JButumarj) ol 3m'mattfr ^ature. 39 



ciated persons, generally about the ilium : 

 whence it sometimes ascends into the sto- 

 mach, and creeps out at the mouth or nos- 

 trils : length from twelve to fifteen inches, 

 breadth that of a goose quill : body trans- 

 parent, light yellow with a faint line down 

 the side. They are frequently very nume- 

 rous and vivacious. 



The word Ascarides is used by Reaumur 

 to denote, also, certain small worms, or mag- 

 gots, bred from the eggs of winged animals 

 as butterflies, flies, and beetles which, 

 burying themselves between the membranes 

 of the leaves of plants, consume their paren- 

 chymatous substance. 



ASCIDIA. A genus of Molluscous ani- 

 mals, by some authors regarded as forming 

 a class called Tunicata; the body is fixed, 

 roundish, and apparently issuing from a 

 sheath. There are many species, most of 

 which are inhabitants of the European seas, 

 in high latitudes. They adhere by their base 

 to rocks, shells, and other submarine sub- 

 stances ; they are more or less gelatinous, 

 and some are esculent ; they contract and 

 dilate themselves alternately, and have the 

 power of squirting out the water they have 

 imbibed. This power of ejecting the con- 

 tents of the branchial sac is, in fact, their 

 principal means of defence : some of the 

 larger species are able to shoot the fluid to 

 a height of three feet. Some of the Ascidia 

 are compound; different individuals being 

 united together by a common stem ; but each 

 having its own heart, respiratory apparatus, 

 and digestive system ; and each fixed on a 

 footstalk that branches from a common 

 creeping stem, through which a circulation 

 takes place that connects them all. Both 

 in the solitary and compound Ascidians, the 

 young animal, when it first issues from the 

 egg, has active powers of locomotion, being 

 provided with a large tadpole-like tail, by 

 the aid of which it is propelled through the 

 water. 



ASILUS : ASILID^E. A genus and 

 family of Dipterous insects ; the most com- 

 mon European species of which is the Asilus 

 crabroniformis, an insect nearly equalling a 

 hornet in length, but of a much "more slender 

 and pointed form ; and, though of a some- 

 what formidable aspect, incapable of piercing 

 with any degree of severity. 



ASP. (Coluber aspis.) A species of venom- 

 ous Serpent, often mentioned both by Greek 

 and Roman writers (who, from the discre- 

 pancies in their accounts of it, appear to have 

 known several noxious reptiles under this 

 name) ; but most especially celebrated as 

 the instrument chosen by Cleopatra to put 

 an end to her existence after the defeat of 

 Mark Antony at the battle of Actium. Na- 

 turalists now concur in the opinion that the 

 real Asp is the serpent to which the Arabs 

 give the name of El Haje ; that it is of a 

 green colour, marked obliquely with brown 

 bands, and measures from three to five feet 

 in length. Like the Cobra Capcllo of India, 

 the Asp has the power of greatly distending 

 the neck when irritated, and of raising itself 

 on its tail to dart forward upon an enemy. 



The effects of its poison are most deadly, 

 admitting of no remedy where amputation 

 of the part cannot be immediately effected : 

 but Lord Bacon asserts that its bite is the 

 least painful of all the instruments of death, 

 and he supposes its poison to have some affi- 

 nity to opium, though less disagreeable in 

 its operation. 



ASPERGILLUM. A genus of Molluscous 

 animals, furnished with a bivalve shell, in- 

 closed in a tubular calcareous sheath, which 

 is dilated or club-shaped at the lower eud, 

 and gradually lessens in diameter to the nar- 

 row aperture. The shell, which derives its 

 name from its resemblance to the spout of a 

 watering-pot (a name familiarly given to it 

 by collectors), has the form of an elongated 

 cone, terminating at the large end in a disc, 

 which is pierced with a number of small 

 orifices, and bordered by a sort of corolla or 

 frill. By means of two small valves in the 

 tube the water is freely admitted into the 

 interior of the shell. The animals of this 

 genus are borers : some bury themselves in 

 the sand, some in stone, others in wood, and 

 others in thick shells. 



ASPLDIPHORA. The name given to a 

 group of Branchiopodous Crustacea, distin- 

 guished by having sixty pairs of legs, all 

 furnished on the outside, near the base, with 

 a large oval vesicle, and of which the two 

 anterior, much larger than the rest, resemble 

 antennae. A large shell, almost entirely dis- 

 engaged, covers the major part of the upper 

 side of the body. [See BKANCHIOPODA.] 



ASS. (Equus cwmws.) A well-known and 

 most useful domestic quadruped, whose good 

 qualities are too generally undervalued by 

 us in consequence of our possessing a more 

 noble and powerful animal in the horse ; 

 but, as Buffon remarks, if the horse were 

 unknown, and the care and attention which 

 we lavish upon him were transferred to 

 his humble and despised rival, both his phy- 

 sical and moral qualities would be developed 

 to an extent, which those persons alone can 

 fully estimate who have travelled through 

 Eastern countries, where both animals are 

 equally valued. In his domesticated state, 

 as we usually find this animal in most Eu- 

 ropean countries, we observe no superior 

 marks of sagacity ; but he has the merit of 

 being patient, enduring, and inoffensive ; 

 temperate in his food, and by no means de- 

 licate in the choice of it ; eating thistles and 

 a variety of coarse herbage which the horse 

 refuses. In his choice of water, however, he 

 is remarkably nice, and will drink only of 

 that which is clear. His general appearance, 

 certainly, Is very uncouth ; and his well- 

 known voice, it must be confessed, is a most 

 discordant succession of flats and sharps 

 a bray so hideous as to offend even the most 

 unmusical ear. The Ass is believed to be a 

 descendant of the wild Ass, inhabiting the 

 mountainous deserts of Tartary, &c. (by 

 some naturalists called the Onager, and 

 supposed to be identical with the Persian 

 Kou1an\ and celebrated in sacred and pro- 

 fane history, for the fiery activity of its dis- 

 position, and the fleetness of its course. But, 



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