ASP 
leftine. Tt was taken by Jofhua; tlie inhabitants were put 
to the fword, and their houfes burnt. It was afterwards 
rebuilt; (Judges, i Sam.) but remained (till in the hands 
of the Canaanites, though in the lot ot the tribe ot Naph- 
thali. It lay to the north of the Lacus Saniachonites, 
called in Scripture the Waters of Merom. 
ASOUPAS', a town of Perlia, in the province of Far- 
fiftan, twenty-three leagues north of Schiras. 
ASOW', a celebrated fortrefs of RufTia, once a place of 
confiderable trade, but now detnoliflied. It was fituated 
in the diftrict of Bachmut, near the city of Tanais, which 
was very famous for its trade, and underwent many vicifli- 
tudes. The Genoefe, who fettled a trade with RulTia 
foon after the difcovery of Archangel by captain Chan¬ 
cellor, became mailers of this place, and gave it the name 
of Tana or Calana : but the Tartars feem to have been in 
pofleffion of it long before ; for, as Bufching informs us, 
tliere are Afow coins yet extant, on which is the name ot 
Taktamyfs-Kan. From the Genoefe it fell into the hands 
of the Turks, and became an inconfiderable town. In 
1637, it was taken by the Colfacks, who defended it againft 
the Turks in 1641, and next year fet fire to it, and blew 
it up. The Turks rebuilt it with flrong fortifications. The 
Ruffians laid claim to it in 167 2, and took it in 1696 ; but, 
by the treaty of Pruth, in1711.it was reftored to the Turks. 
In 1736, the Ruffians became mafters of Afow; but by the 
treaty of Belgrade they were obliged to relinquifh it, and 
entirely deflroy the place. 
ASP, f. [from ava-tc, Gr. a fhield : it is faid to be thus 
denominated, in regard to the manner of its lying convol¬ 
ved in a circle, in the centre of which is the head, which it 
exerts, or raifes, like the umbo or umbilicus of a buckler.] 
A final 1 poifonous kind of ferpent, whofe bite gives a 
fpeedy but eafy kind of death. This fpecies of ferpent is 
very frequently mentioned; but fo carelefsly deferibed, 
that it is not eafy to determine which, if any ot the fpecies 
known at prefent, may properly be called by this name. 
It is faid to be common in Africa, and about the banks of 
the Nile; and Bellonius mentions a fmall fpecies of ferpent 
which he had met with in Italy, and which had a fort of 
callous excrefcence on the forehead, which he takes to 
have been the afpis of the ancients. It is with the alp that 
Cleopatra is faid to have difpatched herfelf, and prevented 
the defigns of Auguflus, who intended to have carried her 
captive to adorn his triumphal entry into Rome. But the 
fa ft is contefled : Brown places it among his vulgar errors. 
The indications of that queen’s having ufed the miniftry 
of the afp, were only two almoft: infenfible perforations 
found in her arm ; and Plutarch fays it is unknown what 
Hie died of. At the fame time, it muft be obferved, that 
the fiightnefs of the perforations found in her arm fur- 
niflies no prefumption againft the fact ; for no more than 
the point of a needle dipt in the poifon, was neceflary lor 
the pnrpofe. See the article Serpent. 
Lord Bacon makes the afp the lead painful of all the 
inftruments of death. He fuppofes it to have an affinity 
to opium, but to be lefs dilagreeable in its operation; 
and his opinion feems to correfpond with the accounts of 
moll writers, as well as with the effects deferibed to have 
been produced upon Cleopatra; for which fee the article 
already referred to. The ancients had a plafter called 
A ua 7rii?w>, made of this terrible animal, of great efficacy 
as a difeutient of ftrumse and other indurations, and ufed 
likewife againft pains of the gout. The fle111 and {kin, 
or exuviae, of the creature, had alfo their (hare in the an¬ 
cient materia medica. 
Asp, or As'pen-tree, yi in botany. See Populus. 
AS'PA, anciently a town of Parthia, now Ifpahan. 
AS'PAH, a town of Germany, in the archduchy of 
Auftria, twelve miles eaft of Steyr. 
ASPA'.L ATHUS, f. [the name of a thorny fhrub in 
Diofcorides, from a. and ai raw, becaufe the thorns were 
not eafily drawn out of the wounds they made. ] In botany, 
a genus of the diadelphia decandria dafs, ranking in the 
Vol. II. No. 70. 
A. S ? 265 
natural order of papilionaceae or leguminofte. The gene¬ 
ric charafters arc—Calyx: perianthium one-leafed, five- 
cleft : divifions acuminate, equal, except that the upper 
is larger. Corolla : papilionaceous ; banner comprelfed, 
afeending, obovate, generally hirfute on the outfide, ob- 
tufe with a point ; wings lunulate, obtufe, fpreading, 
fliorter than the banner; keel bifid, conformable with tire 
wings. Stamina : filaments ten, united into a (heath ga¬ 
ping longitudinally at top, afeending ; antherae oblong. 
Piftillum : germ ovate; ftyle Ample, afeending; (ligma 
(harp. Pericarpiitm : legume ovate, awnlels. Seeds: ge¬ 
nerally two, kidney-fhaped. — EJjential ChaiaEler. Calyx, 
five-cleft; the upper divifion largeft : legume ovate, awn- 
lefs, with about two feeds. 
Species. 1. Afpalathus fpinofa, or thorny afpalathus: 
leaves fafcicled, linear, naked, furrounding a gemmaceous 
fpme. Flowers lateral, fcarcely longer than the leaves ; 
one or two whitifh feeds, one kidney-fhaped, comprefled a 
little, the other fubglobular, flattifli, or angular, on the 
fide where they touch. 
2. Afpalathus verrucofa, or warted afpalathus: leaves 
fafcicled, filiform; buds warted, tomentofe naked. This 
is a woody fhrub, two feet high, with large buds or warts. 
Leaves flefhy, fmooth, (harpith, an inch long. 
3. Afpalathus capitata, or headed afpalathus : leaves 
fafcicled, linear, fliarp ; flowers headed, bradtes naked. 
Leaves pubefeent; flowers covered with ferruginous down. 
4. Afpalathus glomerata, or glomerate afpalathus : 
leaves fafcicled, linear, fliarp, villofe, bent inward; flow¬ 
ers headed; divifions of the calyx ovate, corollas fmooth. 
1 his differs from the laft, which it refembles very much, 
in having the leaves bent inwards, the calyxes ovate, the 
corollas fmooth. 
. S- Afpalathus aftroites, or ftarry afpalathus : leaves faf- 
ciclcd, fubulate, mucronate, fmooth; ftem villofe, flowers 
{battered. This has the appearance of juniper. It branches 
very much ; and the twigs are covered with a hoary down, 
and are loaded with fuch an abundance of flowers, that 
the whole plant feems almoft covered with them. 
6. Afpalathus chenopoda: leaves fafcicled, fubulate, 
mucronate, rough with hairs; flowers headed very hir¬ 
fute. This is about three feet high, with (lender branches, 
at the ends of which the flowers come out; they are yel¬ 
low, collected in woolly heads, and are rarely fucceeded 
by pods in England. The leaves are fliarp and prickly at 
the end, refembling thofe of juniper. Cultivated by Mr. 
Miller, in 1759. 
7. Afpalathus albens, or white afpalathus: leaves faf¬ 
cicled, fubulate, filky, fpreading at top, bunches of flow¬ 
ers fcattered. Stem fhrubby, upright, with a brown bark 
full of chinks ; leaves five together, fliarp, and fpreading 
a little at the tip, of a filky whitenefs. Bunches of flowers 
filky-white, fmall. Introduced in 1774, by Mr. Maflon. 
It flowers here in July. 
8. Afpalathus thymifolia, or thyme-leaved afpalathus: 
leaves fafcicled, fubulate, unarmed, fmooth, very fhort; 
flowers alternate. This is a very fmall fhrub. The leaves 
are crowded together and fliining; they refemble thofe of 
thyme. 
9. Afpalathus ericifolia, or heath-leaved afpalathus: 
leaves fafcicled, linear, unarmed, hirfute ; flowers alter¬ 
nate ; calyxes linear, to. Afpalathus nigra, or black af¬ 
palathus : leaves fafcicled, linear, rather obtufe ; flowers 
headed-fpiked, pubefeent. n. Afpalathus carnofa, or 
flefhy afpalathus : leaves fafcicled, almoft columnar, ob¬ 
tufe; calyxes fubpubefeent, fliarp; corollas fmooth. 12. 
Afpalathus ciliaris, or ciliate-leaved afpalathus: leaves 
fafcicled, filiform, fcabrous; flowers terminal, feilile, ban¬ 
ners pubefeent. Thefe four fhr.ubs feldom exceed three 
feet in height. 
13. Afpalathus geniftoides, or broom-like afpalathus: 
leaves fafcicled, filiform, polifhed ; calyxes fubracemed, 
pendulous, they and the corollas fmooth. Stems fhrubby, 
nine feet high, upright, (imply branching, with a netted 
3 Y . bark, 
