ASPHODEL 



426 



ASQUITH 



layer of hydraulic concrete, which consists of 

 cement, sand and broken stone. This concrete 

 bed is also thoroughly rolled; all of the prelim- 

 inary work must be very carefully done if the 

 pavement is to be durable. The "street mix- 

 ture/' as the prepared asphalt is called, is laid 

 at a temperature of about 250 or 300, and 

 is spread down in two coats; the first, called 

 the cushion coat, is from one-half to an inch 

 thick, while the outside, or surface, coat is of 

 sufficient thickness to make the entire bed of 

 asphalt two and one-half inches thick. With 

 hot rakes the workmen spread the mixture 

 evenly from one side of the street to the other, 

 and the surface is smoothed and finished with 

 heated iron tampers and smoothers. After pre- 

 liminary rolling, a great steam roller weigh- 

 ing about ten tons is run over the top, but 

 before this machine is used the surface coat 

 is lightly sprinkled with hydraulic cement. 

 Asphalt pavement costs more than wood and 

 macadam and less than granite pavement. In 

 large cities the cost varies from $1.51 to $3.08 

 per square yard, with about $2.35 as a fair 

 average. See PAVEMENT. 



Rock Asphalt is mined by means of blasting. 

 When rock asphalts are used in paving they 

 are merely crushed, reduced to powder through 

 the agency of heat and then compressed in 

 place. Rock asphalt is also made into asphal- 

 tic cement and mastic. The latter is prepared 

 by mixing rock asphalt with sand and asphalt. 

 Blocks of this substance are used in making 

 floors, sidewalks and roofing. Utah and Ken- 

 tucky produce asphaltic limestone. B.A.CO. 



Consult Richardson's Asphalt Construction for 

 Pavements and Highways; also Twenty-second 

 Annual Report of United States Geological Sur- 

 vey, Part I. 



ASPHODEL, as' jo del, a name applied to 

 various plants of the lily family, some of which 

 have white, and some yellow, blossoms. The 

 name is especially common in the poetry of 

 all ages, but does not always mean -the same 

 flower. Thus Homer, when he speaks of the 

 asphodel meadows of Hades, refers to a pale, 

 drooping flower which the Greeks believed 

 covered the field in the region of the dead, 

 while Pope, when he sings 



By those happy souls who dwell 

 In yellow meads of asphodel, 



is referring to the same superstition, but has 

 in mind the cheerful yellow daffodil. Indeed 

 the word daffodil is but another form of 

 asphodel. The true asphodels, which are 

 chiefly native to the Mediterranean countries, 

 have fleshy roots and funnel-shaped flowers 



arranged in long, loose clusters. They are ex- 

 cellent garden plants. See DAFFODIL. 



ASPHYXIATION, as fix c a' shun, the act of 

 rendering one unconscious from a lack of oxy- 

 gen. In asphyxiation the heart continues to 

 drive the blood through the system in an 

 unpurified condition, until death follows. Suf- 

 focation from poisonous gases and drowning 

 are the two chief causes of asphyxiation. The 

 restoration of asphyxiated persons in many 

 cases has been successfully accomplished af ten- 

 death had apparently come, so the work of 

 restoration should be persistently followed 

 without discouragement. An attempt should 

 be made to maintain the heat of the body and 

 to secure the inflation of the lungs, as in the 

 case of the apparently drowned. For a reli- 

 able method of inducing respiration, see the 

 article DROWNING. One should never wait for 

 a mechanical appliance such as the pulmotor 

 to be brought, as the restoration of a par- 

 tially-suffocated person depends upon imme- 

 diate efforts at relief. Inducing respiration by 

 manual methods has proven in many cases to 

 be more advantageous than the use of a 

 mechanical device. See PULMOTOR. W.A.E. 



ASQUITH, as'kwith, HERBERT HENRY. (1852- 



), an English statesman, Prime Minister 



during one of the most critical periods in 



HERBERT HENRY ASQUITH 



British history. His ministry was notable for 

 the budget of 1909 (see LLOYD-GEORGE, DAVID), 

 for the Parliament Act of 1911 which abolished 

 the veto power of the House of Lords, for the 

 struggle for Home Rule in Ireland, and finally 



