ASA 



ASA 



tts, tliough not on the as itfelf till after tlic time of Syllii. 

 Towards the latter end of the rcpubhc, ilupbnJis, or double 

 affes, were coined, together with the ffflertH <crt'i, which 

 iupplied the place oi \.\\e.qua<lniffis, when the denarius beg;in 

 to be Icckoned at fixtten (ijffs ; piobably at the time when 

 the latter was reduced to half an ounce. M. Pauftoii, in 

 his " Metrologic," elUmatcs the value of the as, from the 

 foundation of Rome till the year 537, at 20 fols, oralivre; 

 thoUjjh it was fonietinies 29 fols : from the year ot Rome 

 537 to the year 544, at 3 Trench fols, its weight being two 

 Roman ounces of copper : from 544 to 5^16, at I fol \o\ 

 deniers, its weight being one Roman ounce: from 586 to the 

 reign of Claudius or of Nero, l fol l\ denier: from the 

 reign of Claudius or of Nero to tlmt of Conftantine, about 

 1 fol. See Coin, and Coinage. 



As was alfo ufcd to deuote any integer, or whole. — 

 Whence the Enghlh word ace.' 



Thus, as fignified the whole inheritance; whence /'.wrj 

 tx ajfe, the heir to the whole cftate. 



So they'u^cruw, or Roman acre of land, being reckoned 

 the integer, was called as, and divided, like it, into twelve 

 tmcia. 



The as, and its parts or divifions, Hand thus : 



7 



Js 



Deunx 



Dextans 



Dodrans 



Bes 



Septunx 



L/aeitt 



As, or y4/7j, in Mythology, a name given to a deity of 

 the inhabitants of the north. Sperlingius fuggefts, that 

 when the Afiatics were driven from their country by Pom- 

 pey, they retired into the northern regions ; but as they 

 were a delicate and polifhcd people, they defpifed the bar- 

 barous names of the north, and they were regarded among 

 the rude inhabitants of thefe countries as fupcrior to mortals, 

 ur as a fpecies of divinities. Accuftomed therefore to ex- 

 prefs any thing that was fublime and excellent by the terms 

 y//a and JFJis, they applied thefe appellations to their gods. 



ASA, in Scripture Biography, a king of Judah, was the 

 fon of Abijara, and fuccecded him A. M. 3049, B.C. 955. 

 He was zealous in the eftablinimcnt and maintenance of tnie 

 leligion, and aftive in dcmolifliing altars created to idols, 

 and in reftraining and punidiing fuch as were addifxed to 

 tlie infamous praftices connefted with idolati-y', and rtfloring 

 the wordiip of Jehovah. He obtained a decifr.x viftory over 

 Zerah, king of Ethiopia, in the plain of Zephathah or Zepha- 

 lah near Marelhah. In his contcit with Baadia, king of Ifrael, 

 Lc called in the affiftance of Benliadad, king of Syria, for 

 which he was reproached by the prophet Hanani, whom he 

 feverely punifhed. He died A. M. 3090. B. C. 913, after 

 having held the fceptre of Judah nearly forty-one years. 

 I Kings XV. 8, &c. 2 Chron. xiii — xvi. 



Asa, in Geography, a river of Germany in the archduchy 

 of Aullria, which runs into the Danube two miles north 

 cf EfFerding. 



Asa, among NiituraLJls. The writers of the later ages 

 have formed this word afa from the lafai- of the ancients, 

 and attributed it to a gum very diiTcrent from thst anciently 

 known by the name they have thus corrupted. The afa of 

 the ancients was an odoviterous and fragrant gum ; and the 

 afa of the after ages had fo little title to this epithet, that 

 they dillinguiflied it by one, exprelfing its being of an of- 

 fenfive or (linking fmell. The Arabian writers, according 

 to this diilinftion, defcribe two kinds of afa, the one ftink- 

 iug, tlic other aromatic j and the modern Greeks appro- 



priated the name tifn, or lafur, to the (linking gum the Lar- 

 tins called by that name, but added a dilHuttive epithet to 

 exprtfy its fmell, and calle<! it f.iinkhfanim. 



Asa Diilcii, in the Materia Medico, a name by which 

 fome ai:thors h;rve called the benjamin or Benzoin of the 

 fhops. Dale. 



Asa FtrtiJ.i, or Assa Fatidn. See Fr.EiTLA. 



ASABORl'M Promontokh'M, in jlneient Geography, 

 a promor.tory of Arabia, in the llraits of the Pcrfian gulf. 

 Ptolemy. 



AsABRA, in Geography, a river of Spain, which runs 

 into the Aragon near Morilk). 



AS/\1^, a town of Perlia, in t!ie province of Fariftany 

 forty-feven kagnes north-eall of Schiras. 



ASAD-ABAD, a large and populous town of Perfia-, 

 in the province of Irac-Agcini, on tlie frontiers of Kur- 

 dillan, twenty-two leagues N. N. E. of Amadan. 



AS/El, in Ancient Geography, a people of Alia, in Sar- 

 matla. Ptolemy. 



ASAM, or AssAnt, in Geography, a eoimtry of Afia, 

 fituate to the north-eaft of Bengal, and bounded on the 

 north by Thibet, on the well by Hindoftan, on the fouth by 

 Mecklcy, and on the call by part of the Birmah empire, or 

 Ava. Its dillricts commence, where thofe of Bengal end, 

 in N. lat. 26°. and E. long. 91°. This country is divided 

 into two parts by the river Brah.maputra, or Burrampooterj 

 which flows from Khata. The northern part is called Ut- 

 tarcul, and the fouthern Dacdiiwcul : the former begins at 

 Gowahutty, the boundary of the Mogul poflefTions, and 

 terminates in mountains inhabited by a tribe called Meeri 

 Mechmi ; and the latter extends from the village Sidea to 

 the hills of Strinagar. Afam is of an oblong figure ; its 

 length about 200 ftandard cofs, and its breadth from the 

 northern to the fouthern mountains about eight days jour- 

 ney. Severiil rivers flow from the fouthern mountains of 

 Afam, and fall into the Burrampooter ; and the cjiief of 

 thefe is the Dhonec. Between thefe rivers is an ifland well 

 inhabited, and in an excellent ilate of tillage, containing a 

 fpacious and pleafant country that extends about fifty cofs. 

 The cultivated tradl is bounded by a thick foreil, which 

 harbours elephants, and where thofe animals may be caughtj 

 as well as in foin- or five other forefl:s of Afam. Thefe ani- 

 mals are fo numerous, that five or fix hundred may be pro- 

 cured in a year. Acrofs the Dhonec, on the fide of Gher- 

 GONS, which is the capital of the country, is a wide, agree- 

 able, and level country, the face of which is marked with 

 population and tillage, and prefents evei-y where delighttul 

 profpefts of ploughed fields, harvells, gardens, and groves. 

 Thi-s ifland lies in the part called Daejl/mcul. As the coun- 

 try is overflowed in the rairjy feafons, a high and broad 

 caufeway has been railed for the convenience of travellers 

 from Salagereh to Ghergong ; each fide of which is planted 

 with bamboos, the branches of which meet and are inter- 

 twined, and thus nflxird a pleafant fliade. Amongil the 

 fruits which this country produces are mangoes, plantains,, 

 jacks, oranges, citrons, limes, pine-apples, and punialeh, a 

 fpecies of amlth, which has fuch an excellent flavour, that 

 every perfon who taftes it prefers it to the plum. There 

 are alfo cocoa-nut trees, pepper-vines, areca-trees, and the 

 fadii, or mahibathrum, in great plenty. The lugar-cane 

 excels in foftnefs and fweetnefs, and is of three colours, 

 red, black, and white. There are ginger which is free from 

 fibres, and betel vines. Such are the ftrength and fertility 

 of the foil, that any feed that is fown, or flips that are 

 planted, always thrive. The principal crop of the country 

 Gonlills in rice and mafli, which is a fpecies of grain : wheat 

 and barley are never fowjj. The lilks are excellent, and 



yefemble 



