ASSIGNMENT 



429 



ASSINIBOIN 



and personal property, each must be listed 

 separately. The assessor is usually a town- 

 ship or city officer. Large cities are divided 

 into districts and a deputy assessor is ap- 

 pointed for each, or there is a board of asses- 

 sors, as the duties are too burdensome for 

 one man. In townships the assessor is usually 

 elected by the people. In most instances he 

 is not a salaried officer, but is paid for time 

 actually employed. 



ASSIGNMENT, asign'ment, a legal term 

 meaning the transfer, or making over, of per- 

 sonal or real property or rights in that prop- 

 erty. The person transferring the property is 

 the assignor; the one to whom it is assigned 

 is the assignee. Assignments are legal only if 

 made in writing. A person can assign both 

 property which he already possesses and that 

 which he expects to possess. A farmer may 

 assign his growing crops, and a laborer may 

 assign his wages. Contracts for personal serv- 

 ice, trusts and guardianships cannot be as- 

 signed. There is no particular legal form nec- 

 essary to make an assignment valid; a clear 

 statement showing intent is sufficient, although 

 when the matter at issue is unusually impor- 

 tant it is advisable to consult an attorney. 



ASSIMILATION, a sim i la' shun, the process 

 by which the nutritive elements of food are 

 changed into living tissue. This change takes 

 place in the cells (see CELL). In animals and 

 man the circulating blood brings to the cells 

 the materials which they have the power of 

 changing and so adapting to their own uses 

 that they grow and become capable of perform- 

 ing new and even different functions. In order 

 that assimilation should take place rapidly 

 in any organ, there must be a large supply of 

 blood. This is the case in muscle and nerve 

 tissue, while in bone, which changes more 

 slowly, the blood-vessels or capillaries are 

 fewer. The blood itself must circulate with a 

 normal degree of rapidity, be of sufficient 

 amount and composed of proper materials. 

 There must also be taken into the system a 

 sufficient quantity of food that is of good 

 quality and easily digested. In plant life, it 

 involves the transforming of inorganic mate- 

 rials into tissues. See DIET; N< 

 SECRETION. 



Assimilation, when used in regard to tin 

 operations of the mind, means the interpreta- 

 tion of any new object or phenomenon by 

 t one has already learned through 

 previous experience with .<muhir objects or 

 nomena. After the period of infancy, one 



rarely learns anything new except by the 

 process of assimilation. 



ASSINIBOIA, asiniboy' a, SASK., a town 

 125 miles southwest of Regina and ninety-five 

 miles west of Weyburn. It is the first divi- 

 sional point on the Winnipeg-Lethbridge branch 

 of the Canadian Pacific Railway and is also 

 the terminus of the branch line connecting it 

 directly with Moose Jaw. The first town lot 

 was sold on October 11, 1912, and on Janu- 

 ary 1, 1913, Assiniboia was incorporated. 

 From a spot on the prairie it had grown, t>\ 

 1916, to a town of 1,500 people. The vicinity 

 is a rich mixed-farming district, raising chiefly 

 flax, wheat and oats. The business of the 

 town is chiefly in grains, agricultural imple- 

 ments and other farm supplies, and in lumber 

 and oil. Within a radius of seven miles are 

 large deposits of lignite coal, gravel, sand and 

 fire-brick clay. A $25,000 schoolhouse is con- 

 spicuous among the buildings in the town. 



Assiniboia, a former district of Canada. It 

 was organized in 1882 as a part of the North- 

 west Territories (which see), and in 1905 be- 

 came a part of the new province of Saskatche- 

 wan. It extended from the present western 

 boundary of Manitoba to a point a short dis- 



ASSINIBOIA 



The section In solid black was the former dlx- 

 ni. t of Asslnlboiu. The light, dotted lines indi- 

 cate the boundaries of other districts prior to 

 1905, and the heavy, Molten lines mark present 

 pruvliu-l.il boundaries. 



tance beyond the present western boundary 

 of Saskatchewan, and from the international 

 boundary northward to an east-and-west line 

 drawn just south of the city of Saskatoon, 

 area of this district was 90,000 squan- 

 miles. For details of the physical character- 

 istics, climate, natural resources and products, 

 see SASKATCHEWAN. 



ASSINIBOIN, asin'iboyn, which means 

 one who cooks by stones, is the name given 

 to an Indian tribe of the Sioux family, be- 

 cause when first known by white men they 



