Asr 



38 



ATA 



stem a deeply-fluted appearance, 

 Ord. Apocynacese. 



Asplenium, n., as-plen'i-um (Gr. 

 a, without; splen, the spleen, 

 from its being believed to remove 

 disorders of that organ), a genus of 

 plants, Ord. Filices; spleenwort. 



assurgent, a., fa-serf tint (L. as- 

 surgens, rising up- from ad, to ; 

 surgo, I rise), in bot., rising up- 

 wards in a curve. 



Asteliese, n. plu.. d-steV-i-e-e (Gr. a, 

 without ; sleleckos, the trunk of 

 a tree, a stem), an Order of plants 

 now included in the Ord. Simil- 

 acese: Astelia, n., d-stel'-i-d, a 

 genus of preceding; the plants 

 have grass-like leaves yielding 

 fibres, natives of New Zealand;, 

 Tasmania, and S. Amer. : Astelia 

 Solandri, Sol and' ri (after Sol- 

 andra, a Swedish botanist), the 

 tree flax of New Zealand. 



AsteraceaB, n. plu., dst'-er-a'-se-e 

 (Gr. aster> a star), an Order of 

 plants bearing compound flowers, 

 now included in the vast Ord. 

 Composites : Aster, n., ast<er, a 

 genus of preceding order, stately 

 and handsome plants, whose 

 flowers have an arrangement re- 

 sembling little stars. 



asteroid, a., dst'-Zr-oyd (Gr. aster, 

 a star; eidos, resemblance),, star*- 

 shaped ; possessing radiating 

 lobes or rays like a star-fish : n., 

 one of the minor planets : Aster - 

 oidea, n. plu., ast'-er-oydte-d, in 

 zool., an Order of the Echinoderm- 

 ata, comprising the star-fishes, 

 which are characterised by their 

 rayed form. 



asthenia, n., as-then' i-d (Gr. as- 

 theneia, want of strength, weak- 

 ness from a, without ; sthenos, 

 strength), in med., want or loss 

 of strength ; debility : asthenic, 

 a., dS'thZn'-ik, weak; debilitated. 



asthma, n., asthma (Gr. asthma, 

 shortness of breath from do, I 

 breathe), a disease of the breath- 

 ing organs, characterised in its 

 attacks by a gasping for breath. 



Astilbe, n., a-stiKbe (Gr. a, with- 

 out; stilbe, brilliancy, lustre), a 

 genus of plants, Ord. Saxifragace*?, 

 ornamental, and attaining six feet 

 in height. 



astomatous, a., d-sto'm'dt-'&s (Gr. 

 a, without; stoma, a mouth, 

 stomdta, mouths), not possessing 

 a mouth ; having no true mouth 

 or aperture. 



Astragalus, n., ds-trdg'-dl-us (Gr. 

 astragalos, a die, the ankle 

 joint, the corresponding bones of 

 certain animals, as the sheep, 

 being employed by the ancients 

 as dice), in anat*, a bone of the 

 foot which forms part of the 

 ankle joint ; in bot. , a genus of 

 plants, Ord. Leguminosne, Sub- 

 ord. Papilionaceae, so called from 

 the seeds being squeezed into a 

 kind of square form in some of 

 the species: Astragalus verus, 

 ver'-us (L. verus, true), A.creticus, 

 kret'ik-us (L. creticus, of or from 

 Crete), A. aristatus, ar'ist-at'-us 

 (L. aristatus, having an awn 

 from arista, an awn), A. gurnmif er, 

 gum'-mif-er (L. gummi, gum ; 

 fero, I bear), and other species, 

 are shrubs which yield gum-traga- 

 canth: astragaloid, a., as-trdg'' 

 dl-oyd (Gr. eidos, resemblance), 

 pert, to or like the astragalus. 

 astringent, n., ds-trinj'ent (L. 

 astringens, drawing or binding 

 tight from ad, to; stringo, I bind 

 fast), a medicine which binds or 

 contracts organic textures : adj. , 

 binding or contracting as muscul- 

 ar fibre. 



Asturian, a., as-tur'i-an (Asturia, 

 an ancient division of Spain), 

 designating a west Pyrenean flora, 

 confined to the mountainous 

 districts of the west and south- 

 west of Ireland, the nearest 

 Continental parts where they are 

 native being the north of Spain. 

 atavism, n., at'av'izm (L. atdvus, 

 an ancestor from avus, a grand- 

 father), the disappearance of any 

 peculiarity or disease of a family 



