ASTLEY ASTROLOGY. 



309 



though his breathing is probably more free and easy, 

 and the least motion renders this more difficult and 

 uneasy ; neither can he continue in bed, unless his 

 head and shoulders are raised to considerable height. 

 Towards evening, he again becomes drowsy, is much 

 troubled with flatulency in the stomach, and perceives 

 a return of the difficulty of breathing, which continues 

 to increase gradually, till it becomes as violent as on 

 the night before. After some nights passed in this 

 way, the fits at length moderate, and suffer more con- 

 siderable remissions, particularly when they are at- 

 tended by a copious expectoration in the mornings ; 

 and this continues from time to time throughout the 

 day ; and, the disease going off at last, the patient 

 enjoys his usual rest by night, without further disturb- 

 ance. The exciting causes are various ; accumula- 

 tion of blood or viscid mucus in the lungs, noxious 

 vapours, a cold and foggy atmosphere, or a close, hot 

 air, the repulsion of eruptions, or other metastatic 

 diseases, flatulence, accumulated feces, violent passions, 

 organic diseases in the thoracic viscera, &c. Some- 

 times the fits return at pretty regular periods ; and it 

 is generally difficult to obviate tuture attacks, when 

 it has once occurred : but it often continues to recur 

 for many years, and seldom proves fatal, except as 

 inducing dropsy in the chest, consumption, c. The 

 treatment must vary according to the form of the dis- 

 ease. By far the most important part of the treat- 

 ment consists in the obviating or removing the several 

 exciting causes, whether operating on the lungs im- 

 mediately, or through the medium of the primae viae, 

 &c. Individual experience can alone ascertain what 

 state of the atmosphere, as to temperature, dryness, 

 purity, &c., is most beneficial to asthmatics, though a 

 good deal depends on habit in this respect ; but a due 

 regulation of this, as well as of the diet, and other 

 parts of regimen, will usually afford more permanent 

 relief than any medicines we can employ. 



ASTLEY, John ; a native of Wem in Shropshire, who 

 adopted the profession of a portrait painter, and was 

 a pupil of Hudson, the master of Sir Joshua Rey- 

 nolds. He is known by his marriage with lady 

 Daniel, a lady of large fortune, whose portrait lie liad 

 painted. He died in 1787. 



ASTLEY, Philip ; the founder of the royal amphi- 

 theatre near Westminster bridge, London, and the 

 author of some literary productions. He was born 

 at Newcastle-under-Line, in 1742, served in the Eng- 

 lish cavalry, in Germany, for seven years, and, on his 

 return, began to exhibit equestrian performances. 

 In 1780, he erected a building which he called the 

 amphitheatre riding-house, and for which he subse- 

 quently procured a license. He erected afterwards 

 several amphitheatres in England and Paris, and 

 wrote a treatise on horsemanship, also two works 

 of a military character. He died at Paris, Oct. 20, 

 1814, aged 72. 



ASTRACHAN, or ASTRAKHAN, a viceroyalty of the 

 Russian empire, extending from 46 to 52 N. lat. 

 and containing 293,000 sciuare miles, with 2,GOO,000 

 inhabitants. It is divided into three governments 

 Astrakhan (72,600 square miles ; 223,000 inhabitants), 

 Saratov, and Orenburg. It is bounded on the N. by 

 the country of the Bulgarians and Bashkeers ; on 

 the S. by the Caspian sea ; on the W. by the \Volga, 

 which separates it from thfe Nogai Tartars and the 

 Cossacs of the Don ; and on the E. by a long chain 

 of mountains, which divides it from Tartary. The 

 summer is long, and very hot ; the winter lasts three 

 months, and is very severe. The rich and fertile 

 soil is not cultivated by the Tartars. On the W. and 

 S. side are large heaths, which afford fine salt in 

 abundance. The capital, Astrakhan, E. Ion. 48 2' 

 15" N. lat. 46 21' 12", is on the island Seitea, in 

 the Wolga, about 34 miles from the entrance of 



this river into the Caspian sea. It is the see of a 

 Greek archbishop and of an Armenian bishop ; has 

 25 Greek, 2 Armenian churches, 26 Tartar mosques, 

 an Indian temple, a high school, a seminary for 

 priests, a botanical garden, and many manufactures. 

 The city, with the suburbs, is 4 miles in circumfe- 

 rence. It contains, in 3800 houses, 30,000 inhabi- 

 tants, consisting of Armenians, Tartars, Persians, 

 and Hindoos, besides 20,000 people who spend some 

 time in the year there, on account of the fisheries. 

 In 1830, the inhabitants suffered severely from 

 cholera morbus. The houses are of wood, mean and 

 inconvenient. The environs are covered with gardens 

 and vineyards. The sturgeons taken in the Wol- 

 ga, are salted, and carried through all parts of Rus- 

 sia. In winter, they are transported without salting. 

 The trade in caviar is of some importance. Besides 

 sturgeons, seals and other fish are caught here. 

 From July to October, large swarms of locusts are 

 not unfrequent. Formerly, Astrakhan had com- 

 merce with Khiwa and Bukhara : at present, its trade 

 is limited to Persia and the interior of Russia, but is 

 still considerable. Sixty vessels and seven caravans ar- 

 rive here annually. The exports are leather, linen, 

 woollen cloth, and other European manufactures. 

 Astrakhan imports from Persia silk ribbons worked 

 with gold for sale in Poland, also silk and cotton 

 stuffs, rice, raw cotton, rhubarb, and some other 

 drugs ; chiefly, however, raw silk. The capital of 

 the Ural-Cossacs, Uralskoi (containing 4000 wooden 

 houses and 18,000 inhabitants), belongs also to this 

 government. 



ASTROGNOSY (from aerrn^ a Star, and ynaax.u, I 



know) ; the science which teaches the constellations, 

 ranks, &c. of the stars. See Astronomy. 



ASTROLABE (planisphere, analcmma ; from a<rrig, a 

 star, and A^/3av*, I take) ; an instrument for mea- 

 suring the degrees, minutes, and sometimes even the 

 seconds, of angles. It generally, consists of a hori- 

 zontal circular plate of metal, having those divisions 

 on its extreme circumference. The utmost accuracy 

 may be obtained in the measurement of angles, by 

 means ef a peculiar contrivance (vernier), which 

 consists of an arc, on which the smallest divisions of 

 the circle are subdivided as minutely as is requisite 

 in the observations, and as the skill of the maker can 

 graduate it. This arc is movable, so that it can be 

 fitted to the divisions of the circle. Fixed to this 

 circle are two indexes, provided with telescopes. One 

 of them is immovable ; the other turns round the. 

 centre of the instrument. By taking sight from the 

 vertex of the angle, at two fixed points in the direc- 

 tion of its sides, the arc, which measures the angle, 

 is intersected on the circle of the instrument. In 

 modern astronomy, this instrument is no longer used, 

 except in the practical applications of geometry. 

 The first application of the astrolabe to navigation 

 was made by the physicians Roderic and Joseph, 

 and Martin Behaim of Nuremberg, when John II., 

 king of Portugal, desired them to invent a method of 

 preserving a certain course at sea. They taught 

 how to discover the situation of a vessel at sea with- 

 out the use of the magnetic needle. 



ASTROLOGY ; an art which pretends to fcflpll 

 future events, especially the fate of men, from the 

 position of the stars. It is among the oldest super- 

 stitions in the world, and, as Bailly conjectures, with 

 great apparent probability, it owes its origin to the 

 influence of the heavenly bodies, particularly the 

 sun and moon, on the seasons, the weather, and the 

 fertility of the earth. This led to the idea that the.-f 

 luminaries were created only for the use of the planet 

 we inhabit, and that, as they have an influence upon 

 the earth, they probably have some connexion with 

 the destiny of individuals and of nations. The 



