joS AST 
AS'TRAL, adj. [from ajlrum, Eat.] Starry; belong¬ 
ing to the (tars : 
Some ajlral forms 1 mutt invoke by pray’r, 
fram'd all of pureft atoms of the air ; 
Not in their natures'llmply good or ill, 
But mod fubfervient to bad I'p'uits’ will. D r yden. 
ASTRAN'TIA, J■ [affoii,- ajlrum, and am®*, obvium.'] 
In botany, a genus ot the pentandria digynia cla(s, ranking 
in the natural order of umbellatte. The generic charac¬ 
ters are—Calyx : umbel univerfal with very few rays (of¬ 
ten three); partial with very numerous ones; involucre 
univerfal, with leaflets doubled to the ray; partial with 
leaflets about twenty, lanceolate, fpreading, equal, colour¬ 
ed, longer than the umbellule ; perianthium proper five- 
toothed, acute, erect, permanent. Corolla: univerfal uni¬ 
form ; flofellies of the ray abortive ; proper with petals 
live, erect, index, bifid. Stamina: filaments five, Ample, 
the length of the corollule ; antherae fimple. Piftillum : 
germ oblong, inferior; ftyles two, ereCt, filiform; ftigrrtas 
fimple, fpreading. Pericarpium : fruit ovate, obtufe, 
crowned, ftriated, bipartile. Seeds: two, ovate-oblong, 
covered witli the cruft of the pericarpium, wrinkled.— 
F.Jfcniial CharaBer. Partial involucres lanceolate, fpreading, 
equal, longer, coloured ; flowers very many, abortive. 
Species, i. Aftrantia major, or great mafterwort: leaves 
five-lobed, lobes trifid. Stem eighteen inches high, little 
branched. Miller, following To.urnefort, has made ot 
this two fpecies. Great mafterwort is a native of the 
mountains of Switzerland, flowering in Auguft. Ray ob¬ 
served it on mount Jura,-and mount Saleve in Savoy, near 
Geneva ; native alfo of Tufcany, Bohemia, Bavaria, Au- 
ftria, Carniola, the Pyrenees, &c. It was cultivated here 
in 1596, by Gerard. There is a variety, called aftrantia 
nigra minor, which differs only in fize, probably from its 
fituation, being a native of the Alps. 
2. Aftrantia carniolica : leaves five or feven-lobed, fim¬ 
ple or bifid. Root nearly the thicknefs of the little finger, 
about an inch long, dark brown, having an aromatic bal- 
famic fmell, with a tafte at firft (lightly aromatic but nau- 
feous, and afterwards acrid. The whole plant is (rnooth. 
Stem round, erect, (lender, from fix inches to a toot in 
height, with only one leaf on it, refembling the bottom 
leaves. It is a native ot Carniola; flowering in July and 
Auguft. 
3. Aftrantia minor, or little or alpine mafterwort: leaves 
digitate ferrate. This (eldom rifles a foot high. Native 
of the Alps and alpine vallies of Switzerland, but not ot 
the low mountains, flowering there in Auguft. W ith us 
it flowers in May and June. 
4. Aftrantia ciharis: leaves lanceolate ferrate-ciliate. 
Stem fimple, a foot high, rulhy, ereCt, a little (freaked, 
divided at the top into a few flowering branches. Native 
of the Cape of Good Hope. 
5. Aftrantia epipaCtis : leaves five-parted obtufe ferrate. 
Flowers yellow. Native of I drift and Gorizia, flowering 
in March ; alfo of Hungary. 
Propagation and Culture, i hefe plants, except the fourth, 
are very hardy; they may be propagated either by flowing 
their feeds or by parting their roots. If from feeds, they 
ftiould be fown in autumn, foon after they are ripe, on a 
fliady border; and, when the plants are come up, they 
ftiould be carefully weeded, and, where they are too clofe, 
fome of the plants ftiould be drawn out, to allow 100m for 
others to grow, until Michaelmas, when they ftiould be 
tranfplanted where they are to remain; which ftiould al¬ 
ways be in a moift foil and a fliady fituation. I lie diftance 
tliefe plants (liouid be placed is three feet, for their roots 
will fpread to a confiderable width, if they are permitted 
to remain long in the fame place. They require no other 
culture but to keep them clear from weeds, and every 
third or fourth year to be taken up at Michaelmas, and 
their routs parted and planted again. 'I hefe plants are 
fleldoni preserved but in botanic gardens, there being no 
great beauty in the flowers. The fourth fort only, being 
AST 
a native of the Cape, will, whenever it is introduced, re¬ 
quire the protection of a dry (love in winter. 
ASTRAPIS'MUS, f. [from ar^a-vr/i, lightning.] The 
efieCt produced upon the body by lightning. 
ASTRA'Y, adv. [from^ray.] Out of the right way: 
Like one that had been led ajlray 
Through the heav’ns wide pathlefs way. Milton. 
To ASTRICT', v. a. [ojlringo, Lat.] To contract by 
applications, in oppofition to relax: a word not fo much 
ufed as conjlringe. —The folid parts were to be relaxed or 
aJlriEicd, as they let the humours pafs either in too fmall 
or too great quantities. Arbuthnot. 
ASTRIC'TION, f. \_aJlri 6 lio, Lat.] The aft or power 
of contracting the parts of the body by applications.— 
Lenitive fubffances are proper for dry atrabilarian confti- 
tutions, who are fubieCt to ajlriclion of the belly, and the 
piles. Arbuthnot. 
Astriction, among phyficians, denotes the operation 
of aftringent medicines. 
ASTRIC'TIVE, ad]. Styptic; of a binding quality. 
ASTRIC'TORY, adj. [ ajlriclorius , Lat.] Aftringent ; 
apt to bind. 
ASTRIDE', adv. [from a and Jlride .] Witli the legs 
open —I faw a place, where the Rhone is fo ftraitened be¬ 
tween two rocks, that a man may (land aflride upon both 
at once. Boyle. 
ASTRID'GE, three miles from Ivinghoe, in Bucking- 
hamfhire, the feat of. his grace the duke of Bridgewater, 
which was a very ancient monaftery. In the center of the 
lioufe, in a fine fquare, is a large bafon of water, where 
Jonas is reprefented coming out of the whale’s belly; and 
round this are fine cloifters, with laiftorical paintings, but 
they are in a ruinous (late, and are (aid to be of very great 
antiquity. Within the houfle is a bed and chair the work 
of queen Elizabeth, wrought in fine needle-work ; and in 
the fame bed the queen was taken prifoner and carried to 
the Tower, by her fifter Mary. 
ASTRI'FEROUS, adj. [afirifer, Lat.] Bearing or ha¬ 
ving ftars. 
ASTRI'GEROUS, adj. [ajlriger , Lat.] Carrying ftars. 
To ASTR'IN'GE, v. a. [ ajlringo , Lat.] To prefs by 
contraction; to make the parts draw together.—Tears are 
caufed by a contraction of the fpirits of the brain; which 
contraction, by confequence, ajlringcth the moifture of the 
brain, and thereby fendeth tears into the eyes. Bacon. 
ASTRIN'GENC Y, f. The power of contracting the 
parts of the body, oppofed to the power of relaxation. —• 
AlhiCtion prohibited! diflblution; as, in medicines, aftrin- 
gents inhibit putrefaction: and, by ajlringency, fome fmall 
quantity of oil of vitriol will keep fre(h water long from 
putrefying. Bacon. —Acid, acrid, austere, and bitter, fub- 
ftances, by their ajlringency , create horror, that is, ftimu- 
late the fibres. Arbuthnot. 
ASTRIN'GENT, adj. [ajirinprens, Lat.] Binding; con¬ 
tracting; oppofed to laxative: it is ufed fometimes of 
taftes which feem to contraCt the mouth.— AJtringmt me¬ 
dicines are binding, which aft by the afperity of their par¬ 
ticles, whereby they corrugate the membranes, and make 
them draw up clofer. Quincy .—What dimini(hes fenfible 
perfpiration, encreafeth the infenfible ; for that reafon a 
ftrengthening and ajlringcnt diet often conduceth to this 
purpofe. Arbuthnot. 
ASTRIOLIS'MUS, f. [from ar*j£, a ftar.] The efifeCt 
produced upon the frame by the ftars or planets. 
ASTRODIC'TICUM, f. An aftronomical inftrument 
invented by M. Weighel, by means of which many per- 
fons (hall be able to view the fame ftar at the fame time. 
ASTROGNO'SIA,/! The fcience of the fixed ftars, 
or the knowledge of their rfames, conftellations, magni¬ 
tudes, &c. 
ASTRO'GR APH Y, f. [from and yscPpa.'] The 
• fcience of ueferibing the ftars. 
ASTRO'LABE,/! [from ftar, and Fcty.Q01.vu, I take; 
alluding to its ufe in taking, or obferving, the ftars.] The 
Arabians 
