Chapter XIII: Part 13

The assay of an ore for gold or silver consists of two operations. In the first the gold or silver is made to combine or alloy with metallic lead, the other constituents of the ore being separated from the lead as slag. In the second, the lead button containing the gold or silver is cupelled and the resulting gold or silver button is weighed. The first is conducted in one of two ways, known respectively as the crucible method and the scorification method. The crucible method is generally used for ores containing gold in small amounts and for certain classes of silver ores. The amount of ore taken for assay is generally one-half "A.T.," but in very low-grade ores one, two, and sometimes even four "A.T.s" are used. In the scorification method one-tenth of an "A.T." is the amount commonly taken. While in both methods the same result is sought, the means employed are quite different. In the scorification method the ore is mixed in the scorifier (a shallow dish of burned clay) with from ten to twenty times its weight of granulated metallic lead (test lead) and a little borax glass, and heated in a muffle, the front of which is at first closed. When the lead melts and begins to oxidize, the lead oxide, or so-called litharge, combines with or dissolves the non-metallic and readily oxidizable constituents of the ore, while the gold and silver alloy with the lead. As the slag thus formed flows off to the sides of the scorifier, the assay clears and the melted metallic lead forms an "eye" in the middle. The door of the muffle is then opened and the current of air which is drawn over the scorifier rapidly oxidizes the lead, while the melted litharge gradually closes over the metal. When the "eye" has quite disappeared the door is closed and the temperature raised to make the slag very liquid. The scorifier is taken from the muffle in a pair of tongs and the contents poured into a mould, the lead forming a button in the bottom while the slag floats on top. When cold, the contents of the mould are taken out and the lead button hammered into the form of a cube, the slag, which is glassy and brittle, separating readily from the metal, which is then ready for cupellation. In the crucible method the ore is mixed with from once to twice its weight of flux, which varies in composition, but of which the following may be taken as a type:--

Sodium bicarbonate . . . 8 parts.
Potassium carbonate . . . 3 "
Powdered borax . . . . . 4 "
Flour . . . . . . . . . . 1 "
Litharge . . . . . . . . 9 "

The mixture is charged into a round clay crucible from 100 mm. to 125 mm. high, and heated either in a muffle or in a crucible furnace at a gradually increasing heat for forty or fifty minutes. At the expiration of this time, when the charge should be perfectly liquid and in a tranquil state of fusion, the crucible is removed from the furnace and the contents are poured into a mould. The resulting lead button hammered into shape and carefully cleansed from slag is ready for the cupel. If the button is too large for cupellation, or if it is hard, it may be scorified either alone or mixed with test lead before cupellation. The character and amount of the flux necessarily depend upon the character of the ore, the object being to concentrate in the lead button all the gold and silver while dissolving and carrying off in the slag the other constituents of the ore. Under the most favourable conditions there is a slight loss of gold and silver in the fusion, the scorification and the cupellation, both by absorption in the slag and by actual volatilization and absorption in the cupel. In ores containing much copper, this metal is largely concentrated in the lead button, making it hard, and necessitating repeated scorifications and, in some cases, a preliminary removal of the copper by solution of the ore in nitric acid. This leaves the gold in the insoluble residue, which is filtered off, and the silver in the solution is thrown down by hydrochloric acid. The resulting precipitate of silver chloride is filtered, and the residue and the precipitate are scorified together. Ores containing much arsenic or sulphur are generally roasted at a low heat and the assay is made on the roasted material.

The process of cupellation is briefly as follows:--The gold alloy is fused with a quantity of lead, and a little silver if silver is already present. The resulting alloy, which is called the _lead button_, is then submitted to fusion on a very porous support, made of bone-ash, and called a _cupel_. The fusion being effected in a current of air, the lead oxidizes. The heat is sufficient to keep the resulting lead oxide fused, and the porous cupel has the property of absorbing melted lead oxide without taking up any of the metallic globule, exactly in the same way that blotting-paper will absorb water whilst it will not touch a globule of mercury. The heat being continued, and the current of air always passing over the surface of the melted lead button, and the lead oxide being sucked up by the cupel as fast as it is formed, the metallic globule rapidly diminishes in size until at last all the lead has been got rid of. Now, if this were the only action, little good would have been gained, for we should simply have put lead into the gold alloy, and then taken it out again; but another action goes on whilst the lead is oxidizing in the current of air. Other metals, except the silver and gold, also oxidize, and are carried by the melted litharge into the cupel. If the lead is therefore rightly proportioned to the standard of alloy, the resulting button will consist of only gold and silver, and these are separated by the operation of _parting_, which consists in boiling the alloy (after rolling it to a thin plate) in strong nitric acid, which dissolves the silver and leaves the gold as a coherent sponge. To effect this parting properly, the proportion of silver to gold should be as 3 to 1. The operation by which the alloy is brought to this standard is termed _quartation_ or _inquartation_, and consists in fusing the alloy in a cupel with lead and the quantity of fine silver or fine gold necessary to bring it to the desired composition.

_Lead._--The "dry" or fire assay for lead is largely used for the valuation of lead ores, although it is being gradually replaced by volumetric methods. One part of the ore is mixed with from three to five parts of a flux of the following composition:--

Potassium carbonate . . . . . 40.6 %
Sodium bicarbonate . . . . . 31.3 "
Borax . . . . . . . . . 15.6 "
Flour . . . . . . . . . 12.5 "

The mixture is charged into a clay crucible and heated for twenty minutes at a good red heat. When the mixture has been in a tranquil state of fusion for a few minutes it is poured into a mould. When cold, the button is hammered, cleaned carefully from slag, and weighed. The proportion is calculated from the amount of ore used, and the result is expressed in parts in a hundred or percentage of the ore. Various impurities, such as copper, antimony and sulphur, go into the lead button, so that the result is generally too high. The most accurate method for the determination of lead in ores is the gravimetric method, in which it is weighed as lead sulphate after the various impurities have been separated. Nearly all lead ores contain more or less sulphur; and as in the process of solution in nitric acid this is oxidized to sulphuric acid which unites with the lead to form the very insoluble lead sulphate, it is simpler to add sulphuric acid to convert all the lead into sulphate and then evaporate until the nitric acid is expelled. The salts of iron, copper, &c., are then dissolved in water and filtered from the insoluble silica, lead sulphate, and calcium sulphate, which are washed with dilute sulphuric acid. The insoluble matter is treated with a hot solution of alkaline ammonium acetate, which dissolves the lead sulphate, the other materials being separated by filtration. The lead sulphate, re-precipitated in the filtrate by an excess of sulphuric acid and alcohol, is then filtered on an asbestos felt in a Gooch crucible, washed with dilute sulphuric acid and alcohol, ignited, and weighed. Lead sulphate contains 68.30% of metallic lead.

There are several volumetric methods for assaying lead ores, but the best known is that based on the precipitation of lead by ammonium molybdate in an acetic acid solution. The lead sulphate, obtained as described above and dissolved in ammonium acetate, is acidulated with acetic acid diluted with hot water and heated to boiling-point. A standardized solution of ammonium molybdate is then added from a burette. As long as the solution contains lead, the addition of the molybdate solution causes a precipitation of white lead molybdate. An excess of the precipitant is shown by a drop of the solution imparting a yellow colour to a solution of tannin, prepared by dissolving one part of tannin in 300 of water; drops of this solution are placed on a white porcelain plate, and as the precipitant is added to the lead solution a drop of the latter is removed from time to time on a glass stirring-rod and added to one of the drops on the porcelain plate. The appearance of a yellow colour shows that all the lead has been precipitated and that the solution contains an excess of molybdate. From the reading of the burette the lead is calculated. The molybdate solution should be of such a strength that 1 cc. will precipitate 0.01 gramme of lead. It is standardized by dissolving a weighed amount of lead sulphate in ammonium acetate and proceeding as described above.

_Zinc._--Chemically the ores of zinc consist of the silicates, carbonates, oxides, and sulphides of zinc associated with other metals, some of which complicate the methods of assay. The most modern and the most generally accepted method is volumetric, and is based on the reaction between zinc chloride and potassium ferrocyanide, by which insoluble zinc ferrocyanide and soluble potassium chloride are formed; the presence of the slightest excess of potassium ferrocyanide is shown by a brownish tint being imparted by the solution to a drop of uranium nitrate. The ore (0.5 gramme) is digested with a mixture of potassium nitrate and nitric acid. A saturated solution of potassium chlorate in strong nitric acid is added, and the mass evaporated to dryness. It is then heated with a mixture of ammonium chloride and ammonia, filtered and washed with a hot dilute solution of the same mixture. The filtrate diluted to 200 cc. is carefully neutralized with hydrochloric acid, and excess of 6 cc. of the strong acid is added, and the solution saturated with hydrogen sulphide, which precipitates the copper and cadmium, metals which would otherwise interfere. Without filtering, the standard solution is added from a burette, and from time to time a drop of the solution is removed on the glass stirring-rod and added to a drop or two of a strong solution of uranium nitrate, previously placed on a white porcelain plate. The appearance of a brown tint in one of these tests shows the end of the reaction. When cadmium is not present the copper may be precipitated by boiling the acidulated ammoniacal solution with test lead and titrating, as before described, without removing the lead and copper from the solution. The ferrocyanide solution is standardized by dissolving 1 gramme of pure zinc in 6 cc. of hydrochloric acid, adding ammonium chloride, and titrating as before. This method is modified in practice by the character of the ores, carbonates and silicates free from sulphides being decomposed by hydrochloric acid, with the addition of a little nitric acid.

_Copper._--The fire assay for copper ores was abandoned years ago and the electrolytic method took its place; this in turn is now largely replaced by volumetric methods. In the electrolytic method from 0.5 to 5 grammes of ore are treated in a flask or beaker, with a mixture of 10 cc. of nitric and 10 cc. of sulphuric acid, until thoroughly decomposed. When this liquid is cold it is diluted with cold water, heated until all the soluble salts are dissolved, transferred to a tall, narrow beaker, and diluted to about 150 cc. The electrodes are attached to a frame connected with the battery and the beaker is placed on a stool, which can be raised so that the electrodes are immersed in the liquid and reach the bottom of the beaker. The electrodes consist of two cylinders of platinum (placed one inside the other) about 75 mm. high, the smaller of the two 37 mm. and the larger 50 mm. in diameter, both pierced with 10 to 12 holes 5 mm. in diameter, evenly distributed over the surfaces to facilitate diffusion of the liquids. The surfaces of the cylinders are roughened with a sand blast to increase the areas and make the deposited metals adhere more firmly. Each cylinder has a platinum wire fused to the upper circumference to connect with a clamp from which a wire leads to the proper pole of the battery. The smaller cylinder is generally the negative electrode on which the copper is deposited. The framework carrying the clamps is arranged so that a number of determinations may be made at one time, the wires from the clamps running from a rheostat, so arranged that currents of any strength may be used simultaneously. The cylinder, having been carefully weighed, is placed in position, the beaker containing the solution is adjusted, and the current passed until all the copper is precipitated. This generally requires from two to twelve hours. The cylinders are then removed from the solution and washed with distilled water, the one holding the deposited copper being washed with alcohol, dried and weighed; the increase in weight represents the copper contents of the ore. The deposited copper should be firmly adherent and bright rosy red in colour. Silver, arsenic and cadmium, if present, are precipitated with the copper and affect the accuracy of the results; they should be removed by special methods.

Volumetric methods are more expeditious and require less apparatus. The potassium cyanide method is based on the fact that, when potassium cyanide is added to an ammoniacal solution of a salt of copper, the insoluble copper cyanide is formed, the end of the reaction being indicated by the disappearance of the blue colour of the solution. One gramme of the ore is treated in a flask with a mixture of nitric and sulphuric acids and evaporated until all the nitric acid is expelled. After cooling a little, water is added, and then a few grammes of aluminium foil free from copper. On this foil the copper in the solution is all precipitated by electrolytic action in a few minutes, and the aluminium is dissolved by the addition of an excess of sulphuric acid. Water is added, and as soon as the gangue and copper particles have settled the clear solution is decanted, and the residue washed several times in the same way. The copper is then dissolved in 5 cc. of nitric acid; if silver is present a drop or two of hydrochloric acid is added, the solution diluted to about 50 cc., and filtered. To the filtrate (or, if no silver is present, to the diluted nitric acid solution) 10 cc. of ammonia are added, and a standard solution of potassium cyanide is run in from a burette until the blue colour has nearly disappeared. The solution is filtered to get rid of the precipitate, and the titration is finished in the nearly clear nitrate, which should be always about 200 cc. in volume. The titration is complete when the blue colour is so faint that it is almost imperceptible after the flask has been vigorously shaken. The potassium cyanide solution is standardized by dissolving 0.5 gramme of pure copper in 5 cc. of nitric acid, diluting, adding 10 cc. of ammonia, and titrating exactly as described above.

When potassium iodide is added to a solution of cupric acetate, the reaction Cu(C2H3O2)2 + 2KI = CuI + 2K(C2H3O2) + I takes place; that is, for each atom of copper one atom of iodine is liberated. If a solution of sodium thiosulphate (hyposulphite) is added to this solution, hydriodic acid, sodium iodide and tetrathionate are formed; and if a little starch solution has been added, the end of the reaction is indicated by the disappearance of the blue colour, due to the iodide of starch. The amount of iodine liberated is therefore a measure of the copper in the solution, and when the sodium thiosulphate has been carefully standardized the method is extremely accurate. The ore is treated as described in the cyanide method until the copper precipitated by the aluminium foil has been washed and dissolved in 5 cc. of nitric acid; then 0.25 gramme of potassium chlorate is added, and the solution boiled nearly dry to oxidize any arsenic present to arsenic acid. The solution is cooled, 50 cc. water added, then 5 cc. ammonia, and the solution is boiled for five minutes. Next 5 cc. of glacial acetic acid are added, the solution cooled, and 5 cc. of a solution of potassium iodide (300 grammes to the litre) and the standard solution of sodium thiosulphate run in from a burette until the brown colour has nearly disappeared. A few drops of starch solution are then added, and when the blue colour has nearly vanished a drop or two of methyl orange makes the end reaction very sharp. The thiosulphate solution is standardized by dissolving 0.3 to 0.5 gramme of pure copper in 3 cc. of nitric acid, adding 50 cc. of water and 5 cc. of ammonia, and titrating as above after the addition of 5 cc. of glacial acetic acid and 5 cc. of the potassium iodide solution.

_Iron._--The methods used in the assay for iron are volumetric, and are all based on the property possessed by certain reagents of oxidizing iron from the ferrous to the ferric state. Two salts are in common use for this purpose, potassium permanganate and potassium bichromate. It is necessary in the first place, after the ore is in solution, to reduce all the iron to the ferrous condition; then the carefully standardized solution of the oxidizing reagent is added until all the iron is in the ferric state, the volume of the standard solution used being the measure of the iron contained in the ore. The end of the reaction when potassium permanganate is employed is known by the change in colour of the solution. As the solution of potassium permanganate, which is deep red in colour, is dropped into the colourless iron solution, it is quickly decolorized while the iron solution gradually assumes a yellowish tinge, the first drop of the permanganate solution in excess giving it a pink tint. With potassium bichromate solution, which is yellow, the iron solution becomes green from the chromium chloride or sulphate formed, and the end of the reaction is determined by removing a drop of the solution on the stirring-rod and adding it to a drop of a dilute solution of potassium ferricyanide on a white tile. So long as the solution contains a ferrous salt, the drop on the tile changes to blue; hence the absence of a blue coloration indicates the complete oxidation of all the ferrous salt and the end of the reaction. One gramme of ore is usually taken for assay and treated in a small flask or beaker with 10 cc. of hydrochloric acid. All the iron in the ore generally dissolves upon heating, and a white residue is left. Occasionally this residue contains a small amount of iron in a difficultly soluble form; in that case the solution is slightly diluted with water and filtered into a larger flask. The residue in the filter is ignited and fused with a little sodium carbonate and nitrate, or with sodium peroxide. The product is treated with water, filtered, and the residue dissolved in hydrochloric acid and added to the main solution. This solution, which should not exceed 50 cc. or 75 cc. in volume, contains the iron in the ferric state and is ready for reduction.

In the reduction by metallic zinc, about 3 grammes of granulated or foliated zinc are placed in the flask, which is closed with a small funnel; when the iron is reduced, add 10 cc. of sulphuric acid, and as soon as all the zinc is dissolved the solution is ready for titration. In the reduction by stannous chloride the solution of the ore in the flask is heated to boiling, and a strong solution of stannous chloride is added until the solution is completely decolorized; then 60 cc. of a solution of mercuric chloride (50 grammes to the litre) are run in and the contents of the flask poured into a dish containing 600 cc. of water and 60 cc. of a solution containing 200 grammes of manganous sulphate, 1 litre of phosphoric acid (1.3 sp. gr.), 400 cc. of sulphuric acid, and 1600 cc. of water. The solution is then ready for titration with the standard permanganate solution.

The permanganate or bichromate solution is standardized by dissolving 0.5 of a gramme of pure iron wire in a flask, in hydrochloric acid, oxidizing it with a little potassium chlorate, boiling off all traces of chlorine, deoxidizing by one of the methods described above, and titrating with the solution. As the wire always contains impurities, the absolute amount of iron in the wire must be determined and the correction made accordingly. Pure oxalic acid may also be used, which, in the presence of sulphuric acid, is oxidized by the standard solution according to the reaction:--

5(H2C2O42H2O) + 3H2SO4 + 2KMnO4 = 10CO2 + 2MnSO4 + K2SO4 + 18H2O.

The reaction in case of ferrous sulphate is:--

10FeSO4 + 2KMnO4 + 8H2SO4 = 5Fe2(SO4)3 + K2SO4 + 2MnSO4 + 8H2O;

that is, the same amount of potassium permanganate is required to oxidize 5 molecules of oxalic acid that is necessary to oxidize 10 molecules of iron in the form of ferrous sulphate to ferric sulphate, or 63 parts by weight of oxalic acid equal 56 parts by weight of metallic iron. Ammonium ferrous sulphate may also be used; it contains one-seventh of its weight of iron. (A. A. B.)

ASSEGAI, or ASSAGAI (from Berber-Arab _as-zahayah_, through Portuguese _azagaia_), a weapon for throwing or hurling, a light spear or javelin made of wood and pointed with iron, particularly the spear used by the Zulu and other Kaffir tribes of South Africa. In addition to the long-handled assegai there is a shorter weapon for use at close quarters.

ASSELIJN, HANS (1610-1660), Dutch painter, was born at Diepen, near Amsterdam. He received instruction from Esaias Vandevelde (1587-1630), and distinguished himself particularly in landscape and animal painting, though his historical works and battle pieces are also admired. He travelled much in France and Italy, and modelled his style greatly after Bamboccio (Peter Laer). He was one of the first Dutch painters who introduced a fresh and clear manner of painting landscapes in the style of Claude Lorraine, and his example was speedily followed by other artists. Asselijn's pictures were in high estimation at Amsterdam, and several of them are in the museums of that city. Twenty-four, painted in Italy, were engraved.

ASSEMANI, the name of a Syrian Maronite family of famous Orientalists.

1. JOSEPH SIMON, a Maronite of Mount Lebanon, was born in 1687. When very young he was sent to the Maronite college in Rome, and was transferred thence to the Vatican library. In 1717 he was sent to Egypt and Syria to search for valuable MSS., and returned with about 150 very choice ones. The success of this expedition induced the pope to send him again to the East in 1735, and he returned with a still more valuable collection. On his return he was made titular archbishop of Tyre and librarian of the Vatican library. He instantly began to carry into execution most extensive plans for editing and publishing the most valuable MS. treasures of the Vatican. His two great works are the _Bibliotheca Orientalis Clementino-Vaticana rec. manuscr. codd. Syr., Arab., Pers., Turc., Hebr., Samarit., Armen., Aethiop., Graec., Aegypt., Iber., et Malab., jussu et munif. Clem. XI._ (Rome, 1719-1728), 9 vols. folio, and _Ephraemi Syri opera omnia quae extant, Gr., Syr., et Lat._, 6 vols. folio (Rome, 1737-1746). Of the _Bibliotheca_ the first three vols. only were completed. The work was to have been in four parts--(1) Syrian and allied MSS., orthodox, Nestorian and Jacobite; (2) Arabian MSS., Christian and Mahommedan; (3) Coptic, Aethiopic, Persian and Turkish MSS.; and (4) Syrian and Arabian MSS. not distinctively theological; only the first part was completed, but extensive preparations were made for the others. There is a German abridgment by A.F. Pfeiffer.

2. JOSEPH ALOYSIUS, brother of Joseph Simon, and professor of Oriental languages at Rome. He died in 1782. Besides aiding his brother in his literary labours, he published, in 1749-1760, _Codex Liturgicus Ecclesiae Universae in xv. libris_ (this is incomplete), and _Comment. de Catholicis sive Patriarchis Chaldaeorum et Nestorianorum_ (Rome, 1775).

3. STEPHEN EVODIUS, nephew of Joseph Simon and Joseph Aloysius, was the chief assistant of his uncle Joseph Simon in his work in the Vatican library. He was titular archbishop of Apamea in Syria, and held several rich prebends in Italy. His literary labours were very extensive. His two most important works were a description of certain valuable MSS. in his _Bibliotheae Mediceo-Laurentianae et Palatinae codd. manuscr. Orientalium Catalogus_ (Flor. 1742), fol., and his _Acta SS. Martyrum Orientalium._ He made several translations from the Syrian, and in conjunction with his uncle he began the _Bibliothecae Apostol. Vatic. codd. manusc. Catal., in tres partes distributus._ Only three vols. were published, and the fire in the Vatican library in 1768 consumed the manuscript collections which had been prepared for the continuation of the work.

4. SIMON, grandnephew of Joseph Simon, was born at Tripoli in 1752, and was professor of Oriental languages in Padua. He died in 1820. He is best known by his masterly detection of the literary imposture of Vella, which claimed to be a history of the Saracens in Syria.

ASSEMBLY, UNLAWFUL, the term used in English law for an assembly of three or more persons with intent to commit a crime by force, or to carry out a common purpose (whether lawful or unlawful), in such a manner or in such circumstances as would in the opinion of firm and rational men endanger the public peace or create fear of immediate danger to the tranquillity of the neighbourhood. In the Year Book of the third year of Henry VII.'s reign assemblies were referred to as not punishable unless _in terrorem populi domini regis_. It has been suggested (Criminal Code Commission, 1879) that legislation first became necessary at a time when it was usual for those landed proprietors who were on bad terms with one another to go to market at the head of bands of armed retainers (Statute of Northampton, 1328, 2 Edw. III. c. 3). An assembly, otherwise lawful, is not made unlawful if those who take part in it know beforehand that there will probably be organized opposition to it, and that it may cause a breach of the peace (_Beatty v. Gillbanks_, 1882, 9 Q.B.D. 308). All persons may, and must if called upon to do so, assist in dispersing an unlawful assembly (_Redford v. Birley_, 1822, 1 St. Tr. n.s. 1215; _R. v. Pinney_, 1831, 3 St. Tr. n.s. 11). An assembly which is lawful cannot be rendered unlawful by proclamation unless the proclamation is one authorized by statute (_R. v. Fursey_, 1833, 3 St. Tr. n.s. 543, 567; _R. v. O'Connell_, 1831, 2 St. Tr. n.s. 629, 656; see also the Prevention of Crimes [Ireland] Act 1887). Meetings for training or drilling, or military movements, are unlawful assemblies unless held under lawful authority from the crown, the lord-lieutenant, or two justices of the peace (Unlawful Drilling Act 1820, s. 11).

An unlawful assembly which has made a motion towards its common purpose is termed a _rout_, and if the unlawful assembly should proceed to carry out its purpose, e.g. begin to demolish a particular enclosure, it becomes a riot (q.v.). All three offences are misdemeanours in English law, punishable by fine and imprisonment. The common law as to unlawful assembly extends to Ireland, subject to the special legislation referred to under the title RIOT. The law of Scotland includes unlawful assembly under the same head as rioting.

_British Dominions Abroad._--The law of the British colonies as a general rule as to unlawful assemblies follows the common law of England. The definitions in the Criminal Codes of Canada (1892, s. 79) and Queensland (1899, s. 61) are substantially the same as the common-law definition above given. Under the Indian Penal Code (s. 141) an assembly of five or more persons is designated an unlawful assembly if the common object of the persons composing that assembly is--(1) to overawe by criminal force, or show of criminal force, the legislative or executive government of India, or the government of any presidency or any lieutenant-governor, or any public servant in the exercise of the lawful power of such public servant; (2) to resist the execution of any law or of any legal process; (3) to commit any mischief or "criminal trespass" or other offence; (4) by means of criminal force or show of criminal force to any person, to take or obtain possession of any property, or to deprive any person of the enjoyment of a right of way, or of the use of water, or other corporeal right of which he is in possession or enjoyment, or to enforce any right or supposed right; or (5) by means of criminal force or show of criminal force, to compel any person to do what he is not legally bound to do, or to omit to do what he is legally entitled to do (see Mayne, _Ind. Cr. Law_, ed. 1896, p. 480). In South Africa and Mauritius the law on this subject is derived from the Roman Dutch and French law (see RIOT.)

_United States._--The common-law definition of unlawful assembly is accepted in the United States subject to the special legislation of the constituent states. The New York Penal Code (s. 451) declares that whenever three or more persons being assembled attempt or threaten any act tending towards a breach of the peace or injury to person or property, or any unlawful act, such assembly is unlawful (see Bishop, _Amer. Crim. Law_, 8th ed., 1892, vol. i. s. 534, vol. ii. s. 1256).

ASSEN, the capital of the province of Drente, Holland, 16 m. by rail S. of Groningen, at the junction of the two canals which run north and south to Groningen and Meppel respectively. Pop. (1900) 11,329. It is partly surrounded by a small forest belonging to the state. Assen possesses schools (a gymnasium and burgher school), a chamber of commerce, a museum of antiquities and a court-house. Peat-cutting forms a considerable industry. Many prehistoric remains found in the neighbourhood are in the museum at Leiden. Until the 19th century Assen was a small place built round the convent in which Otto II. (of Lippe), bishop of Utrecht, was murdered after being taken prisoner at Koevorden in 1237.

ASSER, or ASSERIUS MENEVENSIS (d. c. 910), English bishop, and author of a life of Alfred the Great, was a native of the western part of Wales, and was related to Nobis, bishop of St David's. He became a monk at St David's, and having acquired some reputation for learning, he was invited by King Alfred to his court. The king met the monk at Denu (probably East or West Dean, near Seaford in Sussex), but Asser did not at once accept the invitation of Alfred, and returned to Wales to consult his colleagues. He then agreed to spend six months of each year with the king and six months in his own land; but his first stay at the royal court extended to eight months, and it is probable that the annual visit to Wales was curtailed if not altogether discontinued. It is difficult to fix the date of Asser's arrival in England, but it was probably about 885. He assisted the king in his studies, received from him the monasteries of Congresbury and Banwell, and sometime later "Exeter and its diocese in Saxonland and Cornwall." He became bishop of Sherborne before 900, and his death is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under the date 910, although it is possible that it occurred a year or two earlier. The scanty details of Asser's life are taken from his biography of Alfred, from which it is inferred that he was acquainted with one or two Frankish biographies, and possibly had visited the continent of Europe.

Asser's work, _Annales rerum gestarum Alfredi magni_, was written about 893, and consists of a chronicle of English history from 849 to 887, and an account of Alfred's life, largely drawn from personal knowledge, down to 887. The only manuscript of which there is any record dates from about 1000, and was destroyed by fire in 1731. From this manuscript an edition was printed in 1574 under the direction of Matthew Parker, archbishop of Canterbury; but this contained many interpolations and alterations which were copied by subsequent editors. The text has since been the subject of careful study, and the edition edited by W.H. Stevenson (Oxford, 1904) distinguishes between the original work of Asser and the later additions. Some doubt has been cast upon the authenticity of the work, especially by T. Wright in the _Biographia Britannica literaria_ (London, 1842), who ascribes the life to a monk of St Neots; but the latest scholarship regards it as the work of Asser, although all the difficulties which surround the authorship have not been removed. The life was largely used by subsequent chroniclers, among others by Florence of Worcester, Simeon of Durham, Roger of Hoveden, and William of Malmesbury.

See W.H. Stevenson, Introduction to Asser's _Life of King Alfred_
(Oxford, 1904); R. Pauli, Introduction to _Konig Aelfred_ (Berlin,
1851).

ASSESSMENT, (from Lat. _assessare_, to sit beside, to judge), a term expressing either an official valuation of income or property for purposes of taxation, or the amount so determined (see TAXATION and VALUATION). It is also applied to the amount of damages fixed by a jury in a court of law (see DAMAGES).

An _assessment committee_ is a statutory committee appointed under the Union Assessment Acts 1862, 1880, for the purpose of making out the valuation lists upon which the poor-law rate is based.

An _assessment policy_, in life insurance, is a policy issued at a fixed premium, the excess of which over the portion necessary to meet current claims and expenses goes to form a reserve fund which is devoted to various forms of benefit for the policy-holders. See INSURANCE and FRIENDLY SOCIETIES.

ASSESSOR (Lat. _assessare_, _assidere_, to sit by), a Roman term originally applied to a trained lawyer who sat beside a governor of a province or other magistrate, to instruct him in the administration of the laws (see Roll, _De assessoribus magistratuum Romanorum_, Leipzig, 1872). The system is still exemplified in Scotland, where it is usual in the larger towns for municipal magistrates, in the administration of their civil jurisdiction, to have the aid of professional assessors. In England, by the Judicature Act 1873, the court of appeal and the High Court may in any cause or matter call in the aid of assessors. The Patents Act 1907 makes special provision for assessors in patent and trade-mark cases. By the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1891 the House of Lords may, in appeals in admiralty actions, call in the aid of assessors, while in the admiralty division of the High Court it is usual for the Elder Brethren of Trinity House to assist as nautical assessors. In admiralty cases in the county courts, too, the judge is frequently assisted by assessors of "nautical skill and experience" (County Court Admiralty Jurisdiction Act 1868). In the ecclesiastical courts assessors assist the bishop in proceedings under the Church Discipline Act 1840, s. 11, while under the Clergy Discipline Act 1892, s. 2, they assist the chancellor in determining questions of fact. By the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876, s. 14, the king in council may make rules for the attendance of archbishops and bishops as assessors in the hearing of ecclesiastical cases by the judicial committee of the privy council.

The term "assessor" is also very generally applied to persons appointed to ascertain and fix the value of rates, taxes, &c., and in this sense the word is used in the United States.

In France and in all European countries where the civil law system prevails, the term _assesseur_ is applied to those assistant judges who, with a president, compose a judicial court.

In Germany an _Assessor_, or _Beisitzer_, is a member of the legal profession who has passed four years in actual practice and become qualified for the position of a judge.

ASSETS (from the O. Nor. Fr. _assetz_, mod. Fr. _assez_, "enough"), in English law, strictly the property of a debtor in the hands of his representative sufficient for the satisfaction of his creditors or legatees. Thus the property of a bankrupt is termed his assets and is the fund out of which his liabilities must be paid. All property of the debtor is assets, and it is not necessary that it should have been reduced into possession by him.

The creditors of a debtor are either secured or unsecured. A secured creditor, e.g. a mortgagee, has a prior claim to be paid his debt out of his security. If on realization of the security there is a balance after paying the debt, such balance becomes assets for the unsecured creditors; if there is a deficit, then the creditor becomes an unsecured creditor for such deficit. The unsecured creditors were formerly divided into creditors by specialty and by simple contract, the first being creditors secured by instrument under seal who ranked in priority to simple contract creditors. But by Hinde Palmer's Act [the Executors Act] 1869 all unsecured creditors rank alike.

Assets are divisible into legal assets and equitable assets, and the former class is again divisible into assets real and personal. These distinctions, though formerly of great importance, have now lost most of their meaning, but it is necessary briefly to describe the nature of these divisions and their consequences. The distinction between assets legal and equitable depends entirely upon the remedy open to the creditor to recover his debt and in no way upon the nature of the property from which the debt is sought to be recovered. If the creditor had to sue the executor of a debtor at law to obtain payment out of the property, that property was legal assets; but if the only remedy open to the creditor to get at the property was to bring an action in chancery for the administration of the estate, then the assets were equitable.

Legal assets, as has been said, were divided into real and personal assets. The personal assets were those which devolved _virtute officii_ on the executor or administrator; such assets are since Hinde Palmer's Act available equally for specialty and simple contract creditors. The real assets consisted of those descending to the heir or devised to a devisee, and were at law only liable for specialty debts. However, by the Land Transfer Act 1897 it is provided that the real estate of a deceased shall devolve upon the executor and "shall be administered in the same manner ... and with the same incidents as if it were personal estate." The distinction, therefore, between assets real and personal has practically ceased to exist, and only continues in regard to such property as is not included in the act, the most important of which is land held in copyhold.

The equitable assets were treated otherwise. In the eyes of equity all unsecured creditors stand upon the same footing, and a creditor suing for administration of the estate sued on behalf of himself and all other creditors of the estate, and the distinction between specialty and simple contract creditors was ignored. Land was not at law liable to satisfy simple contract creditors; but if a testator expressly charged it with payment of his debts or devised it to his executors upon trust to pay his debts, equity treated it as equitable assets and so made it available to satisfy simple contract creditors; and finally by an act of 1833 it was provided that real estate should in all cases be assets to be administered by equity for the benefit of simple contract creditors as well as creditors by specialty. It will be seen therefore that, generally speaking, all creditors have now the same remedies against the executors either at law or in equity. The only property as to which these distinctions at all survive is that not touched by the Land Transfer Act 1897.

The act of 1833 just mentioned does not, however, deal with legacies, which continue to be payable only out of personalty unless they are expressly charged upon the realty by the testator; it has been contended that the effect of the Land Transfer Act 1897 has been to alter this and make the realty assets for the purpose of paying legacies, but this view is believed to be unsound.

It is necessary for the representative so to distribute the assets that any fund primarily liable shall bear its proper burden, and that as far as possible all debts and legacies may be paid; this is said to be "marshalling the assets," and a few examples of the principal cases of marshalling will make this clear. If the personalty is exhausted in satisfying the creditors the legatees are left without a fund from which to be paid. But inasmuch as the creditor could have got paid out of the realty, as well as the personalty, it is not fair that the legatee should suffer by the creditor's choice, and he will therefore get payment from the real estate. So again if one legacy is charged upon the real estate and another is not, then if the former be paid out of the personalty the latter will stand in its place and be paid from the real estate.

Finally it shall be noticed that an insolvent estate may be administered in bankruptcy. In such a case the law of bankruptcy regulates the order in which the assets are divided among the creditors (see BANKRUPTCY), but by the Judicature Act 1875, it is provided that an insolvent estate may be administered in the chancery division, and in such a case "the same rules shall prevail and be observed as to the respective rights of secured and unsecured creditors and as to the debts and liabilities provable and as to the valuation of annuities and future and contingent liabilities respectively as may be in force for the time being under the law of bankruptcy." This clause must be construed strictly, and it is only in the three cases specifically mentioned that the rules of bankruptcy will be imported into the administration of an insolvent estate by the chancery division.

In a less strict sense, the term "assets," or "an asset," is used derivatively as a synonym for any property, or as opposed to "liabilities." Cecil Rhodes once spoke of the British flag as a "great commercial asset" in South Africa, meaning merely that the imperial connexion was a source of strength and credit.

ASSIDEANS (the Anglicized form, derived through the Greek, of the Hebrew _Hasidim_, "the pious"), the name of a party or sect which stood out against the Hellenization of the Jews in the 2nd century B.C. After the massacre of those who fled from the forces of Antiochus Epiphanes and would not resist on the sabbath, Mattathias (or Judas) decided to set aside the law and was joined by a company of Assideans, brave men of Israel every one, who offered themselves willingly for the law (1 Macc. ii. 42, cf. 2 Macc. viii. 1). On the appointment of Alcimus (162 B.C.), "a descendant of Aaron" as high-priest, "the Assideans were the first who sought peace" (1 Macc. vii. 13 f.); but the treacherous murder of sixty of them (ib. 16) threw them back into the arms of Judas. According to 2 Macc. xiv., Alcimus identified them with the whole party of the rebels, of which they were only one, though the most important, section.

See Schurer, _Geschichte des judischen Volkes_, i. 203; art. in
_Jewish Encyclopaedia_, s.v. "Hasidim" (S.M. Dubnow). (J. H. A. H.)

ASSIGNATS (from Lat. _assignatus_, assigned), a form of paper-money issued in France from 1789 to 1796. Assignats were so termed, as representing land _assigned_ to the holders.

The financial strait of the French government in 1789 was extreme. Coin was scarce, loans were not taken up, taxes had ceased to be productive, and the country was threatened with imminent bankruptcy. In this emergency assignats were issued to provide a substitute for a metallic currency. They were originally of the nature of mortgage bonds on the national lands. These lands consisted of the church property confiscated, on the motion of Mirabeau, by the Constituent Assembly on the 2nd of November 1789, and the crown lands, which had been taken over by the nation on the 7th of October (see FRENCH REVOLUTION).

The assignats were first to be paid to the creditors of the state. With these the creditors could purchase national land, the assignats having, for this purpose, the preference over other forms of money. If the creditor did not care to purchase land, it was supposed that he could obtain the face-value for them from those who desired land. Those assignats which were returned to the state as purchase-money were to be cancelled, and the whole issue, it was argued, would consequently disappear as the national lands were distributed.

A first issue was made of 400,000,000 francs' worth of assignats, each note being of 100 francs' value and bearing interest daily at a rate of 5%. They were to be redeemed by the product of the sales, and from certain other sources, at the rate of 120,000,000 francs in 1791, 100,000,000 francs in 1792, 80,000,000 francs in 1793 and 1794, and the surplus in 1795. The success of the issue was undoubted, and, possibly, if the assignats had been restricted, as Mirabeau at first desired, to the extent of one-half the value of the lands sold, they would not have shared the usual fate of inconvertible paper money. Mirabeau was a strenuous advocate of the assignats. "They represent," he said, "real property, the most secure of all possessions, the soil on which we tread." "There cannot be a greater error than the fear so generally prevalent as to the over-issue of assignats ... reabsorbed progressively in the purchase of the national domains, this paper-money can never become redundant."

In 1790 the interest was reduced to 3%, and as the treasury had again become exhausted, a further issue was decided upon; it was also decreed that the assignats were to be accepted as legal tender, all public departments being instructed to receive them as the equivalent of metallic money. This second issue amounted to 800,000,000 francs and carried no interest. It was solemnly declared in the decree authorizing the issue that the maximum issue was never to exceed twelve hundred millions. This pledge, however, was soon broken, and further issues brought the total up to 3,750,000,000 francs. The consequence of these further issues was instant depreciation, and the note of 100 francs nominal value sank to less than 20 francs coin. Recourse was then had to protective legislation. The first step was to decree the penalty of six years' imprisonment against any person who should sell specie for a more considerable quantity of assignats, or who should stipulate a different price for commodities according as the payment was to be made in specie or in assignats. For the second offence the penalty was to be twenty years' imprisonment (August 1, 1793), for which the death penalty was ultimately substituted (May 10, 1794). This severe provision was, however, repealed after the fall of Robespierre. Notwithstanding these precautions, the value of assignats still declined, till the proportion to specie had become that of six to one. Then came the passing by the Convention on the 3rd of May 1793 of the absurd "maximum." The decree required all farmers and corn-dealers to declare the quantity of corn in their possession and to sell it only in recognized markets. No person was to be allowed to lay in more than one month's supply. A maximum price was fixed, above which no one was to buy or sell under severe penalties. These measures were soon stultified by further issues, and by June 1794 the total number of assignats aggregated nearly 8,000,000,000, of which only 2,464,000,000 had returned to the treasury and been destroyed. The extension of the "maximum" to all commodities only increased the confusion. Trade was paralysed and all manufacturing establishments were closed down. Attempts by the Convention to increase the value of the assignats were of no avail. Too many causes operated in favour of their depreciation: the enormous issue, the uncertainty as to their value if the Revolution should fail, the relation they bore to both specie and commodities, which retained their value and refused to be exchanged for a money of constantly diminishing purchasing power. Even between the assignats themselves there were differences. The royal assignats, which had been issued under Louis XVI., had depreciated less than the republican ones. They were worth from 8 to 15% more, a fact due to the hope that in case of a counter-revolution they would be less likely to be discredited.

The Directory was guilty of even greater abuses in dealing with the assignats. By 1796 the issues had reached the enormous figure of 45,500,000,000 francs, and even this gigantic total was swollen still more by the numerous counterfeits introduced into France from the neighbouring countries. The assignats had now become totally valueless--the abolition of the "maximum" the previous year (1795) had produced no effect, and, though, by various payments into the treasury, the total number had been reduced to about 24,000,000,000 francs, their face-value was about 30 to 1 of coin. At this value they were converted into 800,000,000 francs of land-warrants, or _mandats territoriaux_, which were to constitute a mortgage on all the lands of the republic. These _mandats_ were no more successful than the assignats, and even on the day of their issue were at a discount of 82%. They had an existence of six months, and were finally received back by the state at about the seventieth part of their face-value in coin.

AUTHORITIES.--L.A. Thiers, _Histoire de la revolution francaise_,
gives a full and graphic account of the assignats, the causes of their
depreciation, &c.; J. Garnier, _Traite des Finances_ (1862); J.
Bresson, _Histoire financiere de la France_ (1829); R. Stourm, _Les
Finances de l'ancien regime et de la revolution_ (1885); F.A. Walker,
_Money_ (1891); Henry Higgs, in the _Cambridge Modern History_, vol.
viii. (1904). (T. A. I.)

ASSIGNMENT, ASSIGNATION, ASSIGNEE (from Lat. _assignare_, to mark out), terms which, as derivatives of the verb "to assign," are of frequent technical use in law. To assign is to make over, and the term is generally used to express a transference by writing, in contradistinction to a transference by actual delivery. In England the usual expression is assignment, in Scotland it is assignation. The person making over is called the _assignor_ or _cedent_; the recipient, the _assign_ or _assignee_. An assignee may be such either _by deed_, as when a lessee assigns his lease to another, or _in law_, as when property devolves upon an executor. The law as to assignment in connexion with each particular subject, as the assignment of a chose in action, assignment in contract, of dower, of errors, of a lease, &c., will be found under the respective headings. In a colloquial sense, "assignation" means a secretly contrived meeting between lovers.