ASI'll 



ASIMIHI'M. 



1:1 



application of heat ; in density it varies from that of water to 1 '6. It 

 my be recognised by the following characters : It is insoluble in 

 alcohol, but soluble in about five time* iU weight of naphtha, with 

 which it form* m good and useful varnish ; its combtmtion U rapid 

 and brilliant, with the production of the bituminous odour. 



It u found in most countries, but most abundantly <m the shores 

 or floating ou the surface of the Dead Sea ; at Hit, above Babylon, on 

 the Euphrates ; near the Tigris : in Trinidad in the Went Indies it 

 fills a basin of three miles in circumference, and of unknown depth. 

 There is a pitch-spring in Zante which U known to have been at work 

 for abore 2000 years. (Herod, iv. IDS). It U also found in limestone 

 at Bleiberg in Carinthm ; in licds of sandstone in Albania, and in veins 

 in the Han in Oermany; in Derbyshire, Shropshire, and several 

 other places. It is the principal colouring matter of the dark indu- 

 rated marl, or shale, which i fuund in coal districts. 



ASI'lli>I>K I.K.K. .r tli, A-;.lmdel Tribe, are Monocotyledonous 

 Plant*, which, although they form a very natural assemblage alone, 

 are now placed by Lindley as a subdivision of the order Liliaeeir. 

 They are for the most part easily recognised, although in certain 

 species and genera they approach other orders eo closely as to be 

 distinguished only with great difficulty. They all have regular flowers 

 with 3 sepals, and S petals of nearly equal size and colour, 6 (very 

 seldom 3) stamens, and a superior 3-celled ovary, with only 1 style. 

 Their fruit is either dry or succulent, and their 1 seeds have a brittle 

 coat 



Atpkodelur are known from J*nceir, or the Rush Tribe, by their 

 larger and more coloured flowers, and by the hardness of the coat of 

 their seeds ; from LUiacetr, or the Lily Tribe, by the smallneas of their 

 flowers, and the hard coat of the seeds ; and from Mdanthacea, or 

 the Colchicum Tribe, by their single style, and by their anthers being 

 turned towards the ovary. They may be formed into two subdivisions. 



The first, or the AUiaeeout subdivision, in which there U no true 



stem, and which consists entirely of bulbous species, the roots being 



emitted and perishing annually. To t hi- belong the Onion, Garlic, and 



their allies, together with the Hyacinth, Squill, ami - hlehem 



Orniiluyalnm). A great quantity of species are favourites with the 



Star of ItvtUrhein (OrnUhugalumfmlrialum). 



1, A flower won from within ; 2, the same viewed from without ; 3, the 

 tame n and ovary ; 4, two (tnmrrui apart ; 6, an ovary ; G, the game cut pcr- 

 IH nilicuUrly ; 7, the tame cut horizontally. 



horticulturist* on account of their early appearance in the spring and 

 their rimy cultivation. 



The second subdivision, consisting of the true Asphodels [Asrno 

 DELHI] and those which resemble them, have no bulbs, but in their 

 stead clusters of fleshy roots such as we find in the Asparagus, which 

 4 to this siilidiviition ; the stems of these arc frequently woody. 

 Lilt in that case they are branched : Drattrna, or the Uum-Dragon 

 Tree, is a most remarkable instance of this, it having almost the 

 appearance of a Dicotyledon when deprived of foliage. This sub- 

 division also contains Aloes, with their thick fleshy leaves and forked 

 stems. [ALOE.] 



Hi i iiKI.I'S, a genus of plants the type of the natural order 

 AipkodeUtr. It comprehends some handsome hardy perennial plants, 

 with fleshy finger-like routs, and upright undivided annual 

 covered with long leaves ; they are among the most highly developed 

 of the Monocotyledonous plants of northern countries. The most 

 remarkable species am tin- follow 



A. latent, the common Yellow A->|>li<-l 1, i< a bcniiii'ul (leronial, 



very often seen in cottage-gardens or on the outskirts of shrubberies. 

 It grows wil<l in ll.irbiry. Sicily, Dalmatia, tin 1'. !.;. -nn. < 

 even spreads into the Crimea. IU stems are from 

 never branched, and covered all over with long narrow bluish-green 

 leaves, which have very broad sheathing bases. The flowers arc 

 handsome, deep yellow, with a green streak on the outside of each 

 petal. The fruit consists of red pulpy berries. 



Very nearly related to this are A. capillarit, which differ* chiefly 

 in its very narrow leaves, shorter bracts, ami cxtrcmrly narrow 

 divisions of the flower; and .-, figured in tin 



Register,' plate 1507, which is principally knwn by its dwarfcr 

 stature, earlier and paler flowers, more glaucous leaves, and cl 

 bnokt. 



A. aViut, or the White Asphodel, found nil over the southern 

 provinces of Europe and the basin of tin M. !.< rranean Sea, is as 

 frequently seen as the first, and in similar Hit nation*. Its flowers are 

 white with a reddish streak on the outside of each petal, and are 

 disposed in branched clusters. A. ramonu of many gardens seems 

 merely a branched state of this species, and several other r. 

 species with white flowers are also in all probability not distinct. 



\-PIUIA'RIA (Presl). Several specie.- of UM L ,.i'l,l,,tra of 

 Sternberg are thus named. They are from the Coal Formation. 



ASl'I'DIUM, a genus of Ferns, and one under which many species 

 were arranged by older botanists, which are now placed under new 

 genera. [I'oi.vponiAcK.e.] One of the most remarkable spe. 

 this genus is the Aipidium Baromez, or Tartarian Lamb, which has 

 been referred by Mr. Smith to the genus Cibutium. This plant, from 

 its peculiar colour and form, was at one time really supposed to be a 

 kind of vegetable animal, as the following account from Struys, an 

 old traveller, proves : " On the western side of the Volga," he says, 

 "there is an elevated salt plain of vast extent, but wholly uncultivated 

 and uninhabited. On this plain, which furnishes all the neighbouring 

 countries with salt, grows the Boranez or Bornitsch. Tin 

 plant has the shape and appearance of a lamb, with feet, head, and 

 tail distinctly formed. Boranez, in the language of Muscovy, signifies 

 a little lamb, and a similar name is given to this plant. Its skin is 

 covered with very white down as soft as silk. The Tartars and 

 Muscovites esteem it highly, and preserve it with great care in 

 houses, where I have seen many such lambs. The sailor who gave me 

 one of these precious plants found it in a wood, and I had its skin 

 made into an tinder-waistcoat. I learned at Astraean, from tho- 

 were best acquainted with the subject, that the lamb grows upon a 

 atalk about three feet high ; that the part by which it is sustained is 

 a kind of navel, and that it turns itself round, and bends down to the 

 herbage which serves for its food. They also said it dries up and 

 pines away when the grass fails." Struys adds many other wonderful 

 things about this plant. His statement is however substantially 

 correct The rhizoma of the A. Baromez presents a rude resemblance 

 to an animal It is covered with a silky down, and when cut into has 

 a soft inside with a reddish flesh-coloured appearance, sufficient to 

 account for the origin of the fables with regard to its animal nature. 

 Is is not improbable that this fern dries up wheu the grass does, but 

 of course the one has no dependence on the other. The Baromez 

 possesses the astringent property which is common to all ferns; 

 hence it has been used as a styptic. 



Aipidium FUix-Mtu (now Lattrcea Filix-Mai), the Male Fern, is a 

 native of Great Britain, and is admitted into the British Pharmaco- 

 poeias on account of its anthelinintic properties. It has bipiunate 

 fronds, obtuse and serrated pinnules, the sori near the cent nil ; 

 the literal nerves forked. It is abundant throughout Km-oi 

 grows in stony places on the skirts of w. is and 



roadsides. The part used in medicine is the root, or r.ithir tl>> 

 stock. ThU part of the plant is collected for medicinal purposes 

 between the end of May and the middle of Septeml>er. It will not 

 keep well, and should be renewed at least every two years. It has 

 often been chemically analysed, and is found to contain 



in . 

 Starch 



able Sllg:iT . 



Cum" 



oil . 



. 

 Salts, Volatile Oil 



45 

 10 

 10 

 10 



7 



4 



14 



100 



The ancients used this plant as a vermifuge, but it wan nearly given 

 up by modern practitioners of medicine when IVschicr point.il out 

 the conditions in which he had found it ellicacion* in exjK-lliiiL- 

 worm. The best mode of administering it is a an ethciiid tin 

 the ether seems to dissolve the resinous oil on which the active pro- 

 perties of the plant dcpeinL The dose of the root according to 



iMalala), a British tVrn. !.-> oft.-ii ...mf, mnd.'d 

 with the last for medicinal pur]M>ses. It has sub-tripim 

 oblong, blunt, inciso -pinnatilid lob 



ruin* unfriiiKed indiisimu. This is n common fern, but less . 

 generally d. the last 



.1. / I idy r-Vrn.h:u<alancoot 



