ASYLUM 



450 



ATCHISON 



ASYLUM, asy'lum, a term applied to 

 various institutions where unfortunate persons 

 are cared for. Thus, blind asylum, orphan 

 asylum, insane asylum, etc., are expressions fre- 

 quently heard which carry the meaning in the 

 name. The present tendency, however, is to 

 use the term hospital in connection with insti- 

 tutions where the insane receive care and treat- 

 ment. States, provinces, many counties and 

 large cities provide for the building and main- 

 tenance of such institutions. See INSANITY, 

 subhead Insane Asylums; DEAF AND DUMB; 

 BUND, EDUCATION OF THE. 



Ancient Asylums. The name asylum comes 

 from the Greek word, asylon, meaning a place 

 safe from violence, and in very early times the 

 term was applied to those places where persons 

 fleeing from justice or persecution sought ref- 

 uge. Among the ancient Greeks and Romans 

 such places were the temples and altars of 

 the gods; among the Hebrews, they were the 

 cities of refuge described in Numbers XXXV, 

 9-34 (see CITIES OF REFUGE). The latter cus- 

 tom, slightly varied, passed over into the Chris- 

 tian Era, and in the time of Constantine the 

 churches were appointed asylums for those in 

 fear of their lives. In the course of time, 

 criminals so abused this privilege that the right 

 of sanctuary, as it was called, was gradually 

 abolished. 



Right of Asylum. In the law of nations, 

 the term right oj asylum means the right of a 

 state to permit those fleeing for proper reasons 

 from other countries to remain unmolested 

 within its boundaries. Nations make extra- 

 dition treaties with each other (see EXTRADI- 

 TION) so that the right of asylum may not be 

 used to defeat the ends of justice. 



ATAHUALPA, ahtawahl'pa, the last ruler 

 of a proud race of Indians, the Incas (which 

 see), who were conquered during the Spanish 

 invasion under Pizarro. Atahualpa became 

 king of Quito in 1529, while his brother Huascar 

 ruled over the kingdom of Peru. In a war 

 between the two brothers, Huascar was de- 

 feated and imprisoned, and his kingdom fell 

 into the hands of Atahualpa. In 1532 the 

 Spaniards under Pizarro, and by a trick, seized 

 Atahualpa, who to gain his liberty offered to 

 fill the room in which he stood with gold as 

 high as he could reach. The gold for his 

 ransom began to pour in at once, but when 

 he demanded his freedom Pizarro basely ac- 

 cused the prisoner of plotting against his life. 

 He was condemned to suffer death by fire, and 

 was saved from this torture only by consenting 



to receive baptism. Pizarro then ordered him 

 to be strangled. See PIZAKRO, FRANCISCO. 



ATALANTA, at a Ian' ta, a famous Grecian 

 huntress \\lio had declared that she would 

 marry no man unless he could defeat her in a 

 race. Aft IT many youths had met death for 

 their failure, Hippomenes overcame her by 

 strategem and won her hand. The tale is told 

 in full in the article MYTHOLOGY. 



ATAVISM, at'avis'm, a term used to ex- 

 plain the appearance in animals and plants of 

 certain special characteristics not possessed by 

 their immediate ancestors, but which wuv 

 common to remote ancestors. It is improper 

 to use the term atavism unless the throw-back 

 is to ancestors more than two generations 

 remote. Atavism and reversion, in this sense, 

 become like terms. Hybrids in plants, and the 

 sixth finger or toe in man, are examples of 

 atavism. See HEREDITY; EVOLUTION; HYBRID. 



ATCHAFALAYA, achajali'ah, an Indian 

 term meaning lost river, is a river of Louisiana, 

 an outlet of the Red River and occasionally of 

 the Mississippi, carrying part of the overflow 

 from those streams in times of flood. It flows 

 southward, and enters the Gulf of Mexico by 

 Atchafalaya Bay. Its length is 220 miles, the 

 greater part of which is navigable by small 

 river vessels, which carry most of the local 

 commerce. 



ATCHISON, atch'is'n, KAN., is the county 

 seat of Atchison County, in the northeastern 

 part of the state, forty-nine miles northwest of 

 Kansas City, and thirty-five miles southwest of 

 Saint Joseph. It is on the right bank of the 

 Missouri River, which is navigable at this point 

 but is little used for freight transportation, and 

 on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, the 

 Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, the Mis- 

 souri Pacific, and the Chicago, Burlington & 

 Quincy railroads. A fine steel bridge crosses 

 the river here. The population, which in 1910 

 was 16,429, was 16,635 by a Federal estimate of 

 1915. The area is nearly three square miles. 



Atchison is an important railway center and 

 handles a vast amount of freight, particularly 

 grain, flour, lumber, and live stock. It is also 

 the supply center in groceries, drugs and hard- 

 ware, for a large part of the state. Railroad 

 car shops, foundries, grain elevators, flour, corn- 

 products and oatmeal mills, lumber mills and 

 manufactories of furniture, carriages and har- 

 ness, are among the important industries. The 

 city has Central, Forest and City parks, a fine 

 Union depot costing $140,000, Federal build- 

 ing, courthouse, hospital and public library. 



