YERKES OBSERVATORY 477 YOKOHAMA in constructing a system of underground railroads in London, England. In 1892 he gave an observatory to the University of Chicago. He died in New York City, Dec. 29, 1905. YERKES OBSERVATORY, the ob- servatory of Chicago University, at Wil- liam's Bay, Wis., near the shore of Lake Geneva, 75 miles N. of Chicago, founded in 1892 by Charles T. Yerkes, of Chi- cago, and completed in 1895, The site, chosen ^vith a view to escaping the smoke, dust, electric lights, and noise of a city, consists of 50 acres of wooded land. YEZO, or EZO, less correctly Yesso. native Hokkaido, the most N. of the four great islands of Japan ; still only partially settled; area, 36,299 square miles; pop. about 700,000. Its official name is Hokkaido, or "Circuit of the Northern Sea," received in 1870, when it was brought under a special colonization department. An agricultural mission from the United States assisted in founding model farms, laying out roads, and building bridges. The capital was changed from Matsumae to Sapporo, which was provided with a railroad to Otam, its port, and to Poronai, the great coal district inland. An agricultural college, breweries, canning factories, beetroot sugar factories, etc., were estab- lished, but with inconsiderable results. The coal mines are worked by convict labor. A system of military settlements has of late years been put into force, partly with the view of furnishing a militia against possible invasion from Russia, which is supposed to covet the fine harbors of Yezo. The exposed port of Otam will probably be abandoned for the more sheltered harbor of Moro- ran, on Volcano Bay, now a naval har- bor, to which a railway from Poronai mines has been built. The principal products of Yezo are coal, seaweed, sul- phur, fish, the catches of salmon on the river Ishikari being sometimes enormous. At the restoration in 1868 the supporters of the Tokugawa government made a last stand here, and were finally de- feated at Hakodate. Yezo has a rigor- ous climate, being for six months in the year under snow and ice (two feet in the S. to eight feet in the N.). The cen- ter of the island is but little known, though it has been crossed twice or thrice by Japanese and European ex- plorers; the Ainos live mostly near the mouths of the rivers. The interior is mountainous and inhospitable; there are several active volcanoes. YGDRASIL, or YGGDRASILL (ig-' dra-sil), in Scandinavian mythology, the Cyc 2 giant ash tree spread over the whole world reaching above the heavens, sym- bolizing the universe, the branches of which reach down to the under world, or Scandinavian hell. YOAKUM, a city of Texas, in De Witt and Lavaca cos. It is on the San An- tonio and Arkansas Pass railroad. Its industries include railroad shops, a can- ning factory, an ice factory, flour mills, bottling works, etc. Pop. (1910) 4,657; (1920) 6,184. YOGA, one of the six Darsanas. i. e., schools or systems of Brahmanical phi- losophy, that of Patanjali, the essence of which is meditation. It believes in a primordial soul which has had existence from an earlier period than primeval matter, and holds that from the two arose the spirit of life (Mahanatma). Theoretically, at least, its devotees can acquire even in this world entire com- mand over elementary matter by certain ascetic practices, such as long continued suppression of the respiration, inhaling and exhaling the breath in a particular manner, sitting in 84 attitudes, fixina: the eyes on the tip of the nose, and en- deavoring, by the force of mental ab- straction, to unite themselves with the vital spirit which pervades all nature and is identical with Siva. When this mystic union is effected, the Yoga can make himself lighter than the lightest, or heavier than the heaviest substance, or as small or as large as he pleases; he can traverse all space, can become in- visible, can equally know the past, the present, and the future, and can animate any dead body by transferring to it his own spirit ; finally he becomes united with Siva, and is excempt from the necessity of undergoing further transmigrations. YOKOHAMA, the chief port of entry in Japan, and the headquarters of for- eign shipping companies, banks, consu- lates, and commerce generally. Till the opening of the country in 1854 it was an insignificant fishing village, contiguous to the important town of Kanagawa, originally granted as a treaty settlement. The obstructions offered by the Japanese and the impatience of foreign merchants led to the practical abandonment of Kanagawa, which, however, still re- mained nominally the seat of the various consulates. Yokohama is a well laid-out town, but contains narrow winding streets. The Bluff, conceded for resi- dence in 1867, is a beautiful spot which commands fine views of Fuji-san and of Yokohama bay. Other parts of the town have also been greatly improved and there are now many fine buildings, hospitals, churches, clubs, parks, etc. 1 Vol. X
