series of murders and reprisals. Fakhr ul-Mulk Abul-Mosaffar, who had succeeded his father Nizam ul-Mulk as grand vizier, and another of the royal family, were assassinated. One of Sultan Sanjar's slaves, who had been won over to the Assassins, stuck a dagger into the ground near his master's head while the latter was asleep. Some days after the sultan received a letter from Alamut,

saying, "Had we not been well disposed toward the sultan, we might have plunged the dagger into his heart instead of the ground." Peace was then concluded between the parties, and many privileges were granted to the Assassins. Hassan ben Sabah survived all his nearest relations and most faithful disciples. He slew two of his sons without any apparent cause. He died in 1124, at the age of 90 years, and was succeeded by his general and chief dai, Kia Busurg-Omid, in whose time hostilities were renewed by Sultan Sanjar, and great numbers of the Assassins were put to death. The vizier of Damascus gave them the castle at Banias, near the source of the Jordan, which became the centre of their power in Syria. In 1118 Abul-Wefa, the prior there, entered into a treaty with Baldwin II., king of Jerusalem, by which he bound himself to put the city of Damascus into his power in return for the city of Tyre; but the plot was discovered by the sultan, and the greater part of the Assassins and the crusaders were attacked and cut to pieces. At Cairo the Fatimite caliph Abu Ali Mansour fell by the dagger of an Assassin, and shortly after (1135) the Abbasside caliph was assassinated at Bagdad. The Assassins now spread all over the western part of Asia, from the confines of Khorasan to the mountains of Syria, from the Caspian to the southern shores of the Mediterranean. In 1171 the last of the Fatimite dynasty died, and the lodge at Cairo was overthrown. Saladin, who became sultan of Egypt, proved a formidable enemy to the Assassins. In the month of Ramazan, 1163, Hassan II., the fourth grand master, summoned the inhabitants of the province to Alamut, where he addressed the multitude, announced the day of resurrection or revelation of the imam, and commanded them to break the fast and give themselves up to all kinds of pleasure. A similar proclamation was made throughout the country, and was received by a majority of the people with joy. In 1175 the Assassins made two futile attempts on Saladin's life, and he in return ravaged their territory, and only desisted from completely annihilating their power on condition of his being in the future safe from their daggers. About 1191 Conrad, lord of Tyre and marquis of Montfort, a near relation of Leopold, duke of Austria, was murdered by two Assassins, said to have been hired for that purpose by Richard I. of England; and it seems that the imprisonment of the latter by Leopold was in reprisal for the death of his kinsman. Hassan III. prohibited everything that his grandfather and father had allowed, and again enforced the observance of the precepts of Islamism; and no assassinations were committed in his reign. By this prudent conduct he acquired the good will of the Moslem princes, and received from the caliph of Bagdad the title of sovereign prince, a favor never granted to any of his predecessors. Under his successor, Aladin Mohammed, the use of the dagger was resumed. About 1252 Hulaku, monarch of the

Mongols, captured Roknedin, the last of the grand masters, in his castle of Maimundis. Roknedin and his whole race were condemned to massacre; 12,000 captives were assembled and slaughtered at once; troops went through the provinces to execute the sentence, and many of the castles were demolished. In 1270 Sultan Bibars overthrew their authority in Syria. For about a century longer the Ismaëlians were numerous in Persia, but with diminished power. Assassins are said to remain still in some parts of the Lebanon and Persia, but only as a heretical sect of Islamism, and they seem to have lost all remembrance of their former power and murderous tactics. Some of their doctrines and practices are also traced in those of the Druses. The Persian Ismaëlians consider their grand master as an incarnation of the Deity. A few years since the fact of the existence of the order in India, widely diffused, was disclosed through a suit brought in the English courts for the possession of its records by a person claiming to be grand master.

ASSAULT, any wilful and unlawful attempt or offer, with force or violence, to do a corporal hurt to another. In New York it has been added to a definition of substantially the same import, that the assault may consist of any act tending to such corporal injury, accompanied with such circumstances as denote at the time an intention coupled with the present ability of using actual violence against the person. But this illustration is not quite correct, for to cover the cases of pointing firearms, though they are not loaded, at persons, the ability to do the injury need not be actual, but it is sufficient if it be only apparent. Nor need there be an actual intention to do the violent act; for if the assaulter causes it to be believed that he has such an intent, though he has not in fact, the assault may be committed. There must be some exhibition or threatening appearance of force, and this must ordinarily be of physical force. A threat alone is not an assault; yet such threat, spoken under circumstances which of themselves, so to speak, import restraint or force, may constitute the offence. One who, having an open knife in his hand, and being within striking distance of another, demanded with threatening words the surrender of a certain paper, was held guilty of an assault. Force may be exhibited by the raising of the hand or a weapon as if to strike, or to hurl something; or by the pointing of a gun or pistol within the range of the arm, as if to shoot with it, and even though it is not loaded, if it is reasonably supposed to be loaded by the person assaulted; or by wilfully riding a horse so near a foot passenger, or driving or attempting to drive a carriage against the carriage of another, or even by driving it toward the other, so as in any of these cases to excite reasonable fear of injury; or by pursuing another with a dangerous weapon, and coming so near him that he may reasonably apprehend danger. But an assault may be

committed, even though the violent show of force is not actually within reaching distance, provided it be so near as to excite a fear of immediate harm in a person of fair firmness. Thus, where one was approaching another with clenched fist, as if to hit him, but was stopped by bystanders just before he got near enough to do so, he was held guilty of an assault. The force, and thus the assault, may exist to the eye of the law, even though it is not apparent on the face of the facts, and where from the submission or consent of the victim it seems that it could not have existed. This is illustrated by those cases in which schoolmasters or physicians have, by virtue of the authority or the trust reposed in them in these relations, induced young girls to submit to indecent maltreatment. In such cases the consent is regarded by the law as neither intelligent nor voluntary. Further, the force must be unlawful. Therefore it is not an assault when a father or a schoolmaster, for good reasons, chastises a child within proper limits.

Certain assaults are described as aggravated assaults. Such are assaults upon magistrates in courts of justice, or against other officers of the law. But it seems that to constitute such an offence, the person assaulted must be known to be such an official, or there must be grounds upon which it can fairly be presumed that he was known to be so.-Assault is a misdemeanor; that is to say, it is of an inferior degree of criminality, and is ordinarily punishable by fine or imprisonment, or by both.Assault must be distinguished from battery. The words are commonly used together, for the reason that the two offences are usually committed together; but they are in fact distinct and separate. Battery is the actual infliction of the threatened violence. But the law will not permit even the threat of it, and therefore makes that a substantial offence, namely, an assault. (See BATTERY.)

ASSAYE, or Assye, a village of Hindostan, in the Nizam's dominions, 43 m. N. E. of Aurungabad, near which in September, 1803, the duke of Wellington (then Gen. Wellesley), with 2,000 British troops and 2,500 sepoys, defeatod the much more numerous combined force of Scindia and the rajah of Nagpoor.

ASSAYING (old Fr. asaier, mod. Fr. essayer, to try), the chemical examination of an ore, a metal, or an alloy, to determine the proportions of its ingredients. The assay of a gold ore, to obtain the amount of gold present, consists of several operations. Fifty grammes of the ore are mixed with 80 grms. of oxide of lead, 20 of carbonate of soda, 4 of charcoal dust, and 12 of powdered glass. If the ore contains much silica, the glass may be left out; if much sulphur, 2 grms. of nails should be added. The mixture is placed in a Hessian sand crucible, covered by a layer of salt, and heated in a furnace for half an hour at a gentle heat, and then for half an hour at a white heat. When this crucible is taken out of the furnace and allowed

to cool and then broken open, a button or globule of lead will be found at the bottom, covered by a dark glassy slag and a layer of salt. This button contains the gold and most of the silver of the original 50 grms. of ore. The oxide of lead, the quartz, and carbonate of potash form a fusible glassy slag which absorbs earthy impurities. The oxide of lead and nitre unite to drive off the sulphur as sulphurous acid. The coal dust reduces a portion of oxide of lead to a fine spray of metallic lead, which in settling alloys the gold and silver, carrying them to the bottom of the crucible. The button usually contains, besides lead, gold, and silver, some copper, nickel, antimony, and sulphur, if these substances were present in the ore. The process of separating gold and silver from the other metals with which they are alloyed depends on the principle that they cannot be converted into oxides when heated in the air, while the other metals with which they are generally alloyed can be oxidized at a high temperature, especially when a large quantity of lead is present. The lead button is placed in an earthenware dish made of fire clay, called a scorifier (scoria, slag). A wind furnace containing a muffle is used for heating the assay in this and in the succeeding operation. The fuel generally employed is coke or anthracite; charcoal is sometimes used when the other cannot be obtained. The muffle is a flat-bottomed earthen vessel, 8 or 10 in. long, 3 or 4 in. wide, and 2 or 3 in. high, its top arched over, one end open, the other closed; in fact it is half a cylinder open only at one end. In its roof and sides are little apertures through which the air drawn in at the open end can pass. It is set in the furnace, in the front of which is an opening corresponding to the open end of the muffle. Coals are heaped around and upon it to expose it to the full heat of the furnace. In the scorifier, when heated to a bright red heat, the so-called baser metals are oxidized and form a slag, leaving a small quantity of pure lead alloyed with silver and gold. This alloy while in the molten state is poured into a cooling mould, hammered to free it from slag, and is then ready for the next operation, which is called cupellation, and is performed in a little cup called a cupel. The cupels should be prepared of bone ashes well burnt, ground, and washed, and then shaped into cylindrical forms an inch or so high and 2 in. in diameter, their tops having a shallow depression to hold the metal. These cupels have the property of absorbing the oxides of metals and of holding those that will not oxidize; but as they cannot absorb a greater weight than their own of oxide of lead or litharge, not quite so much of this metal should be put into any one cupel as its own weight.At the mints the assayer is mostly called upon to practise his art upon coin and bullion, alloys of copper, lead, gold, and silver, or containing two or more of these metals. In this case the previous operations of fusion in the crucible

and slagging in the scorifier are omitted, and the assay begins at this point. The alloy to be assayed is carefully weighed in a delicate balance. It may be from 2 or 3 grammes, or even less, if already considerably alloyed. A proper quantity of lead, known to contain no silver, is put with it, and the two are placed by means of small tongs in the cupel, which with the muffle has been brought to a full red heat in the furnace. It is convenient to carry on several of these operations at once, and therefore a number of the cupels are usually introduced together on the floor of the muffle. The metals when placed in the hot cupel immediately melt and form a bright globule, which spins around and keeps in continual motion. The air drawing in through the muffle oxidizes its surface, and fumes of the oxide of lead are carried off by the draft. At the same time a floating scum of the oxide is constantly flowing down the sides of the globule and sinking into the cupel, while freshly formed oxide replaces it. Any copper that is present is oxidized with the lead and absorbed into the cupel. Thus the operation goes on till it terminates by all the lead being oxidized, which is indicated by a sudden brightening up and subsequent darkening of the little globule, and the cessation of the appearance of the fumes and scum of oxide. This little globule, which is pure silver, pure gold, or an alloy of the two metals, shows by its weight the quantity that was in the sample. Care should be taken to avoid too intense heat, as this may volatilize a portion of the silver; and the globule should not be cooled suddenly, as the pure metal absorbs oxygen when melted, and gives it out in cooling. If the change is sudden, some silver is apt to be ejected with the gas. By a little experience and care this operation is made so perfect that no sensible difference should be detected in the weight of two buttons obtained from two assays of equal weights, when tested by a balance that turns with of a milligramme. The quantity of lead that should be added is a matter that can only be determined by experience. Too little lead for the oxidation of impurities prevents the formation of a clean button of silver, free of oxide, and too much lead is apt to carry down with it into the cupel a small quantity of silver. This operation is often performed with the blowpipe, and small cupels adapted to its uses. The weight of the little button is ascertained by the size of the round hole, of a graduated series of such holes in a brass plate, which it fits, the weight of a button of silver or one of gold for each hole having been previously ascertained. In skilful hands this is conducted very expeditiously, and with considerable accuracy. It is especially adapted to the testing of argentiferous lead ores, to determine approximately their percentage in silver. lead also may be quantitatively determined by the reducing process with the blowpipe, that must precede the cupelling. If the button

The