ATROPHY 466 



hall. The atrium in the primitive Roman 

 home was a living room where the family 

 cooked, dined, slept and received visitors. Here 

 also were the hearth and the household gods 

 beside it (see LARES AND PENATES), the relics of 

 the ancestors, and the family altar. 



The atria in the homes of the wealthy Ro- 

 mans of the time of Augustus and later were 

 .:'ul apartments adorned with paintings, 

 statuary, vases and fountains, and having four 

 columns around the central opening to support 

 the roof. In the houses of Pompeii may be 

 seen atria of all kinds in a good state of pres- 

 ervation. 



ATROPHY, at'rofi, a condition of wasting 

 of the human body due to interference with 

 the process of nutrition. It may affect prac- 

 tically every part of the physical organism. 

 A familiar illustration is the shriveled arm or 

 leg which has been deprived of exercise by 

 paralysis or joint disease, and which has be- 

 come atrophied because this lack of exercise 

 has interfered with the nutritive function. Any 

 organ of the body which ceases to function 

 tends to become useless. This explains the 

 presence of the blind fishes in the underground 

 rivers of Mammoth Cave, Ky., whose organs 

 of sight, through many years of disuse, have 

 undergone atrophic change. The brains of 

 imbeciles frequently become shriveled, and this 

 condition might be the fate of a person of 

 normal intelligence who was placed in solitary 

 confinement for a long period without any 

 occupation. Sometimes the pressure of tumors 

 or other growths upon internal organs causes 

 the latter to become atrophied. An affection 

 of the muscular system, known as progressive 

 musclar atrophy, is characterized by atrophy 

 of certain muscles or groups of muscles. The 

 disease is associated with the anterior roots 

 of the nerves of the spinal cord. Paralysis of 

 the affected muscles occurs in the course of 

 the ailment. In nearly all cases the disease 

 terminates fatally. W.A.E. 



ATTACKS, at ta shay', a term applied to a 

 subordinate official attached to an embassy. 

 The duties of such an office are specific. A 

 military attache handles military affairs; a 

 naval attache, naval business; and a commer- 

 cial attache may be sent to an embassy for the 

 purpose of studying commercial conditions. 



ATTACHMENT, attach 1 ment, a term in 

 law applied to a court writ for seizing a person 

 or the property of one sought for court action. 

 A writ of attachment against persons is now 

 issued only for contempt of court. The original 



ATTAR 



purpose of the writ was to secure the appear- 

 ance in court of one who had disregarded a 

 legal summons. The grounds upon which a 

 writ for attachment of property may be ob- 

 tained vary under different laws, but usually it 

 is issued to a creditor. It is a harsh and 

 extraordinary measure, used only in cases where 

 the debtor is a non-resident or has left the 

 state with the intention of defrauding the 

 creditor. An attachment is dissolved by final 

 judgment. 



ATTAINDER, a tayn' der. According to old 

 English law a person who was sentenced 

 to death or outlawed forfeited all rights to 

 his property, including land and personal prop- 

 erty, and suffered also corruption of blood, 

 which prohibited him from inheriting property 

 or transmitting it to his heirs. Such a loss of 

 civil rights is known as attainder. By act of 

 Parliament, passed in 1870, attainder in Eng- 

 land was abolished, and it is now obsolete in 

 practically all civilized countries. In the 

 United States a man may be attained for the 

 crime of treason, but the Constitution ex- 

 pressly states that his punishment cannot 

 extend beyond his life. His property passes on 

 his death to his heirs, against whom no penal- 

 ties can be laid. See BILL OF ATTAINDER. 



ATTAR, at' ar, a general term for perfume 

 made from flowers, but used most commonly 

 in connection with attar, or otto, of roses, the 

 rare and costly oil obtained from the petals 

 of several species of roses which are products 

 of the East. Attar of roses is made chiefly in 

 Syria, Persia, India, Turkey and Bulgaria. To 

 obtain the oil the rose petals are distilled with 

 about twice their weight of water, the mixture 

 being placed in open vessels and exposed to 

 the night air. In the morning the thin film 

 of attar which has formed is skimmed off with 

 a feather. The amount of attar obtained 

 from a given number of roses weighs only 

 1-3000 as much as the whole quantity of 

 petals, yet so powerful is the scent of this oil 

 that one drop will give fragrance to a gallon 

 of cologne. 



Various perfumes, including milk of roses 

 and lavender water, are scented with altar, 

 and it is sometimes added to medicines and 

 ointments. A hair oil commonly sold under 

 the name of attar of roses consists of olive 

 oil, coloring matter, and a few drops of attar. 

 This costly oil is often adulterated with sandal- 

 wood oil, geranium oil and other substances, 

 and importers sometimes send spies to the 

 factories where it is made, so that they may 



