AST 
chap. 48, which prohibits wagering, dr spe- 
culative insurances. 
ASTER, in botany, starwort. Class, Syn- 
genesia Polygamia Superflua. Gen. char, 
cal. common, imbricate, the inner scales 
prominent a little at the end, lower ones 
spreading ; cor. compound, radiate ; corol- 
lules hermaphrodite, numerous in the disk ; 
females ligulate, more than 10 in the ray ; 
proper of the hermaphrodite, funnel-shaped, 
with a five-cleft spreading border : of the 
female ligulate, lanceolate, three-toothed, 
at length rolling back ; stam. hermaphro- 
dite; filaments five; capillary very short; 
anthers cylindric, tubulous ; pist. germ ob- 
long ; style filiform, the length of the sta- 
mens ; stigma bifid, spreading ; females, 
germ and style the same; stigmas two, ob- 
long revolute; per. none; calyx scarcely 
changed; seeds solitary, oblong, ovate; 
down capillary ; rec. naked, flattish. Tire 
species from the Cape, together with those 
hot producing seeds in England, are propa- 
gated by cuttings, any time during the sum- 
mer. These should be planted in small 
pots filled with light earth, and plunged into 
an oldTiot-bed, where, if they are shaded 
from the sun, and gently watered, they will 
put out roots in six weeks, when they may 
he placed in the open air ; and in about a 
month afterwards they should be separated, 
each in a small pot, and filled with light 
sandy earth. In October they must be re- 
proved into the green house, and placed 
where they may enjoy as much free air as 
possible; but be secured from frosts or 
damps; so that they are much easier pre- 
served 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 ea- 
sily propagated by parting the roots in au- 
tumn ; they are most of them hardy, and 
will thrive in almost any soil and situation ; 
for these reasons, and because they adorn 
the latter season with the abundance and 
variety of their specious flowers, they are 
valuable plants, especially among shrubs, 
and in large ornamental plantations, pro- 
perly mixed with golden rods, and other 
perennial, autumnal, hardy plants. The 
sorts most cultivated, are the grandifiorus, 
linifolius, linarifolius, tenutfolius, ericoides, 
dumosus, serotinus, alpinus, novae angliae, 
and puniceus or altissimus. Some of the 
AST 
species prefer a shady situation and moist 
soil. They are apt to spread very much 
at the roots, so as to be troublesome, and 
the seeds of some are blown about and 
come up like weeds. The Italian starwort 
has not been so much cultivated in England, 
since the great variety of American species 
has been introduced, 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 
fast by its roots, may be propagated hi 
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 annual starwort is once 
introduced, the seeds will scatter, and the 
plants come up without care. The China 
aster, being an annual plant, is propagated 
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. 
ASTERIAS, in natural history, starfish, 
a genus of worms, of the order Mollusca. 
Body depressed, covered with a coriaceous 
crust, muricate, with tentacula, and grooved 
beneath ; mouth central, five-rayed. There 
are more than 40 species,, ali 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 divisions ; 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, trans- 
versely striate, beset towards the margin 
with soft, -obtuse, white spines about the 
size of a millet seed, and divided into 10 ar- 
ete ; 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 sub- 
divided rays ; the disk and rays granulate ; 
mouth depressed. 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 
continued to a vast extent, gradually de- 
creasing in size, till at length the ramifica- 
