THE 



EDINBURGH ENCYCLOPAEDIA. 



Aitropha- A STROPHANOMETER, another name given 

 nometer, ^\_ by Jeaurat to instruments resembling the As- 

 Astruc. tereometers or Astrometers of Jeaurat and Dr Brews- 

 """* " ter, described under the last of these articles, (o) 

 ASTP-UC, John, M. D. a very eminent French 

 physician, who was born at Sauve, a town 0* Lcwer 

 Languedoc, on the 19th of March 1684, and died at 

 Paris the 5th of May 1766. at the advanced age of 82. 

 He completed his education at Montpellier, and in 

 1702 obtained from that university a bachelor's de- 

 gree in medicine. Soon afterwards he distinguished 

 himself in a controversy with the mechanical physi- 

 cians on the subject of digestion, which he considered 

 to be the effect of a peculiar ferment, and not of tri- 

 turation, as Pitcairn and others had obstinately main- 

 tained. He obtained in 1710 the professorship of 

 anatomy and medicine at Thoulouse ; and in 1716, he 

 succeeded to the chair become vacant at Montpellier 

 by the death of Chatelain. His reputation for learn- 

 ing and medical skill was here fully established ; and 

 in 1729 he was invited to remove to Poland, where he 

 was appointed physician to Augustus II., but he 

 very soon quitted that court, and returned to France. 

 He now fixed himself at Pari6, and so early as 1730 

 he was made consulting physician to the French king, 

 and on the death of Geoffroy he received the appoint- 

 ment of professor of medicine in the Royal College. 

 He became also doctor regent of the faculty of phy- 

 sic at Paris. Astruc merited these honours : he was 

 unquestionably a man of great learning, a distinguish- 

 ed writer, and a very skilful physician ; his celebrity 

 as a teacher drew to Paris a crowd of pupils from all 

 parts of Europe, and his work De Morbis Venereis, 

 published in 1736, every where established his fame as an 

 author. His Traitedes Maladies des Fem)we.?,published 

 in 1761, also possesses great merit. His other acknow- 

 ledged works are : A dissertation De Motus Fcrmenta- 

 livi Causa, 1702 ; De Hydrophobia, 1720; Surl'Ori- 

 gine des Maladies Epulemiqucs, 1721 ; Memuircs 

 P'ir I' IHstoire Nalurelle de Languedoc, 1737 ; Trac- 

 tatus Patholopau, 171-5; Traclatus Therapeuticus, 

 1718; 'l'>ai/rdesTumeursetdesUlccres,1759; Con- 

 jectures sur les Memoires Originoux dont il paroit 

 que^ Moite se servit pour composer le livre de Genese, 

 1759; Art d' Accoucher reduit a ses principes ; and 



VOL. III. I'ART I, 



published after his death by Lorry, Memoirespour Astnrirt. 

 servir a V Histoire de la Faculte de Medicine de x y - 

 Montpellier. (<p) 



ASTURIAS. Two provinces on the north of Bound)- 

 Spain, containing about 700 square leagues of the ties, 

 most mountainous country of the whole monarclvj-, 

 form what is called the principality of Asturias. Ac- 

 cording to some writers, these two provinces are to 

 be considered separate and distinct, one being the 

 Asturia of Oviedo, and the other the Asturia or San- 

 tillana ; but no such division is recognised in the ad- 

 ministration of the kingdom. This principality is 

 bounded on the north by the Bay of Biscay ; by Gal- 

 licia on the west ; and by the kingdoms of Leon and 

 Old Castile on the south and east. 



The climate is excessively humid ; and no care can Climate, 

 preserve grain or fruit from decay, and iron from rust. 

 The atmosphere is continually surcharged with vapour 

 which is attracted by the mountains, and unless the 

 wind blows from north-east, the sky is covered with 

 clouds. 



The whole principality abounds with marl, chalk, Natural 

 gypsum, and very line marbles. The limestone is full history/ 

 oi fossil shells, coral, and corallines. Amber, inde- 

 pendent of being found on the shore, exists in a fossil 

 state, uniformly accompanied by jet, and a kind of 

 cannel coal. These, when broken, disclose white crust- 

 ed nodules, including bright and transparent amber. 

 There is abundance of coal deposited in a calcareous 

 bed, which has never been worked for fuel, both be- 

 cause plenty of wood can easily be procured for that 

 purpose, and because it emits an intolerable odour in 

 burning. There are also strong prejudices entertain- 

 ed against it, as being injurious to health. The an- 

 cients, particularly Pliny and Silius Italicus, speak of 

 thegold of the Asturian mountains,but none is known 

 now to be there. Mines of copper, lead, and iron, are 

 found ; and likewise those of arsenic and cobalt. 



Woods, consisting of elm, ash, and poplar, cover 

 the hills. Many trees fit for domestic purposes, or 

 useful in ship building, particularly oaks of very fine 

 quality, abound ; and fruits are produced in sheltered 

 places without care or cultivation. 



The cattle of the Asturias grow to considerable 

 size : they universally supply the place of horses for 



A 



