300 



ASPEN ASP1N WALL. 



kituation of the planets and stars with respect to each 

 other. There arc five different aspects: l.sexlile 

 aspect, when (lie i>laiift.s or stars an- ilO 1 distant, and 

 marked thus, # ! 2 , the quartile or i]imilniie, when 

 t i icy are yO distant, marked D; 3, trine, when r.o 

 distant, marked A J opposiiion, when ISO" distant, 

 marked 8 ', and. ;>, conjunction, when hotliare in the 

 same degree, marked J. Kepler added eight more. 

 It is to be observed, that these aspects, being first 

 intriHluced by astrologers, were distinguished into 

 Lfiiign. malignant, and iiitlifft-rrnt ; and Kepler'sdcfi- 

 nition of aspi'ct, in consequence, is, " sfspect is the 

 angle formed by the rays of two stars meeting on the 

 earth, whereby their good or bad influence is mea- 

 sured." 



ASPEN. The aspen or trembling poplar (populut 

 treinula), is a tree which grows in moist woods, has 

 nearly circular leaves, toothed and angular at the 

 edges, sm<x>th on both sides, and attached to foot- 

 stalks so long and slender as to be shaken by the 

 slightest wind. There is scarcely any situation in 

 which the aspen will not flourish ; but it succeeds 

 best where the soil is moist and gravelly. Its wood 

 is light, porous, soft, and of a white colour, and, 

 though inferior in excellence to that of the white 

 poplar, is applicable to many useful purposes. It is 

 ii-ed. particularly for field-gates, the frames of pack- 

 saddles, for milk-pails, clogs, and the wood of pat- 

 tens. It is improper for bedsteads, as it is liable to 

 be infested by bugs. In some countries, the bark of 

 the young trees is made into torches. 



ASPKR, ASPRE, or ARSKTSHE; the smallest silver 

 coin of Turkey. The common asper, since 1 764, has 

 amounted to the 35th part of a drachm of fine silver. 

 Three make a para, 120a piaster or dollar. The great 

 or heavy aspers, in which the court-officers receive 

 their payment, are of double the value and weight of 

 the common asper. 



ASPERN and ESSLINGEN ; two villages lying east of 

 Vienna, and on the opposite bank. They are cele- 

 brated for the battle fought, May 21 st and 22d, 1809, 

 between the archduke Charles and the emperor Na- 

 poleon. After the fall of the capital, the Austrian 

 general resolved to suffer a part of the enemy's for- 

 ces to pass the Danube, and then to surround them 

 with his own army, and drive them if possible into 

 the river. Every thing seemed to favour this plan ; 

 but it was frustrated by the energy of the French 

 general, and the extraordinary valour of his troops. 

 The archduke had stationed himself behind Geras- 

 dorf, between Bisamberg and Russbach, from which 

 he issued with his army in five columns, consisting of 

 75,000 men, with 288 pieces of cannon, May 21, at 

 noon, just as Napoleon, with about half his forces, 

 had left the island of Lobau, in the Danube. By a 

 dexterous evolution of his troops, he immediately 

 formed a semi circle, in which the French army was, 

 in a manner, enclosed. In the narrow plain between 

 Aspern and Esslingen (they are about two miles dis- 

 tant from one another), a bloody engagement now 

 commenced. Every thing depended on the posses- 

 sion of these two villages : Aspern was, at first, taken 

 by the Austrians, again lost and retaken, till they, at 

 length, remained masters of it : from Esslingen they 

 were continually repulsed. Napoleon repeatedly at- 

 tempted to force the centre of the Austrians, but was 

 frustrated by the firmness of their infantry. At last, 

 the darkness of the night put a temporary stop to 

 the contest The bridge, connecting the right bank 

 of the Danube with the island of Lobau, had already 

 been destroyed, so that the French reinforcements 

 came up slowly, being compelled to sail over in small 

 parties, and the whole corps of Davoust, on the right 

 bank, were idle spectators of the battle. Notwith- 

 standing these disadvantages, the battle was renewed 



on the 22d ; the French army l>eing now Increased 

 so as, at least, to equal the Austrians in number. 

 The engagement was of the same exterminating 

 character as on the day before; thousands of lives 

 \\<re sacrificed in vain attempts to rapture the vil- 

 lages. Aspern continued to lie the strong-hold of 

 the Austrians. and BnUngea of the French. When 

 the army of Napoleon gave up all hopes of gaining 

 the victory by forcing the centre of the Austrians, 

 Ksslingcn served to secure their retreat to the island 

 of I.obau, which was disturbed only by the cannon 

 of the archduke. It has been said, that the archduke. 

 did not make a proper use of his advantage ; but this 

 assertion will be shown to be erroneous, it' we con- 

 sider the position of the French on the island, the 

 courage of his adversary, and the want of materials 

 for rebuilding bridges. The loss of the AiNrians, in 

 killed, wounded, &c., was estimated at less than u 

 third of the whole army ; Umt of the French at half. 

 The latter lost on this occasion, marshal Lannes.((|.\.) 

 The feelings of the combatants were too violent to 

 allow of many prisoners being made. 



ASPHALTITES ; a lake of Judea. See Dead &-u. 



ASPHALTCM. See Bitumen. 



ASPHYXIA (from privat., and <r$viit, the pulse) ; 

 the state of a living man, in whom no pulsation can 

 be perceived. It begins with an inactivity of the 

 lungs, which proceeds to the heart and brain. The 

 person appears dead, without breath, pulsation, or 

 feeling. It may be occasioned by different causes, 

 either such as interrupt the mechanical motion of 

 breathing, or such as disturb the action of the lungs 

 themselves. The former may be caused by an ex- 

 ternal pressure on the breast, if air enters the thorax 

 through wounds, or by an accumulation of blood ii? 

 the lungs, so that they cannot contract themselves 

 the latter stage takes place if no air at all enters the 

 lungs, as is the case with suffocated, drowned, or 

 hanged persons, or if the air breathed in cannot sup- 

 port life. For the treatment of persons suffering 

 from asphyxia, see Death, apparent. 



ASPINWALL, William, M. D., an American physi- 

 cian, was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, 1743. He 

 was descended from ancestors who came from Eng- 

 land, about the year 1630, with the 4OOO emigrants. 

 He was graduated at Harvard university, in 1764. 

 Immediately afterwards, he began the study of medi- 

 cine, and completed his course at the hospital of Phila- 

 delphia, in the university of which city he received 

 his medical degree about the year 1768. He then 

 retunied to his native village, and commenced the 

 exercise of his profession, being the first physician 

 who settled in the place. When the revolutionary 

 war broke out, he applied for a commission in the 

 army ; but his friend and relation, doctor, afterwards 

 major-general Warren, persuaded him to enter the 

 sen-ice in a medical capacity. In consequence, Dr 

 A. was appointed surgeon in general Heath's brigade, 

 and, soon after, through the influence of general War- 

 ren, deputy director of the hospital on Jamaica plain, 

 a few miles from Boston. He fought, in person, as 

 a volunteer, in the battle of Lexington, and bore from 

 the field the corpse of Isaac Gardner, whose eldest 

 daughter he afterwards married. After the death of 

 Dr Zabdiel Bolyston, the first inoculator of small- 

 pox in America, Dr A. undertook the prosecution of 

 that system, and erected hospitals for the purpose in 

 Brookline. He perhaps inoculated more persons, 

 and acquired greater skill and celebrity in treating 

 this disease, than any other physician ever did in the 

 United States. Besides his practice in this disorder 

 when it was generally prevailing, he was permit- 

 ted, after 1788, to keep an hospital open at all times, 

 to which great numbers resorted. When vaccine in- 

 oculation was first introduced, he was aware that, if 



