ASH 



ASH 



plants. As the faline matters contained in tliefe fiibftances 

 are liable to be lixiviated and carried away by moillure, they 

 (hould always be kept dry and free from water, either by 

 means of flicds or other conveniences. It has been long 

 ago obferved Ijy Mortimer, that one load o^f dry alhes wiil 

 go as far as two not kept fo ; but though rain-water dimi- 

 niihes their falts, fo the moilteiiing them with chamber-Icy or 

 foap-fuds will add greatly to their ftrength. Two loads of 

 thtfe a(hes will manure an acre of land, better than fix loads 

 of thole that are cxpofed to the rain, and that are not or- 

 dered fo, which is the common allowance for an acre, though 

 fome lands require more, and fome lefs. That the afhes of 

 au^ fori of vegetables are very advantageous to land, is 

 what ii experienced in mod parts of England, by the improve- 

 ment that is made by burning of furze, and Hubble, llraw, 

 heath, furze, fedge, bean-ftalks, &c. Mr. Young, in the firft 

 viilunie of the Annals of Agriculture, approves of charcoal- 

 alhts, in preference to powdered charcoal itlelf. And wood 

 afhes mixed with mud (he fays) are fuperior to adies alone, 

 and four times better than mud alone, as a manure. In the 

 fecond volume of the fame ut'eful work, he adds, that wood 

 afhis appear to be a mofl powerful manure. In a neigh- 

 bourhood abounding with vitriolic acid (he fays), they more 

 than neutralize that fait ; they furnifh, befides, the food of 

 plants. In neutralizing it, the fixed vegetable alkali they 

 contain forms with the acid a vitriolated tartar, which is 

 beneficial to vegetation. From the alkaline faline matter 

 contained in allies, and its known operation on earthy fub- 

 llances, they may probably be ufeJ to great advantage in 

 combination with good mould or earthy materials, and dung, 

 in the proportion of one load of allies to ten of the compoll ; 

 and thus may be applied to tillage-lands as well as thofe 

 imder grafs, in their fimple (late ; but in the former they 

 would feem to be the moil proper, when conjoiuea with 

 other matters, fuch as have been mentioned above. They 

 may, when employed in the unmixed way, be fown upon 

 the furface, and harrowed in with the crop to which they 

 are ufed. But in whatever way they are made ufe of, they 

 Iliould be fpread out as equally as poffible on the land. Moft 

 grafs-lands are improved by their application, but more efpe- 

 cially thofe that are wet, and given to the produftion of 

 wild forrel, rufiies, or other coarfe plants of the fame kind. 

 When ufed in the way of compoil on tillage-lands, they are 

 generally laid on at the rate of about ten or twelve loads to 

 the acre, but on paflure or grafs-lands, the quantity applied 

 varies very confiderably, as from one hundred to one hundred 

 and fixty bufhels. Thefe fubftances have been found highly 

 ufcful, when fown on the green wheat and clover crops in 

 the fpring, and alfo when harrowed in with turnip feeds, or 

 fown over the young plants when they firit appear, as by 

 this pradlice the ravages of the fly are laid to be greatly lef- 

 fened in many cafes. See Manure. 



A.SHV.S, f^o/^-cintc. See Volcano. 



ASHFIELD, in Geography, a towndiip of America, 

 in Hampfhire county, MalTachufets, about 15 miles north- 

 well of Northampton, and 117 weft from Bollon ; contain- 

 ing 1459 inhabitants. 



ASHFORD, a town of England, in the county of 

 Kent, feated on the river Stour. It has a monthly market 

 for cattle on the firft Tuefday, and a weekly market on 

 Saturday for corn &c. It is dillant 45 miles E.S.E from 

 London. N. lat. 51° 15'. E. long, o^ 45'. 



AsHFORD, a townfhip of America, in Windham county, 

 Connefticut, incorporated in 17 10; diftant about 38 miles 

 north-eaft from Hartford, and 76 fouth-weft from Bofton. 



AsHFORD, A'izc, a townlhip of America, in Bcrklhire 

 Vol. III. 



county, MalTachufets, 155 miles weft from Bofton; con' 



taining 460 inhabitants. 



ASHKENAZ, in yfndenl Geography and Hijlory, one of 

 the fons of Gomer, is fuppofed to have fettled near Ar- 

 menia, in the eaftern part of Afia Minor ; or towards the 

 north-weft of that continent ; for it is faid, that with refer- 

 ence to his name, there was in Bithynia the Afcanian lake, 

 a river called Afcanius, and a bay of the fame name ; and 

 in lelTer Phnigia there was a city called Afcania, with ifle» 

 called the Afcanian iflands ; and it is further obferved, that 

 befides Afcanius, the fon of j'Enca?, Homer mentions a 

 king of that perii58 who was at the fiege ot Troy ; and as 

 a proof that the Aflikenaz, mentioned by Jeremiah, were 

 people of thefe parts, it is fticwn from Xenophon, that 

 Hvllafpes having conquered Phrygia, that lies on the Hel- 

 lefpont, brought thence many of the horfes and foldiert 

 which Cyrus carried with him to the fiege of Babylon. 

 Moreover, the Pontus Euxinus, or Axinus as the Greeks 

 firft called it, is fuppofed to be a corruption for the fea of 

 AlTikenaz. 



ASHKOKO, in Zoology, a very fingular kind of qua- 

 druped, defcribed by modern naturalills under the names of 

 Syrian hyrax, hyrax fyriacns, and briftly cavy : for a full 

 and accurate defcription of this fpecies we are however in- 

 debted to that indefatigable and learned traveller, Mr. Bruce ; 

 he obferved it in feveral parts of AbyfTinia, and gives us the 

 following account of it in the Appendix to his Travels. 



" This curious animal," fays Mr. Bruce, " is found m 

 Ethiopia, in the caverns of the rocks, or under the great 

 ilones in the mountain of the fun, behind the queen's pa- 

 lace at Kofcam. It is alfo frequent in the deep caveiTis in 

 the rocks in many other parts of Abvffir.ia. It does not 

 burrow or make holes as the rat and rabbit ; nature hav- 

 ing interdifted him this praftice by furnidiing him with feet, 

 the toes of which are pei fcflly round, and of a ioft, pulpy, 

 tender fubllance ; the flelhy parts of the toes projeft beyond 

 the nails, which are rather broad than fliarp, much fimilar 

 to a man's nail ill grown, and thefe appear i-ather given him 

 for the defence of his foft toes than for any aftive ufe ift 

 digging, to which they are by no means adapted. 



" His hind foot is long and narrow, divided with two 

 deep wrinkles or clefts in the middle drawn acrofs the cen- 

 tre, on each fide of which the flefh rifcs with confiderable 

 protuberancy, and it is terminated by three claws ; the mid- 

 dle one is the longeft. The fore-foot has four toes ; three 

 difpofed in the fame proportion as the hind foot ; the fourth, 

 the largeft of the whole, is placed lower on the fide of the 

 foot, lo that the top of it arrives no farther than the bot- 

 tom of the top of the toe next to it. The fole of the foot 

 is divided in the centre by deep clefts like the other, and 

 this cleft reaches down to the heel, whicii it nearly divides. 

 The whole of the fore-foot is very thick, flefiiy, and foft, 

 and of a deep black colour, altogether void of hair, tliough 

 the back or upper part of it is thick-covered, like the reft 

 of the body, down to where the toes divide, there the hair 

 ends, fo that thefe long toes very much refcmble the finger* 

 of a man. 



" In the place of holes, it feems to delight in lefs clofe 

 or more airy places, in the mouths of caves, or clefts in 

 the rock, or where one projetling, and being open before, 

 aft"ords a long retreat under it, without fear that this can 

 ever be removed by the ftrength or operations of man. 

 The aftikoko are gregarious, and frequeutlv feveral dozens 

 of them fit upon the great ftones at the mouths of caves, 

 and warm themfelves in the fun, or even come out and 

 enjoy the freftinefs c/ the fummer evening. They do not 

 ftand upright upon their feet, but feem to ftcal along as ia 

 K fear. 



