250 A S A 
man money was either of wood, leather, or (hells. Tn the 
time of Tnllus Hofliliiis it was of brafs ' and called as, 
libra, libella, or pondo, becaufe actually weighing a pound, 
or twelve ounces. Four hundred and twenty years after, 
the tint Punic war having exhaufted the treafury, they re¬ 
duced the as to two ounces. In the fecond Punic war, 
Hannibal preding very hard upon them, they reduced tlie 
as to half its weight, viz. to one ounce. And, laftly, by 
the Papirian law, they took away half an ounce more, and 
confeq,,ently reduced the as to the diminutive weight of 
half an ounce : and it is generally thought that it conti¬ 
nued the^fame during the commonwealth, and even till the 
reign of Ve-fpafian. The as therefore was of four different 
weights in tlie commonwealth. Its original Itamp was that 
of a (heep, ox, or fow : but, from the time of the empe¬ 
rors, it had on one fide a Janus with two faces, and on the 
reverfe the roftrum or prow of a fliip. As was alio uled 
to denote any integer or whole ; whence the Englifh word 
ace. Thus as fignified the whole inheritance; whence 
//ares ex aJJe, the heir to the whole efrate. 
A'SA, [non Heb. a healer of ficknefs,] king of Judah, 
fncceeded his father Abijam. He pulled down the altars 
ereded to idols, reltored the worlhip of the true Go'd, and, 
with the alii dance of Benhadad, king of Syria, took feve- 
ral towns from the king of I frael. He died 917 years before 
the Chriftian acra, and was lucceeded by Jeholhaphat. 
A'SA, a river of Germany, in the archduchy of Auftria, 
which runs into the D inube two miles north of Efrerding. 
A'SA,/ [ao-a, from npw, to heal, Heb. ] An epithet given 
by the ancient phyficians to gums of a medical or healing 
property, as afa-fcetida, afa-dulcis, &c. 
Asa-Dulcis, the fame with gum Benjamin, or Ben¬ 
zoin ; which fee. 
Asa-Fcetida. See Assa Fcetida and Ferula. 
ASA'BRA, a river o( Spain, which runs into the Ar- 
ragon near Morillo. 
A SAD, a town of Perfia, in the province of Farfiftan, 
fom-leven leagues north-eaft of Schiras. 
AS AD ABA D', a town of Perfia, in the province of Irak, 
on the frontiers of Kurdiftan, large and well peopled, 
twenty-two leagues north-north.eaft of Amaden. 
A'SAHEL, [Heb. of nti'j; he hath wrouglit, and bx God ; 
i.e. God hath wrought.] Joab’s brother. 
A'SAM. See Assam, p. 279. 
A'SANCHIF, a town of Alia, in the country of Diar- 
beker, (ituated on the Tigris, on the borders of Armenia. 
ASANGA'RO, a jurifdidion of South America, under 
the bifhop of Cufco, in Peru, fifty leagues from that city, 
in which are bred many cattle. In the north-ealt part of 
it there are fome (ilver mines. 
A'SAPH, [spa Heb. gathering.] A famous mufician 
among the Hebrews. 
ASAPH (St.), a city in Flintftiire, with a bifhop’s fee. 
As a biihopric, it is of great antiquity, and was founded 
about the year 560, by Kentigern bifhop of Glafgow. He 
began the church on the banks of the river Elwy, whence 
it is called by, the Welfli Llan Elwy, and in Latin Elwenfis. 
Kentigern was lucceeded by St. Afaph. Who was his 
fucceffor is uncertain, as there are no records that mention 
it; and it feems rather probable that the religious fettled 
here had been necelTitated to remove to fome more peace¬ 
ful abode, as the country was frequently the feat of war 
between the Englifn and the Welfh. This fee was former¬ 
ly very wealthy ; but its revenues were greatly lellened by 
tire profufion of bifhop Parfew, who alienated much of 
the lands belonging to the biihopric. This diocefe doth 
not contain any one whole county ; but confilfs of part of 
Denbigh, Flint (where its church is), Montgomery, and 
Merioneth-fhives, and a fmall part of Shropfhire; wherein 
are 121 parilhes, and 131 churches and-chapels, molt of 
which are in the immediate patronage of the bifhop. It 
has but one archdeaconry, viz. that of St. Afaph, which 
is united to the bifhopric, for the better maintenance 
thereof. This fee is valued in the king’s books at 187 1 . 
11s. 6d. but computed to be worth annually 1300!. To 
ASA 
the cathedral belong a bifhop, a dean, archdeacon, chan« 
cellor, &c. The city of St. Afaph is fmall, and of little 
trade; though it is neat and pleafantly (ituated. The 
cathedral was repaired and beautified; and the bilhop’s 
palace entirely re-built by Dr. Bagot, at that time hilltop. 
ASAPH A'TUM, / [from neg. and crcKfiw, clear.] 
An inter.cutaneous itch generated in the pores, like worms 
with black heads ; fo called becaufe from their minutenefs 
they are hardly vifible. 
ASA'PHIA, or Asapho'des, [Gr. from a neg. and 
ca@r,<;, clear.] A defed of fpeech, in utterance or pro¬ 
nunciation. 
ASAP'PES, or Aza'pes, [from faph, Turkifh, which 
fignifies “ rank,” whence they have formed afpjiaph, “ to 
range in battle.”] An order of foldiers in the Turkilh ar¬ 
my, who have no pay but the plunder they can get from 
the enemy. 
A'S AR, / A Perfian coin, valued at 6s. 8d. fterling. 
ASAR AB AC'CA, / in botany. See Asarum. 
A'SAR-AD'DON, or Esar-Haddon, the (on of Sen¬ 
nacherib, fucceedsd his father about 712 years before the 
Chriftian cera, and united the kingdoms of Nineveh and 
Babylon. He rendered himfelf mailer of Syria ; Cent a 
colony to Samaria; and his generals took king Manaffes, 
and carried him loaded with chains to Babylon. Alar- 
Addon,died after a reign of twelve years. 
ASAR'CUS, adj. [front a. priv. and cragi, fleflt.] Lean ; 
void of fleflt. 
ASARI'NA, f. in botany. See Antirrhinum, and 
Chelone. 
ASA'RO, a town of Sicily, in the valley of Noto, eight 
miles fourh of Nicofia. 
ASARO'TA,/ [from a and a-ai^a, to fweep.] A kind 
of painted pavements in life before the invention of mo- 
faic work. The moll celebrated was that at Pergamus, 
painted by Sefus, exhibiting the appearance of crumbs, 
as i‘f the floor had not been fwept after dinner, whence, 
according to Pliny, the denomination. Perrault fuppofes 
them to have been a black pavement of a fpongy 
matter. 
ASA'RUM, / [from a. and orno; becaufe it is 
unfit for ornament, or was not ufed for crowns, according 
to Pftny. From a and vinElum, Linnceus.] In bota¬ 
ny, the Asarabacca, of Coi.t’s-foot, a genus of the 
clafs dodecanaria, order monogynia, in the natural order 
of farmentacea?. The effenlial generic characters are— 
Calyx : three or four cleft, placed on the germ ; corolla, 
none ; capfule, coriaceous, crowned. See the frudification 
delineated on Botany Plate VII. fig. 6 to 10. vol. iii. 
Species. 1. Afarum Europaeum, or common afarabacca : 
leaves kidnev-ftiaped ; roots perennial. The leaves grow 
finglv on fliort petioles, and are of a ftiining green colour. 
A leaf is fhown on Botany Plate V. fig. 78. The flowers are 
of an herbaceous colour on the outfide, and dufky purple 
within. A radical Item fupports two petioles, between 
which is a one-flowered fcape ; the former about three 
inches, the latter only half an inch in length. It is a 
native of many parts of Europe, in woods and fhady 
places ; flowering in April and May. With us it is a 
fcarce plant, having as yet been obferved only in Lanca- 
ftiire. The root powdered, and taken to the amount of 
thirty or forty grains, excites vomiting : if it be taken 
coarfely powdered, it isftrongly purgative. The powder 
of the leaves is the bafts of moft cephalic fnuffs. An in- 
fulion of one or two drachms of the leaves in wine ads as 
an emetic. 
2. Afarum Canadenfe, or Canadian afarabacca : leaves 
kidney-fhaped, mucronate. The leaves of this are much 
larger than thofe of the firft fort, and fraud on longer 
foot-ftalks; they are pointed and hairy. See feotany 
Plate IV. fig. 53. It is a native of Canada, and flowers 
from April to July. 
3. Alarum Virginicum, or fweet-fcented afarabacca: 
leaves heart-fhaped, blunt, fmooth, petioled. The leaves 
of this are veined and fpotted on their upper furface, like 
thofe 
