ASP 
vered their whole length with long, three-cornered, boat- 
fhaped, leaves, of a fea-green colour; the upper part of 
£he (talk is adorned half way with yellow ftar-(haped flow¬ 
ers, which begin to open at bottom, fo that on the fame 
fpike there is often a fucceflion of flowers during a full 
month from the time of its beginning to flower, which is 
in June, or towards the end of May. It is a native of Si¬ 
cily, where it was found by Ray, 
2. Afphodelus ramofus, or branched afphodel or king’s 
fpear : (lent naked,-leaves enliform keeled fmooth. This 
fpecies has roots compofed of many thick flefhy fibres, 
to each of which is fattened an oblong tuber, as large as 
a final 1 potatoe; the leaves are long and flexible, having 
acute edges, they grow in irregular clufters from the crown 
of the root; among thefe come out the (talks, which rile 
more than three feet high, (ending out feveral fide branch¬ 
es, which are naked ; the upper parts of thefe are adorned 
with many flar-fhaped flowers, which are white, with a 
purple line running longitudinally along the outfide of 
each fegment. They grow in long fpikes, flowering fuc- 
ee (lively from the bottom upwards. They appear the be¬ 
ginning of June, and the feeds ripen in autumn, Mr. 
Miller makes the unbranched white afphodel to be a dif- 
tinft fpecies. The roots, he fays, are the fame; but tire 
leaves are longer and narrower; the ftalks are-Angle, never 
putting out any lide branches ; the flowers are of a purer 
white, and-grow in longer fpikes. Native of the fouth of 
Europe. Lmmenfe tracts of land in Apulia are covered 
with it, and it affords very good nourifhment for fheep. 
3, Afphodelus fiftulofiis; or onion-leaved afphodel: Item 
naked, leaves ffiff fubulate ffriated fubfiftulofe. This is 
an annual plant. The roots are compofed of many flefhy 
yellow fibres. The leaves are fpread out from the crown 
of the root, clofe to the ground, in a large duller ; they 
are convex on their under fide, but flat above, and hollow. 
The flovver-ffalks rife immediately from the root, and grow 
about two feet high, dividing upwards into three or four 
branches, which are adorned with white ffarry flowers, 
having purple lines on the outfide : thefe come out in July 
and Augult, and their feeds ripen in October, foon after 
which the plants decay. It grows naturally in the fouth 
of France, Spain, and the illand of Crete. Thefe three 
afphodels were all cultivated by Gerard, in 1596. 
Scopoli has defcribed and figured another fpecies, un¬ 
der the name of afphodelus liburnicus. It has a round ftem 
a foot high, and a line in thicknefs. Flowers pendulous, 
yellow, loofe, an inch long, ftreaked with five brownifh 
lines. It was found in Illria, by Mygind. 
Propagation and Culture. The yeliow afphodel multi¬ 
plies very faff by roots, and will foon overipread a large 
border, if fuffered to remain unremoved, or if the fide 
fhoots are not taken off’. The fecond does not increafe 
very fall by roots, nor fhould it be often tranfplanted, for 
that will weaken it, fo that the flower-ffems will not rife 
fo tall, or. produce fo many flowers, as when left undif- 
turbed for forne years; therefore the bed way is to propa¬ 
gate it by feeds. Thefe afphodels are pretty ornaments 
for a flower-garden ; and, requiring very little trouble to 
cultivate them, are rendered more acceptable. They may 
be propagated by feeds, which fhould be fovvn foon after 
they are ripe, on a warm border of light frefh earth : in 
the fpring the plants will appear, when you fiiould care¬ 
fully clear them from weeds, and in dry weather they 
mult be frequently watered: if this be duly obferved, the 
plants will have acquired flrength enough to be tranf¬ 
planted by the Michaelmas following ; at which time you 
mull prepare a bed of frelh earth in the flower nurfery, 
into which you flrould plant the roots, at about fix inches 
diltance every way; obferving to plant them fo low, as 
that the top of the roots may be three or four inches under 
the furface of the bed ; and fome old tan, or dung, Ihould 
be fpread over the furface of the ground, to keep out the 
frolt : in this bed they may remain one year, during which 
time, they Ihould be kept clear from weeds ; by which 
time, the roots having acquired flrength enough to pro- 
ASP 275 
duce flowers the following year, they fhould, in autumn, 
when their leaves are decayed, be carefully taken up, and 
tranfplanted into the flower-garden, obferving to place 
them in the middle of the borders, amongfl other hardy 
kinds of flowers, where, being properly intermixed, they 
will make an agreeable variety, and continue a long time 
in flower. The third fort is an annual plant, and is only 
propagated by feeds ; thefe Ihould be fown in the autumn, 
when they will more certainly grow than if (own in the 
fpring : when the plants are up, they will require no other 
trouble but to keep them clean from weeds, until they 
have put out four or five leaves, when they Ihould be care¬ 
fully removed to the places where they are to remain. If 
the feeds of this plant are permitted to fcatter, the plants 
will come up without care, and thole which are not re¬ 
moved will be the ftrongeft plants, and produce a greater 
number of flowers. 
ASPHURELA'TA,y. in natural hiftory, are femi-me- 
tallic foffils, fufible by fire, and not malleable in their 
pureft flate, being in their native Hate intimately mixed 
with fulphur and other adventitious matter, and reduced 
to what are called ores. Of this feries of foffils there are 
only five bodies, each of which makes a dillinct genus; 
viz.-antimony, bifmuth, cobalt, zinc, or quickfilver. 
ASPHYX'IA,/ [from a. neg, and aCpvtyir.®-, a pulfe; 
from ctpvfy, to leap, or beat, like an artery.] It is fo na¬ 
med, becaufe the pulfe is not perceptible to the touch ; 
but the charadteriltic ligns of this difeafe are, the fymp- 
toms of apparent death, for the mod part, fuddenly coming 
on. If a patient, gradually growing worfe, at length dies, ■ 
that flate is not an afphyxy, becaufe it never has yet been 
obferved that any one recovered from fuch a (late; but 
it not unfrequently happens, that people have appeared to 
die fuddenly, indeed fome of them have been buried, 
who certainly might either recover by the helD of art, or 
fpontaneoufly,. This (late indeed, whether it arifes from the 
brain, the heart, or lungs, powerfully affected, is called 
afphyxy ; the moil obfeure kind of difeafe, and requires the 
molt diligent inveftigation of phylicians. Molt jnllances 
of afphyxy are varieties of apoplexy; the refl are infiances 
of fyncope, for the moll part, if not all. 
AS'PIC, f. An oil extracted from a fpecies of wild la¬ 
vender, which grows in plenty in Languedoc, in Provence, 
and efpecially one mountain of St. Baume, in France. 
This oil is uled by painters, farriers, and other artificers ; 
and likewife in medicine, being employed in feveral Ga¬ 
lenical compofitions. It is very inflammable, and when 
once on fire it is almoft impoffible to extinguilh it. The 
true oil of afpic is white, and of an aromatic feent. It is 
the only diffoivent of fandarac; by which means it may be 
ealily diftinguilhed from that which is counterfeited, and 
which is nothing but oil of turpentine mixed with a little 
oil of petroleum. In this article, which is taken from 
Pofilethwaite, the author refers to Savary as his authority, 
who affirms, that as fandarac, or gum fandarac, is very 
foluble in fpirit of wine, he concludes that Mr. Savary is 
miftaken, and mult have meant karabe, or yellow amber. 
In fadt, gum (andarac, though it differs from relins in fe¬ 
veral effential refpedts, particularly in not being loluble in 
olive oil, agrees with them neverthelefs in this particular, 
that alcohol dilfolves-it. 
A 3 PICUE TA (Martin de), commonly called the Doc¬ 
tor of Navarre, or DoElor Navarrus , was defeended of a 
noble family, and born the 13th of December, 1491, at 
Varafyn, a linall city of Navarre. He entered into the 
raonaftery of regular canons at Roncevaux, where he took 
the habit, which he continued to wear after he left the 
convent. He fludied claffical learning, natural and moral 
philofophy, and divinity, at Alcala, in New Caltile, adopt¬ 
ing chiefly the fyffem of Petrus Lombardus, commonly 
called the Mafcr of the Sentences. He applied to the ftudy 
of the law at Ferrara, and taught it with applaufe at Tou- 
loufe and Cahors. After being firlt profeflbr of canon law 
at Salamanca for fourteen years, he quitted that place to 
be profed'or of law at Coimbra, with a large (alary. The 
1 duties 
