ASA 



H 12 



ASC 



HOTV cultivated in other parts of the 

 world. The fruit, which is contained in 

 a round catkin, is often as large as a 

 .nan's head; it is baked in an oven, and 

 the rind being removed, the internal 

 parts resemble the crumb of bread. It 

 furms a substitute for bread in the coun- 

 tries where it grows. Slonaecia Sfonan- 

 dria. Name, agro;, bread, and xa^-rcs, 

 fruit. 



ARTOT'T RITES, a sect of the second cen- 

 tury, in Galatia, which used bread and 

 cheese in the eucharist ; hence the name, 

 fre;, bread, and Tff?, cheese. 



ARTS, plural of Art (q.v.) 



A'RUM, an extensive genus of peren- 

 nials, of which the only British type is the 

 cnckow-pint or wake-robin (A. macula- 

 turn). Common in hedges. Moncecia 

 folyandria. Name, Af &, supposed to be 

 an Egyptian word by which one of the 

 tribe was known. 



ARUNDE'LIAN MARBLES, a series of an- 

 cient sculptured marbles, procured from 

 the ruins of Greece, by William Petty, at 

 the expense of the Earl of Arundel(1627), 

 from whom they take their appellation. 

 Their authenticity has been questioned. 



ARUNDINA'CEJE, a natural tribe of 

 plants, of which the genus Arundo is the 

 type. 



ARUTU'DO, a Latin word meaning gene- 

 rally a reed, but applied permanently by 

 botanists to denote the reed-grass, an ex- 

 tensive !genus of perennials of the class 

 triandria, and order digynia. 



AJICS'PICES, plural of anispex. The Ro- 

 man priests, whose business it was to 

 predict events by examination of the en- 

 trails of sacrificed animals. 



ARVI'COLA, Lat. arvum, a field, and 

 t.t>\tre, to inhabit. A genus of rodent or 

 jrnawing animals, of the family of the rat 

 and mouse. 



AKYTX'NOID, from fyvrxiva, a funnel, 

 and 75o?, likeness. Funnel-shaped. Ap- 

 plied to two cartilages of the larynx, and 

 t<> the muscles and glands connected with 

 these cartilages. 



As, a word usd by tho Romans to de- 

 note, 1. Any unit considered as divisible. 



2. The unit of weight, or their pound 



(libra) divided into twelve ounces. 3. 



Their most ancient coin, originally a 

 pound, but reduced finally to half-an- 

 ounce. 



A's AFOCTID v, from asa and fcetidm, fetid. 

 A strongly fetid resinous gum, procured 

 from the'root of a large umbelliferous 

 plant (Ftrula assafcrtida], which grows 

 in some parts of Persia. It is much 

 used in medicine 



ASARABAC'CA, a popular name of the 

 Aiarum (q. v.) ; but more especially of the 

 A Enrop&um, the root and leaves of 

 which are had from the shops under this 



name. The powdered leaves fcm the 

 basis of most cephalic snuffs. Name, ata- 

 rutn, and bacca, berries. 



AS'ARINE, the name given by GOtz to 

 the emetic principle of the asarabacca. 



As'ARt'M, the asarabacca. A. genus of 

 perennials. Dodecandria Monogynia. 

 Name, at, not, and ffou^ca, to adorn, "being 

 rejected from the ancient coronal wreaths. 

 Asai-um. is also the pharmacopo-ial name 

 of the asarabacca or Asarwn Eiiropeevm. 



ASBES'TOS, ) a mineral of which there 



ASBES'TUS, ) are several varieties, ail 

 marked by their fibrous and flexible qua- 

 lities. The most celebrated are the om- 

 anthus (q.v.), the mountain-cork, rotk- 

 icood, and mountain-icood. Asbestos is it- 

 self a variety of hornblende. Named 

 from ciir$urro;, of a , not, and <r/3mv, 

 to perish, in allusion to its incombusti- 

 bility. 



ASCAL'APHUS, a Fabrician genus of 

 insects, characterised by having nearly 

 equal palpi, distinct from the ant-lions o. 

 Linnaeus. 



AS'CAIUS, the thread-worm, a genus of 

 intestinal worms, found in all animals. 

 The ascarides (plural of ascari$~), are 

 placed by Cuvicr in the ordcrNematoridse, 

 and class Entozoa. Name, affxa^ifa, 

 to leap. 



AscE>-i>'AjfT,in astrology, the degree of 

 the ecliptic above the 'horizon at one's 

 birth. In law, ascendants are opposed to 

 the descendants in succession; e.g. when a 

 father succeeds his son, an uncle his ne- 

 phew, Ac., the inheritance is said to 

 ascend, or go to ascendants. 



ASCEND'ING, Lat. ascendens, rising. Ap- 

 plied, 1. In botany, to leaves, stalks, &c. 



2. In astronomy, to such stars as are 



rising above the horizon in any parallel 

 of the equator. Ascending latitude, the 

 latitude of a planet when moving towards 

 the north pole. Ascending node, that 

 point of a planet's orbit wherein it passes 

 the ecliptic to proceed northward ; other- 

 wise called the northern node. The sym- 

 bol is ft . 



ASOE.N'SION, Lat. ascensio, a rising. In 

 astronomy, the right ascension of a star, 

 &c. is that degree of the equator, reck- 

 oned from the beginning of Aries, which 

 comes to the meridian with the star in a 

 right sphere. Oblique ascension is an arc 

 of the equator, intercepted between the 

 first point of Aries, and of the point of the 

 equator which rises with a star in an ob- 

 lique sphere. The ascensional difference ia 

 the difference between the right and ob- 

 lique ascension. 



ASCET'ICS, a name given in old times to 

 persons who devoted themselves to severe 

 j exercises of piety and penance. The term 

 I is taken from ttrxwi, exercise, used by 



