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and slightly nauseous, so as to occasion a secretion of saliva. Itdissolves in hot water, but not in alcohol. The aqueous solutiondoes not affect vegetable blues. N either infusion of galls, acetateof lead, oxalate ot ammonia, muriate of barytes, nor the hvdro-sulphurate, occasions any change in it. When triturated with potassno ammonia is disengaged. When heated it smells, and emits pe-netrating vapours, atfecting the eyes and nose like the smoke ofwood. Nitric add dissolves it with the evolution of nitrousgas.

ASPARAGUS, SPARAGUS, SPERAGE, or SPARROW-GRASS, a genus of the monogytiia order, and hexandria classof plants; and in (he natural order, Sarmentacea-. Calyx quin-qnepartite, erect; petals six, oblong, three inferior ones, bent out-wards ; berry three-celled ; seeds two. The garden asparagus isa valuable plant propagated from seed. To obtain good seed,mark witli a stick some of the fairest buds; and when ripe cutthem up ; rub off the berries into a tub, and pouring water upontlicm, rub them about with your hands ; the husks will break andlet out the seed, and will swim away with, the water, in pouring itoff; so that in repeating this two or three times, the seeds will beclean washed, and found at the bottom of the tub. These mustbe spread on a mat to dry, and in the beginning of February,must be sown on a bed of rich earth. They must not be sowntoo thick, and must be trod into the ground, and the earth rakedover them smooth ; and in October, when the stalks are witheredand dry, a little rotten dung must be spread half an inch thick overthe whole surface of the bed. Next spring, the plants will be titto plant out; the ground must therefore be prepared for themby trenching it well, and burying a large quantity of rotten dungin the trenches, so that it may lie at least six inches below the sur-face of the ground. 'I'his is to be done just at the time when theasparagus is to be planted out; which must be in the beginning ofMarch, if the soil be dry, and the season forward; but in a wetsoil, it is better to wait till the beginning of April. At a foot dis-tance, and six inches deep, must be made trenches, into whichtlie roots must be laid, placing them against the sides of the trench,with their buds in a right position upwards, and so that, when theearth is raked over them, they may he two inches under the sur-face of the ground. In October following, cut off the shoots ofthe asparagus, within two inches of the ground, and throw up theearth upon the beds, so as to leave them five inches above thelevel of the alleys. The second spring after planting, some ofthe young asparagus may be cut for the table. The larger shootsshould only be taken, and these should be cut at two inchesunder ground, and the beds every year managed as in the second•year.

ASPASTICUM, or ASPATICUM, i. e. a greeting-house,[from I salute,] in ecclesiastical writers, an apartment,

adjoining to the ancient churches, wherein the bishop and presby-ters sat, to receive the salutations of those who came to visit them,and desire their blessing.

ASPECT, in astronomy, denotes the situation of the planetsand stars with respect to each other. There are live different as-pects. 1. Sexlile aspect is when the planets or stars are 60° distant,and marked thus -)<. 2. The quartile, or quadrate, when they are

90° distant, marked □. 3. Trine, when 120° distant marked A.

4. Opposition, when 180° distant, marked g . And, 5. Conjunc-tion, both in the same degree, marked d . Kepler, who addedeight new ones, delines aspect to be the angle formed by the raysof two stars meeting on the earth, whereby their good or bad in-fluence is measured : for it is to be observed, that these aspectsbeing first introduce,1 by astrologers, were distinguished intobenign, malignant, and indifferent; the quartile anti oppositionbeing accounted malign : the trine and sextile, benign or friendly ;and the conjunction indifferent.

Aspfct, Double, is used in painting, where a single figure isso contrived, as to represent two or more different objects, eitherby changing the eve, or by means of angular glasses. See Ana-morphosis, Optics , &c.

ASPEN Trek, in botany. See Populus.

ASPER, or ASPRE, in commerce, a little Turkish silver coin,wherein most of the grand signioPs revenues are paid. The asperis worth something more than an Engli -h halfpenny.

Asper, in grammar, an accent peculiar to the Greek language,marked thus'(‘) ; and importing, that the letters over which it isplaced ought to be strongly aspirated, or pronounced as if an Awere prelixed.

VOL. I.— NO. 17.

ASPERA Arteria, in anatomy, the windpipe or trachea. SeeAnatomy.

ASPERGILE, or ASPERGILLUM, [from aspergo, tosprinkle,] in antiquity, a long brush made of horse-hair, fixedto a handle, wherewith the lustral water was sprinkled on thepeople in lustrations and purifications.

ASPERIFOLIATE, or ASPERTFOLIOUS, such plantsas are rough-leaved, having their leaves placed alternately on theirstalks, and a monopetalous flower divided into live parts. Theyconstitute the 49th order of. plants in the Fragmenta MethodiNaturalis of Linmeus, in which are these genera, tournefortia,cerinthe, Symphytum, pulmonaria, anchuia, lithospermum, myo-sotis, heliotropium, cynoglossirm, asperugo, iycopsis, echium,borrago. Magisminusve oleraceat, mucilaginosa?, & glutinosax

ASPERITY, the inequality of the surface of any body, whichhinders the hand from passing over it freely.

ASPEROSA, a town of Turkey, in Europe , on the coast of theArchipelago . Lon. 25. 20. If. Lat. 40. 58. N.

ASPERUGO, Smai.lW'ii.d Bugloss: A genus of the pentandriamonogynia class of plants, the natural order Asperifolur. Calyxdivided into many segments ; corolla one-petaied, rotated,"dividedlike the calyx ; seeds four, contained in the calyx, roundish. Twospecies are found.

ASPERULA, Woodroof : A genus of the monogynia order,and hexandria class of plants ; in the natural order*, Stellalie.Corolla funnel-shaped; the capsule contains two globular seeds.There are eleven species. The A. odorata is a low umbelliferousplant, growing wild in woods and copses, and flowering in May.it has an exceeding!v pleasant smell; the taste is subsaline, amisomewhat austere. It imparts its tlavour to vinous liquors. A 5 -perula is supposed to attenuate viscid humours, and strengthen thetone of the bowels ; it is recommended in obstructions of the liverand biliary ducts, and by some in epilepsies and palsies; modernpractice has nevertheless rejected it. The smell of it is said to-,drive away ticks and other insects.

ASPEYTIA, a town of Spain, in Biscay .

ASPIIAL1TKS, in anatomy, the iifth vertebra of the loins.

ASPHALTITES, a lake of Judea , which produces great quan-tities of asphalt us or bitumen ; called also the Dead Sea ; andfrom its situation, the East Sea ; the Salt Sea, the Sea of Sodom,the Sea of the Desart, and the Sea of the Plain, by the sacredwritings. It is inclosed on the E. and W. with exceedingly highmountains, many of them craggy and 'dreadful to behold. Onthe N. it has the plain of Jericho. On the W. side of it is a kindof promontory, where they pretend to shew the remains of Lot’s-wife.

ASPHALTUM, [from Ao-^axrm;, a lake in Judea, ] one of thebitumens. It is found in great abundance in the island of Trinidad,on the shores of the Red Sea, and in Albania , and other countries.It is supposed that it was first liquid, and that it acquired solidityby exposure to the air. Its colour is black, with a shade of brown,red, or grey. Kirwan found the specific gravity to vary fromT07 to 1-10. Klaproth lias lately published an analysis of the as-phaltum of Albania . lie found it insoluble in acids, alkalies,water, and alcohol; but soluble in oils, petroleum, and sulphuricether. Five parts of rectified petroleum dissolved one part ofasphaltum without the assistance of heat, formed a blackish brownsolution, which by gentle evaporation left the asphaltum in thestate of a black brown shining varnish. The true asphaltum wasformerly used in embalming the bodies of the dead. 'Lite thickand solid asphalta are at present employed in Egypt, Arabia , andPersia , as pitch for ships, as the fitticl ones, for burning in lamps,and for varnishes. Some w riters relate, that the walls of Babylon,and the temple of Jerusalem , were cemented with bitumen insteadof mortar. This much is certain, that a true natural bitumen,that for instance which is found in the district of Neufchatel, provesan excellent cement for walls, pavements, and other purposes, un- :commonly firm,very durable in the air, and not penetrable bv water. •The watch and dock-makers use a composition of asphaltum, finelamp-black, and oil of spike or turpentine, lor drawing; the blackfigures on dial-plates : this composition is prepared chieilv by cer-tain persons at Augsburg and Nuremberg .

ASPllODELUS, ASPHODEL, or'KING’S SPEAR, aenus of the monogynia order, and hexandria class of plants,lalyx divided into six parts ; nectariuiu six-valved ; capsuleglobose-trilocular ; seeds triangular, gibbous on one side. T hereare five species.

' 3 X ASPHYXIA,

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