A S C 



anJ at Padua In 1493. They have been intermixed with 

 thofe of other commentators, and may be found in Gvono- 

 vius's edition of Cicero, publiihed iu 4to. in 1692. I'abr. 

 Bib. Lat. 1. ii. c. 6. 



ASCORA, in Geography, a province of the empire of 

 Morocco. See Escura. 



ASCORDUS, m jinctent Geography, a river of Greece, 

 in Macedonia, one day's joumey from AgafTa. Livy. 



ASCOTANEjE, a people of Afia, in Scythia, on this 

 fide of Imaus. Ptolemy. 



ASCOYTI A, in Geography, a town of Spain, in the pro- 

 vince of Guipufcoa, on the river Urola, weft of Tolofa, and 

 two leagues eaft of Placentia. 



ASCRA, in Ancient Geography, a town of Greece, in 

 Bceotia, near mount Hehcon. From its having been the 

 place where Hcfiod was brought up, though he was born at 

 Cuma in Eolis, it was called his countr)\ 



ASCRIPTI, or Adscripti, in jlntiniiity, thofe who en- 

 tered their names in the colonies, and became colon}. 



ASCRIPTITII, or AcscRiPTiTii, a kind of villains, 

 who, coming from abroad, fettle in the lands of fome new 

 lord, whofe fnbjects or fervants they commence ; being fo 

 annexed to the lands, that they may be transferred and Told 

 with the fame. 



The afcriptitii are annexed to the land they hold, fo that 

 they cannot ftir from, it ; befides that, whatever they acquire 

 accedes to the benefit of the lord of the land. Du-Cange, 

 and Calv. Lex. Jur. 



AsCRiPTiTii is fometimes alfo ufed in fpeaking of aliens 

 or foreigners, newly admitted to the freedom of a city or 

 country. 



AscRiPTiTii was alfo ufed in the Military Laws, for the 

 recruits appointed to fupply the lofles of the legions ; called 

 alfo AcctNsi. 



ASCULUM Apulum, or Afculum of Apulia, in An- 

 cient Geography, now Afcoli of Capitanata, was fituated in 

 the Trajan way which patTed from Beneventum to Canu- 

 fium, between Trivicum to the weft, and Canufium to the 

 north-eaft. This place is famous as the fcene of the firft; 

 battle in which the Romans obtained fuccefs againft the 

 Epirots, under the command of Pyrrhus. Of this aftion, 

 however, hiftorians give a different account. Plutarch 

 pretends that Pyrrhus gained a complete viftory ; whereas 

 Eutropius affirms, that he was entirely defeated, and fled to 

 Tarentum. Dionyfius of HalicarnaiTus fays, that the 

 victory was doubtful, and claimed on both fides, and that 

 Pyrrhus being congratulated upon his fuccefs, replied, 

 " Such another victory would undo me." 



AscuLUM Picenum, t\ovi Afcoli of Ancona, was the ca- 

 pital of the Piceni. It was a municipal town, and a Roman 

 colony. Cicero (De Orat. c. 46.) commends an orator, 

 nam.ed " Betucius Barrus," who was born in this city, and 

 of whofe difcourfes delivered at Afculum, fome remained in 

 his time. 



ASCURA, a town of Afia, in the greater Armenia. 

 Ptolemy. 



ASCURUS, a river of Colchis, according to Arrian. 



Alfo, a town of Africa, in Mauritania. 



ASCUS, in Natural Hijlory, a word ufed by De Laet, 

 as the name of that pouch or bag with which nature has 

 fupphed the animals of the Diadelphis or Opojfiim tribe, for the 

 protedlion of their young; and in which they are contained 

 in a ftate of imbecility, or time of danger. Later writers, as 

 Llnnsus, Gmclin, and others, call this abdominal pouch, or 

 receptacle, fvUiculus: it is not the womb, as is vulgarly 



Vol. in. 



A S D 



imagined, but a kind of fl<inny bag, fituated under the belly, 

 apd in moft fpccies containing the teats of the animal. 



ASCYRUM, m Botany," ii genus of plants refembling 

 St. John's wort (fuppofed from a, and trKi'^o;, or c-xi/fo;, af- 

 peratus, not rough, a foft plant). Lin. g. 903. Schreb. 

 1225. Gaertn. 62. JufT. 254. Q\ak, polyailelphia polyandria. 



Nat. Ord. rotace.t Hyperica, Jufl. Gen. Char. Gal, 



perianth four-leaved : the outer leaves oppolite, ver\' minute, 

 linear ; the inner heart-fhaped, large, flat, ereft, all perma- 

 nent. Cor. petals four, ovate ; the outer oppofite, ver^^ 

 large; the inner lefs. Stam. filaments numerous, briftle- 

 fliaped, flightly united at the bafe in four parts; anthert 

 roundifh. Pi/}, germ oblong; ftyle fcarcely any; lligma 

 fimple. Per. capfule oblong, acuminate, one-celled, two- 

 valvcd, inclofed by the larger leaves of the calyx. Seedt, 

 numerous, fmall, roundith, fixed to the edge of the valves. 



Efr. Gen. Char. Cal. four-leaved; petals four; filaments 

 many, in four divifions. 



Species, 1. A. crux Andrei^, common afcyrum, or St. An- 

 drew's crofs. " Leaves ovate; ftem round; panicle dichoto- 

 mous." Stalks about fix inches high, ficnder, dividing into 

 two towards the top ; from between the divifions of the 

 branches loofe panicles of fmali yellow flowers are produced; 

 capfule fmali, pointed at the endf, comprefled like a lens, 

 oblcurcly two-furrowed. A native ot North America. 

 Cultivated by Miller, in 1759. It flowers in July and 

 Auguft. 2. A. hypericoides. Brown, Jam. 309. Swartz. 

 Obi. 294. Hypericoides, &:c. Plum. Gen. 51. t. 152. f. I. 

 " Leaves oblong; branches ancipital.'' An elegant little 

 flirub three feet high, full of leaves and branches. Branches 

 dichotomsus; twigs comprefTed and ancipital; leaves oppo- 

 fite, fubfeflile, lanceolate, obtufe, entire, ver)- finely per- 

 forated, fmooth, at their bafe fmall glands; flowers termi- 

 nating folitary, yellow; two leaflets of the caU x four times 

 larger than the others. A native of South Carolina, Vir- 

 ginia, Mar\'land, and the cooler mountains of Jamaica. 

 Cultivated by Miller. 3. A. i-illofum. " Leaves hirfute; 

 ftem ftiff and ftraight." This grows about three feet high. 

 The flowers are produced at the ends of the ftalks, and arc 

 of the fame ftiape and colour as thofe of common St. John'f 

 wort. It grows wild in Virginia, and was cultivated by- 

 Miller in 1759. 



Propagation and Culture. Thefe are perennial plants, the 

 ftems decaying in the autumn. The firll may be increafed 

 by laying down its branches; it loves a moift foil and fliady 

 fituation. The fecond fort rarely produces feeds in Eng- 

 land, but may be propagated by cuttings of the young 

 ffcoots in May, planted in pots, and plunged in a moderate 

 hotbed, and afterwards tranfplanted into a warm border; 

 but in fevere winters they mull be defended from the froftt 

 by covering the roots with tan. The third may be increafed 

 by parting the roots in autumn, and planting them in a loamy 

 foil. See Martyn's Miller's Didl. 



AscYRUM. See Hypericum. 



ASDRUBAL, in Biography, a name given to feveral of 

 the Carthaginian generals. Afdrubal, the fon-in-law of 

 Hamilcar, the father of Hannibal, accompaincd Hamilcar 

 into Spain after the firft Punic war ; and on his death, was 

 cleCled by the army his fucceflor. Having made confider- 

 able conquefts in Spain, he built a city called New Carthage, 

 now Carthagena, in order to fecure them. Hannibal ferved 

 during three campaigns under him. His adminiftration in 

 Spain was profperous for eight years ; but it terminated 

 with his anaflination, which was effefted by a Gaul, whofe 

 mailer he had put to death. The aflafrm was fo gratified 

 with his revenge, that he fmiled in the midft of the torturei 



I with 



