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ASQUITH 305 ASSAB BAY elected to Parliament in 1886 and in 1892 he was made Secretary of State for the Home Department. He took an active part in the Home Rule debates, becoming one of the most conspicuous figures in the House. In 1894 he drew up the bill pro- viding for the disestablishment of the Church of Wales and supported that measure until its rejection by the House. He resigned his seat in the Cabinet in 1895, following the defeat of the Liberal party, but continued in Parliament as a member of the Opposition. During this period the Conservative party gained ascendancy and Asquith's reputation steadily increased. He supported the Government throughout the Boer War but defended free trade following the movement for protection led by Joseph Chamberlain. He was appointed Chan- cellor of the Exchequer in the Ministry of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, when the Liberals regained power in 1905. In 1908 he was appointed Prime Minister and took an aggressive part in the for- mulation of the Liberal reform program. Many important measures were passed during this period, the most important of which was the law depriving the House of Lords of its veto power following the rejection by the House of Lords of the budget of 1909. He won the hostility of the advocates of woman suffrage on ac- count of his opposition to that movement. He finally consented to permit an equal suffrage amendment to the electoral bill of 1912, but owing to a technical ruling it was necessary to withdraw the entire bill. He was accused of betraying the suffrage cause and the attitude of the woman suffrage leaders became even more hostile than before. From 1908 to 1916 he held the position, not only of Prime Minister, but of First Lord of the Treasury. At the outbreak of the Euro- pean War he also took over the office of the Secretary of State for War. His at- titude as Prime Minister at the outbreak of the World War was patriotic and he supported all measures undertaken to bring Great Britain into active partici- pation following the declaration of war with Germany. As the war progressed, however, he was considered to be over- cautious and lacking in energy and deci- sion. He was succeeded^ as Prime Minister by Lloyd George in 1916. In the elections of 1919 he was defeated for Parliament, but was re-elected on Feb. 25, 1920, as a member from Paisley, Scotland. He at once took the place of the leader of the Opposition, and opposed strongly most of the measures relating to Ireland and the industrial situation in England brought forward by Lloyd George in the House of Commons. ASBAEL, the Mohammedan angel of death, who takes the soul from the body. ASS (asinus), a genus of perissodac- tyla closely relatel to the horse. The domestication took place at an early date, probably before that of the horse, from a type like the present Abyssinian ass {A. tseniojnis), and apparently in Asia; but the donkey has been common in Eng- land only since Queen Elizabeth's time. The dwarfing and degeneration so gener- ally exhibited are the results rather of ill-treatment and careless breeding than of uncongenial climate, as the condition of the domesticated forms in some favorable parts of the East plainly indicates. In Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Spain, Kentucky, and elsewhere, the asses are well cared for, and the breed has been considerably varied and improved; a Spanish he-ass of a good breed may be worth $1,000. The mule is a hybrid bred between mare and male ass, while the hinny is the rarer result of hybridism between horse and female ass. The mule is much nearer in temper and appearance to the ass than to the horse; the hinny in some points resembles the horse more, as it neighs, while the mule brays like the ass. The various species of wild asses are handsomer in form than the familiar degenerate donkey. They have shorter ears, and longer, finer limbs. The shy, swift A. onager occurs in herds in the Asiatic deserts, migrating southward in winter. The large, handsome A. hem' tonus, with dark stripes on its back, in- habits high plateaus from Tibet to Mon- golia. The Abyssinian form has been already noted as the probable ancestor of the donkey. The even wilder zebras and quaggas will be discussed separately. The wild ass is hunted in the East, e. g., in Persia; and the flesh of the hardly- won booty is much esteemed. The milk of the ass is more sugary and less cheesy than that of the cow, and is on that account recommended to some invalids — e. g., consumptives. The leather called shagreen is made by a peculiar process from the skin, which is also utilized for shoes and drums. ASSAB BAY, an Italian trading sta- tion on the W. coast of the Red Sea, 40 miles N. W. of the Strait of Bab-el- Mandeb. The district around it, with an area of 243 square miles, and 1,300 in- habitants, was sold in 1870 by some Danakil chieftains to an Italian steam- ship company for a coaling station on the road to India. In 1880 it was taken over by the Italian Government, who, since 1884, have improved the harbor and erected a lighthouse.