ASH 1 



the Greeks to signify the meagre diet of 

 the athlet.T, whu. to prepare themselves 

 for the combat, abctuned from many of 

 the ordinary indulgences. Hence, also, 

 many writings on the spiritual exercise 

 of piety are called atcttic writings. 



As'ci, Gr. from a,<rxi; , a bottle. Small 

 ou-inbranous bladders, in which are in- 

 closed the seed-like, reprodactive particles 

 of lichens, fungi, &c. 



AS'CIANS, Lat. ascii, from . without, 

 and ft, shadow. The inhabitants of 

 the torrid zone, who at Meridian have no 

 lhadow. 



AS'CIDJ, \ a genus of naked acephalous 



ASCID'IA, ) mollusca, found adhering to 

 rocks, and other bodies in the oceanl 

 Name, drjiof, a bottle, which the anima. 

 in some degree resembles. 



ASCIU'IUM, Lat. of etrxidiot, a bottle. 

 Vsed in botany to express a hollow ap- 

 prndaire resembling a small bottle, which 

 occurs on the stem, leaves, &c. of some 

 plants. 



AscLEriADJE'AN vBRSK, so called from its 

 inventor Asclepias, consists of four feet 

 and a half, of this kind, and in this order, 

 viz. a spondee, a dactyl, a long syllable, 

 then two dactyls, as : 



II 2 I i I 3 | 4 

 Mttcl \ nJs dta \ its | tdl-tt | rf-gl-b&t. 



ASCLE'PIAS, the sic allmc -wort, or tame- 

 pnison. A genus of plants Pentandria 

 Diyynia. Named after Asclepias or JEscu- 

 :ai'iiis. Several species are used in medi- 

 cine. 



A.-H, ASH-TRFE, the /rorintu excelsior of 

 botanists. A forest tree of which there 

 are many varieties. The mountain-ash is 

 the vynts aucuparia of the botanist. 



ASHES, the residuum of any substance 

 after it has been burnt ; but in commerce 

 the term n used to denote the ashes of 

 vegetable '.ubstances, from which are ex- 

 tracted the alkaline matters called pot- 

 ash, peail-ash, barilla, kelp, &c. The 

 term is Sax. afca, from Goth, azga, and 

 has no singular number. 



ASH'LAR. 1. Free stones as they are 



brought from the quarry. 2. The facing 



of squared stones on the front of a build- 

 ing. This facing when smooth is called 

 plane ashlar ; when wrought so as to ex- 

 hibit parallel flutes, it is termed tooled 

 ashlar; when the surfaces of the stones 

 are cut with a broad tool, without regu- 

 larity, it is said to be randc.m-tooled ; when 

 wrought with a narrow tool, chiselled or 

 boasted, or if the tool be very narrow, the 

 facing is said to be pointed; and when the 

 stones project from the joints, the ashlar 

 u said to be nutieated. 



ASH'LBRING, in carpentry, the fixing 

 of short upright quartering* in garrets, 

 between the rafters and the floor, in 



13 ASP 



order to cut off the acute angles at IX* 

 bottom. 



ASIL'ICI, a family of dipterous insects, 

 of which the genus asilus is the type. 



As'iLrs, the hornet-fly. A genus of dip- 

 tera, of which there are about 60 European 

 species, many of which are known in 

 Britain from their voracious habits. 

 Name given by the ancients to the horse-fly* 



AS'LAN, la name given to the Dutch 



ASLA'NI, ) dollar in some parts of the 

 Levant: it is worth from 115 to 120 asper*. 

 The word is of Turkish origin, signifying 

 a lion, the figure stamped upon the com. 

 Written also asselani. 



ASMO'DAI, the destroying angel of th* 

 Hebrew mythology, written Abuddon. 



ASP, \ a species of viper found in 



ASPIC, ) Egypt resembling the cobra <i* 

 capello, or spectacle serpent of the East 

 Indies: it is the coluber haje of Lin., and 

 ripera haje of Geoff. "When the cervicai 

 spine is compressed between the finger 

 and the thumb, the animal becomes stifl 

 and motionless: the trick is practised by 

 the jugglers, and is called changing tht 

 serpent into a rod. 



ASFAL'ATHCS, the African broom. A 

 genus of shrubby plants which are native* 

 of tropical countries. Diadelphin Deca^- 

 dria. Name otfrat^M^o; , a thorny shrub, 

 mentioned by the Greek and lloman 

 writers. 



ASPAR'AGIN, \ a peculiar principle ob- 



ASPAR'AGINE, ) tained from the juice of 

 the asparagus by evaporation. It crys- 

 tallises in white transparent rhomboidal 

 prisms. It consists of 8 Car 8 H + 6 O 

 + 2X, but the crystals included 2 atoms 

 of water. It is identical with the sub- 

 stance called agedoite, obtained by Kobi- 

 quet from liquorice root, and alo with the 

 althein discovered by Bacon. 



ASPARAGI'NE.E, a natural family of 

 plants, the genus asparagus is the type. 



AspARAGixors PLANTS. Those culinary 

 vegetables, of which the points of the 

 tender shoots are eaten. 



ASPAR'AGCS, popularly named sparroic- 

 grass. A genus of many species. Hti- 

 anilria Monogynia. Name amctfiotyoz , 

 which denotes generally a young shoot 

 before it unfolds its leaves. The only 

 British type of this genus is the A. offiri- 

 nalis, the' favourite culinary vegetable. 



AS'PECT, Lat. aspectut, of ad ar.J sperin. 

 1 . In astronomy, the situation of the planert 

 and stars with respect to each other. 

 There are five aspects : 1st, sextile, marked 

 5fC, when the planets arc 60 distant; 

 2nd, quadrile, n , at 90" ; 3rd, trine, ^, 

 when 120 ; 4th, opposition. , when 

 180 ; and 5th, conjunction, <5 , when both 

 in the sanae degree. Th upecu wet* 



