AST 



AST 



volute ; per. nonfc ; calyx scarcely chang- 

 ed ; seeds solitary, oblong 1 , ovate ; down 

 capillary; rec. naked, flatfish. The spe- 

 cies from the Cape, together with those 

 not producing seeds in England, are pro- 

 pagated by cuttings, any time during- the 

 summer. These, should be planted in 

 small pots, filled with light earth, and 

 plunged in an old hot-bed, where, if 

 they are shaded from the sun, and gently 

 watered, they will put out roots in six 

 weeks, when they may be placed in the 

 open air; and in about a month after- 

 wards they should be separated, each in 

 a small pot, and filled with light sandy 

 earth. In October they must be removed 

 into the green-house, and placed where 

 they may enjoy as much free air as possi- 

 ble, but be secured from frosts or damps ; 

 so that they are much easier preserved in 

 a glass case, where they will have more 

 light and air than in a green-house ; but 

 they must not be placed in a stove, for 

 artificial heat will soon destroy the 

 plants. The North American species, 

 which make at least three-fifths of the 

 genus, together with the Alpine and 

 Italian asters, are easily propagated by 

 parting the roots in autumn ; they are 

 most of them hardy, and will thrive in al- 

 most any soil and situation ; for these rea- 

 sons, and because they adorn the latter 

 season with the abundance and varietv of 

 their spacious flowers, they are valuable 

 plants, especially among shrubs, and in 

 large ornamental plantations, properly 

 mixed with golden rods, and other pe- 

 rennial, autumnal, hardy plants. The 

 sorts most cultivated are, the grandiflorus 

 -lin'ifolius, linanfolius, tenuifolius, ericoi- 

 des, dumosus, serotinus, alpinus, novae 

 anglice, and punicius, or altissimus. Some 

 of the species prefer a shady situation and 

 moist soil. They are apt to spread very 

 much at the roots, so as to be trouble- 

 some, and the seeds of some are blown 

 about, and come up like weeds. The 

 Italian star wort has not been so much cul- 

 tivated in England, since the great varie- 

 ty of American species has been intro- 

 duced, though it is by no means inferior 

 to the best of them. It is propagated by 

 parting the roots soon after the plant is 

 out of flower. The roots should not be 

 removed oftener than every third year. 

 Catesby's starwort, not multiplying fa'st by 

 its roots, may be propagated in plenty by 

 cuttings from the young shoots in May, 

 which, if planted in light earth, and 

 shaded from the sun, will flower the same 

 year. When the Italian starwort is once 

 introduced, the seeds will scatter, and the 

 plants come up without care. The China 







aster, being an annual plant, is propagat> 

 ed by seeds, which must be sown in the 

 spring, on a warm border, or rather on a 

 gentle hot-bed, just to bring up the plants. 

 The North American species enumerated 

 by Muhlenbergare 79 in number, and two 

 doubtful, on the authority of Donn.Pursh 

 describes 78 species. 



ASTERIAS, in natural history, Starfish, 

 a genus of worms, of the order Mollusca. 

 Body depressed, covered with a coriace- 

 ous crust, muricate, with tentacula, and 

 grooved beneath ; mouth central, five- 

 rayed. There are more than 40 species, 

 all inhabitants of the sea, and are marked 

 with a rough, white, stony spot above : 

 they easily renew parts which have been 

 lost by violence, and fix themselves to the 

 bottom by swimming on the back and 

 bending the rays. There are three di- 

 visions, viz. A. lunate ; B. stellate ; and 

 C. radiate. A. pulvillus is lubricous, with 

 an entire simple margin, and is found in 

 the North seas ; body above convex, co- 

 vered with a smooth sanguineous skin, 

 transversely striate, beset towards the 

 margin with soft, obtuse, white spines, a- 

 bout the size of a millet seed, and divided 

 into 10 arcee : the margin not articulate, 

 but rough in the angles, with about 10 

 acute papilla ; beneath concave, smooth, 

 whitish, with a rosy tinge, and hollowed 

 by five grooves, each side covered with 

 horizontal batons : it tinges warm water 

 with a tawny colour. A. caput medusae 

 has five divided and subdivided rays ; the 

 disk and rays granulate ; mouth depress- 

 ed. This is a most curious animal, and 

 inhabits the northern seas ; the five rays 

 dividing into two smaller ones, and each 

 of these dividing again into two others; 

 which mode of regular subdivision is con- 

 tinued to a vast extent, gradually decreas- 

 ing in size, till at length the ramifications 

 amount to many thousands, forming a 

 beautiful net-work. Its colour is some- 

 times pale or reddish white, sometimes 

 brown. 



ASTERISM, in astronomy, the same 

 with constellation. See CONSTELLATION. 

 ASTEROIDS, in astronomy, a name 

 given by Dr. Herschell to the new pla- 

 nets, Ceres, Juno, Pallas, and Vesta, late- 

 ly discovered : and which he defines as 

 celestial bodies, which move in orbits 

 either of little or of considerable eccen- 

 tricity round the sun, the plane of which 

 may be inclined to the ecliptic in any an- 

 gle whatsoever. This motion may be di- 

 rect or retrograde ; and they may or may 

 not have considerable atmospheres, very 

 small comas, disks, or nuclei. According 1 

 to the definitions which he premises, pla- 



