ARUNS ASAPH 



291 



thanks of the state to palriolic individuals, &c., and 

 many of a private nature. The most curious and 

 interesting is one usually known by the name of the 

 Parian Chronicle, from having been kept in the 

 island of Paros. It is a chronological account of the 

 principal events in Grecian, and particularly in Athe- 

 nian history, during a period of 1318 years, from the 

 reign of Cecrops, B. C. 1450, to the archonship of 

 Diognetus, B. C. 264. The authenticity of this 

 chronicle has been called in question, but has been 

 vindicated by many of the most learned men. 



ARUNS, Tarquinius; the son of Tarquin II., the 

 last king of Rome, who, meeting Brutus in the first 

 battle atter the expulsion of the royal family, they 

 mutually killed each other. 



ARUSINI CAMPI (Arusian fields) ; plains in Lucania, 

 famous for the last battle between the Romans and 

 Pyrrhus (q. v.) 



ARUSPICES, or HARUSPICES ; Roman priests and 

 prophets, who foretold events from observing the 

 entrails of sacrificed animals. They observed, too, 

 all the circumstances which accompanied or happen- 

 ed during the sacrifice ; e. g. the flame, the mode in 

 which the animal behaved, the smoke. Their origin 

 is to be sought for in Etruria. They were introduced 

 into Rome by Romulus, where they enjoyed their 

 authority till the time of the emperor Constantine, 

 337 A. D., who prohibited all soothsaying on pain of 

 death. Their number, at this time, was seventy ; 

 their chief priest was called summus aruspex, or 

 magister public us. 



As. The Romans used this word in three differ- 

 ent ways, viz. to denote, 1, any unit whatever, con- 

 sidered as divisible ; 2, the unit of weight, or the 

 pound (libra) ; 3, their most ancient coin. In the 

 first use of the word, the pound, foot,jugerum sexta- 

 riiis, were called as, when contradistinguished. from 

 their divisions or fractions. In fact, the word was 

 applied to any integer ; e. g. inheritances, interest, 

 houses, funds, &c. Therefore ex asse heres signifies 

 to inherit the whole. Different names were given to 

 different numbers of asses : dupondius (duo pondo) = 

 two asses, sestertius (sesqui tertius, viz. the third half) 

 = two and a half asses, tressis = three asses, qua- 

 trussis = four asses, and so on to centassis =100 

 asses. The as, whatever unit it represented, was 

 divided into twelve parts, or ounces (unciee), and the 

 different fractions of the as received different names, 

 as follows : 



12 ounces. Quincunx, 



Triens, 

 Quadrans, or 



terunciua, 

 Sextans, . . 

 Uneia, . . 



5 ounces. 

 4 



3 ** 



2 " 

 1 ounce. 



As, ... 

 Deunx, . 

 Dextans, . 

 Dodrans, . 

 Bes, or des, 

 Septunx, 

 Semis, 



Seacuncia was 1} ounce. 

 1 uncia contained 2 semiuncie, 



3 duellae, 



4 sicilici, 

 6 sextulae, 



24 scrupula (scriptula, or scripula,) 

 43 oholi, 

 144 sii;.,u;i-. 



Scholars are not agreed on the weight of a Roman 

 pound, but it is not far from 327'1873 grammes, 

 French measure. Budaeus has written nine books De 

 Asse et ejus Partibus (Of the As and its Parts). In 

 the most ancient times of Rome, the copper coin, 

 which was called as, actually weighed an as, or a 

 pound, but, in different periods of the republic and 

 the succeeding empire, this coin was of very different 

 values. 



ASAFOSTIDA is a resinous gum, procured from the 

 root of a large mnbelliferous plant (ferula assafoeti- 

 d<i), which grows in the mountains of some parts oi 

 Persia. The leaves of this plant are nearly two feet 



ong, doubly-winged, and have the leaflets alternate. 

 The flowers are small, and the seeds oval, flat, and 

 marked with three longitudinal lines. No one, who has 

 ever smelt the peculiarly powerful and garlic-like 

 odour of asafoetida, can well forget it. If exposed 

 to the air, but particularly when heated, it will per- 

 vade every apartment of a house. Notwithstanding 

 Lhis, it constitutes a favourite seasoning for food with 

 the inliabitants of many parts of the East. The In- 

 dian Banians, who never eat animal food, use it in 

 almost all their dishes, and, before their meals, even 

 rub their mouths with it, in order to stimulate their 

 appetite. It is sometimes used by our own cooks, but 

 in very minute quantity, in place of garlic. In many 

 parts of Arabia and Persia, asafcetida is much esteemed 

 as a remedy for various internal diseases, and even as 

 an external application to wounds. With us, it is 

 considered a powerful medicine in several disorders. 

 It lias been applied, with success, in the cure of 

 hooping cough and worms ; and in flatulent colics, it 

 has, in many cases, afforded great relief. It is im- 

 ported in masses of various sizes and forms, and of 

 yellow, brown, or bluish colour, sometimes inter- 

 spersed with roundish, white pieces. The plant, 

 from the root of which asafoetida is produced, grows 

 in the mountains which surround the small town of 

 Disguum, in Persia ; and, at the season when it is 

 collected, the whole place smells of it. The upper 

 part of the roots, which are sometimes as thick as a 

 man's leg, rises somewhat above the surface of the 

 ground. When cut, the asafoetida exudes in form of 

 a white thick juice, like cream ; which, from expos- 

 ure to the air, becomes at last of a dark brown colour. 

 It is very apt to run to putrefaction, and hence those 

 who collect it carefully defend it from the sun. The 

 fresh juice has an excessively strong smell ; a single 

 dram of it smells more than a hundred pounds of the 

 dry asafoetida brought to us. The harvest commences 

 when the leaves begin to decay ; and the whole 

 gathering is performed, by the inhabitants of the 

 place, in four different journeys to the mountains. The 

 demand for the article in foreign countries, being first 

 ascertained to be sufficient to repay the trouble of 

 collecting it, the persons employed proceed to the 

 mountains in companies of four or five each. It is stated 

 that a single ship is exclusively devoted to transport- 

 ing the bulk of this commodity to the ports in the 

 Persian gulf; and that, when smaller parcels are 

 carried, it is usual to tie them to the top of the mast. 



ASAPH, St ; a native of North Wales, lived under 

 Carentius, king of the Britons, about 500. He wrote 

 the ordinances of his church, and the Life of St Keo- 

 tigern, whom he succeeded in the charge of the con- 

 vent of Llan Elwy. Bayle says he was the first who 

 received unction from the pope. 



ASAPH, St, or LLAN ELWY ; a city and parish of 

 Wales, partly in Denbighshire and partly in Flint- 

 shire. The city is seated on the decline of a pleasant 

 eminence, between the rivers Clwyd and Elwy, which 

 renders the first appearance striking, although consist- 

 ing of little more than a single street. The see is sup- 

 posed to have originated in St Kentigern, bishop of 

 Glasgow, an exile from Scotland, who, returning to 

 his own country, was succeeded by St Asaph, from 

 whom both the diocese and town took its name. From 

 the death of the latter in 590', little is known of the 

 succession of bishops, until the thirteenth century ; 

 and, even subsequently, in the wars of Owen Glen- 

 dower, the town and cathedral were nearly destroyed 

 by the ravages of warfare. The church stands in the 

 lower part of the town, and serves for the use of the 

 parishioners, the cathedral not being used for paro- 

 chial purposes. The latter was built about the close 

 of the fifteenth century ; it consists of a choir, a nave, 

 two aisles, and a transept. Several eminent men 



