ASH

a s r

ASCLEPIAD, in ancient poetry, a verse composed of fourfeet, the first of which is a spondee, the 2d and 3d choriam-liuses, and the last a pyrrhichius ; or of 4 feet and a ctesura, thefirst a spondee, the 2d a dactjl, after which comes the caisura,then two dactyls ; as,

Maece f nas atSvis | ed'i'te re | gi’biis.

C) et | praes-i'di | uni | dulce de | cus meum.

ASCEEPIAS, Swallow-wort, a genus of the digynia order,and pentandria class of plants ; and in Hie natural order, Conlortie.Calyx, aperianthium, quinquefid ; corolla one-petalcd, five-parted ;fruit two vaginae ; seeds many, imbricated,winged with down. It hasabout 40 species. A. Cura-savica, or bastard ipecacuanha, is anat : ve of the warm parts of America . It rises to the height of liveor six feet, with upright stems ; the llowcrs are of a scarlet colour,and the horny nectaiiums in the middle are of a bright saffron, andthere is a succession of flowers on the same plant from June toOctober. This species is tender, and must he preserved in astove. A. Svriaca, or greater Syrian dogsbane, is a perennialplant; the flowers are a bright purple colour.

ASCOBULUS, a genus of the cryplogamia fungi. Fungusmni-spherical; vesicles oblong, immersed in the disk.

ASCODUTrE, in church history, a sect of Gnostics , in the2d century, who rejected all use ol symbols and sacraments.

ASCOGEPHA’RUS, in writers of the middle age, a bridgesupported on bags made of leather, or bullocks hides.

ASCOLI, anciently called Ascui.um Picenvm, a town ofItaly, 1 in the luarquisate of Ancona . Lon. 15. 5. E. Lat. 42. 47. N.

Ascoli di Satxiano, formerly called Asculum Apulu.m, acity of Naples in the Capitanata, 70 miles E. of Naples, Long. 16.30. E. Lat. 41. 15. N.

ASCOLIA, in Grecian antiquity', a festival celebrated by theAthenian husbandmen in honour of Bacchus, to whom they sa-crificed a lie-goat, because that animal destroys the vines.

ASCOPHORA, a genus of cryptogamiafungi. Fungus erect;stalk setaceous; head spheroidical, opake. Seven species areenumerated.

ASCRIPTI, or ADSCRIPTI, in antiquity’, those who enteredtheir names in the colonies, and became coioni.

ASCRIPTITII,;or ADSCRIPTITI1, in ancient barbarous cus-toms, were a kind of villains, who coining from abroad, settled inthe lands of some new Lord, whose subjects or servants they com-menced ; being so annexed to the lands, that they might be trans-ferred and sold with them. Ascriptitii is sometimes also used inspeaking of aliens or foreigners newly admitted to the freedom ofa city or country.

Ascriptitii was used in the military laws for the recruits tosupplv the legions, called also Accensi.

ASCRIVIUM, a town of Dalmatia, now called Cattaro , thecapital of the territory of Cattaro , Lon. 19- 20. E. Lat. 45. 25. N.

ASCULUM Apulum, or PICENUM, a town of Apulia ,now calk d Ascoli.

ASCY RUM, Peter’s Wort, a genus of the polyandria order,and polyadelphia class of plants; and in the natural order, Ro-tacea-. Calyx four-leaved; corolla four-petaled ; filaments nu-merous, and divided into four bundles. There are three species;native, of the West Indies or America .

ASEKA1 or ASEKI, the name which the-Turks give to thefavourite suUanesses who have brought forth sons. These aregreatly distinguished above others, in their apartments, attend-ants, pensions, and honours.

ASELLI, in astronomy, two fixed stars of the 4th magnitude,in the constellation Cancer .

ASEPTA, in medicine, [from a negative, and to pu-

trefy,] signifies any thing unputrefied, orunconeocted.

ASH, in botany. See Fraxixus.

ASHBORN, or ASBORN, a town in Derbyshire . Lon. 1.44. W. Lat. 53. 3. N.

ASHBURNHAM, a town of the United States, in Worcester countv, Massuchusets, N. W. of Boston . Long. 71. 48. W.Lut.42. 37. N. Also a town in Sussex, 9 miles from Hastings.

ASHBURTON, a town in Devonshire , 19 miles S. W. ofExeter. Long. 3.50. W. Lat. 50. 30. N.

ASI1BY-DE-LA-ZOUCTI, a town in Leicestershire , so call-ed from the Zouches, its ancient Lords , 13 miles S. of Derby.

ASllER, a numerous tribe of the Israelites , who possessed afertile region in the N. AV. of Canaan ; but whose courage was

not proportionate to their numbers, as they suffered the Canaan-ites, whom they were commanded to extirpate, to retain manycities in their neighbourhood, and tamelv submitted to the op-pressions of the Canaanitish tyrant Jahin. They, however, assistedGideon , in his pursuit of the Midianites; 40,000 of them, ex-pert warriors, attended David at his coronation, and many of themjoined Hezekiah , in his vefoim.

ASI1ES, among the ancient. Persians , were used as an instru-ment of punishment for some great criminals. The criminal wasthrown headlong from a tower fifty cubits high, which was tilledwith ashes to a particular height, (2 Mac. xiii. 5, 6.) The mo-tion which the criminal used to disengage himself from this place,plunged him still deeper into it, and this agitation was farther in-creased by a wheel which stirred the ashes continually about himtill at last he was stifled.

Ashes, in chemistry, the earthy particles of combustible sub-stances alter they have been burnt. If the ashes be producedfrom vegetable bodies, they contain a considerable quantity oflixed salt, blended with the terrene particles: ami from theseashes the fixed alkaline salts called pot-ash, pearl-ash, &c. are ex-tracted. The ashes of all vegetables are vitriliable, and found tocontain iron. They are also an excellent manure for cold and wetgrounds.

Ashes were anciently used in several religious ceremonies. St.Jerome relates, that the Jews in his time rolled themselves inashes, as a sign of mourning. To repent in sackcloth and ashes,is a frequent expression in scripture for mourning and being af-flicted for our sins. There was a sort of lye and luslral watermade with the ashes of a heifer sacrificed upon the great day ofexpiation ; the ashes whereof were distributed to the people, amithis water was used in purification as often as any touched a deadbody, or was present at funerals, (Numb. xix. 17.)

ASI1-FIRE, among chemists, a lire wherein the vessel to beheated is covered with ashes or sand.

ASHFORD, a town of Kent, 12 miles S. W. of Canterbury .Long. 0. 52. E. Lat. 51. 4. N.

ASH IMA, an idol of the Samaritans, (CKings 17. 30.) said to havebeen formed like a lion, or a goat, and to have represented the sun.

ASHLAR,with masons,free stones as they come out of the quarry.'

ASHLERING, with builders, quartering in garrets, perpen-dicular to the floor, and reaching to the underside of the rafters.

ASI1LY, a river of South Carolina, which falls into Charleston harbour.

ASI1MOLE, Elias, a great antiquary and herald, founder ofthe Aslnnolean musxum at Oxford , was horn at Litchfield inStaffordshire , in 1617. He was a diligent collector of manuscripts.In 1650, he published a treatise written by Dr. ArtluirDee, relatingto tiie philosopher’s stone. Also a complete collection of the worksof such English chemists as had till then remained in manuscript,which appeared in 1652. lie afterwards applied himself tothe study of antiquity and records. He was at great pains to tracethe Roman road, which in Amonimis’s Itinerary is called llen-nevanna, from AVeedon to Litchfield. In 1658 we find himat Oxford , employed in drawing up a description of the coins gi-ven to the public library by archbishop Laud . On the restora-tion of Charles 11. he was appointed AVindsor herald, and becameone of the first members of the Royal Society . In 1669 the uni-versity of Oxford conferred on him "the degree of M. D. In 1672he presented his History of the Order of the Carter to the king,who rewarded him with 400/. In 1683 he gave to the univesityof Oxford his collection of curiosities, which gifl was augmentedat his deatli by the bequest of his MSS. and library. He died in1692, ami lies buried in Lambeth church. He lett a number ofMSS. some of which were published, viz. The Antiquities ofBerkshire; Miscellanies on several curious Subjects; and Me-1 moil's of his own Lite.

ASI1TAROT11, ASI1TORETII, [nwrvt*, Ileb. i. e. flocks,or riches,] or ASTARTE, the chief goddess of the Sidonian -and Phoemci: ns, called also the Queen of Heaven, ami reckonedthe same with the Juno of the Creeks ami Romans

ASI1-AVEDN ESDAY, the first day of Lent , so called fromthe ancient c ustom of sprinkling ashes on the head of the penitentson that day.

ASIA, one of the four grand divisions of the earth; houndedon the N. by the Frozen Ocean, AV. by Europe and the Medi-terranean, S. by the Indian Ocean , and E. by the Pacific. It

extends