Pinkerton offers the following sketch of a plan to determine the ages of the different sorts of Ases from their weight :-The As libralis, coined by Tullus, with the figures of oxen, &c., about 167 years after Rome was built, according to Sir Isaac Newton, or B.C. 460; As libralis, with Janus and prow, 400; the As of ten ounces, 300; eight, 290; six, 280; four, 270; three, 260; two, according to Pliny, 250; one, also from Pliny, 214. But this scheme is conjectural, at least down to B.C. 250, and may be considered as intended rather for the amusement of the collector, than as instruction to the sober inquirer.

The As libralis with the head of Janus is the most common form now found of the As, previous to its being reduced to two ounces; a circumstance which shows that form to have been of long duration.

The exact period when the parts of the As were first given, in their proportions of weight and value, is not now ascertainable; but the best authors on numismatic science agree that the time was not very far removed from that of the first coinage of the As.

The coined divisions of the As were the semis, quincunx, triens, quadrans or teruncius, sextans, and uncia. There were other divisions of the As by weight, which it may be proper to enumerate concisely. These were the deunx of eleven ounces, the dextans of ten, the dodrans of nine, the bes of eight, the septunx of seven, the sescuncia of an ounce and a half, and the semuncia of half an ounce. But none of these have been found in a coined form in numismatic cabinets; they are therefore universally considered to have been nominal sums. Indeed it is clear they would not be wanted, for 6+5=11;,6+4=10; 6+3=9: so that these nominal sums were made up of the real coins by adding them.*

The Semis, Semissis, or Semi-As, half the As, or six unciæ, was of various types, but always marked with an S. The one here engraved represents a female head on one side, with a strigil behind, or perhaps a hook for reaping or other agricultural purposes, and a head of Pallas on the other: the S, at length, occurs on both sides. Mionnet (' De la Rareté et du Prix des Médailles Romaines,' tom. i. p. 5); and Akerman (Descr. Cat. of Rare and unedited Roman Coins,' vol. i. pp. 6, 7) have

of very rare occurrence. All the other portions of the As have been copied for the present work from original coins in the British Museum; but the Quincunx, it is believed, exists in no cabinet at present in this country.

Our present representation of it has been copied from a work entitled De Nummis aliquot æreis uncialibus Epistola,' by the Cardinal de Zelada, 4to. Rom. 1778, a volume of extreme rarity, written for the express purpose of illustrating the passages already quoted from Pliny.

The Quincunx here given represents, on one side a bearded head; and, on the other, a buckler, or shield, bearing five globules on the dexter half, which indicate its value. Another type is said to represent a sort of cross on both sides; and a third kind has the head of Apollo, with the Dioscuri on horseback, on the reverse, and the word

in use.

is preserved in the Imperial Cabinet at Vienna.

It is possible, however, that this which we have engraved may not be a genuine Roman Quincunx; other cities in Italy and Magna

[Weight 1571 grains.]

Græcia had their own Ases, and their divisions, marked in the same manner as those of Rome herself. (Compare Eckhel, ut supr. p. 1113.) These are usually called, in contradistinction, Italian Ases. Such were those of Velitre, Tudertia, Luceria, Populonia, Panormus, Pæstum, &c.

The Triens was the third of the As, or piece of four unciæ. The type here engraved bears a dolphin on one side with the strigil above : on the other is a thunderbolt.

Four globules, or pellets, to indicate its value, occur on both sides. Other types will be found enumerated in Mionnet (ut supr. pp. 7, 8); and Akerman (pp. 10, 11). Eckhel says, the head of Pallas was very frequent upon the Trientes (Doctr. Vet. Num.' tom. v. p. 15). Pliny says (xxxiii. 3) that both the Triens and the Quadrans bore the type of a ship. The Quadrans was the fourth of the As, or piece of three unciæ. The types of this were various also (Rasche, Lex. Rei Num.' v. Quadrans); but the value of the coin was uniformly denoted by three globules. On the Quadrans here represented, an open hand and strigil occur on both sides.

[Weight 1108 grains.]

Others have a dolphin, grains of corn, a star, heads of Hercules, Ceres, &c., on the obverse.

The Sextans was the sixth of the As, or piece of two ounces. The coin here engraved

[Weight 186 grains.]

bears on one side an ear of barley, and on the other a frog. For the varieties of type, compare Mionnet (p. 13); Akerman (p. 17). Eckhel describes one with the head of Pallas on one side, and on the other the prow of a ship: a globule by the side of each.

As the As fell in weight larger denominations of coin were struck, bearing names relative to the As. The As was latterly marked I. The Dupondius, or double As, was marked II. The Tressis III. The Quadrussis IV. There were even Decusses, or pieces of ten Ases, in copper, marked X. Olivieri mentions one in his own cabinet weighing upwards of twenty-five Roman ounces, which must have been cast when the As was about three ounces; for, as has been mentioned, they are far from being correctly sized. In the Museum Etruscum is a Decussis of forty Roman ounces, cast when the As was four ounces. The Denarius, Quinarius, and Sestertius were silver coins. According to Pliny, when the As was reduced to one uncia in the second Punic the Denarius, which was originally equivalent to 10, the Quinarius to 5, and the Sestertius to 2 Ases, were respectively made equivalent to 16, 8, and 4 Ases. On this subject see SESTERTIUS.

war,

Notwithstanding that the As fell, it still continued to be called libra; and in fines of estates, and in other old customs, was, nevertheless, held to be a pound weight of copper. See Cornutus on Persius; that annotator lived in the reign of Domitian. The word As was also used in accounts for the whole of any heritage, &c., to late times. Hares ex asse was the phrase used by the jurisconsults for an heir to a whole estate. (Pitisci, Lex.' v. As.) It is thus used by Martial (vii. 65), and elsewhere. The word As, indeed, with its subdivisions and multiples, was used generally as the representative of number, both in defining measures of length, the proportions of an

inheritance, &c.

The Ases drawn for this article, from specimens in the British Museum, have been carefully weighed. A comparison of the weights will show that the parts do not correspond accurately with one another, or with the integer As. Our specimens may probably not all belong to one epoch, nor all to the city of Rome.

ASAFOETIDA. A gum-resin obtained from incisions made in the upper part of the root of the Ferula asafoetida, which grows in Persia. Asafoetida as met with in commerce consists of agglutinated masses of a brownish colour, possessing an excessively disagreeable odour and taste. Its specific gravity is 1.327. It is very imperfectly soluble in water, but may be dissolved in alcohol rendered either acid or alkaline. According to Brande it consists of

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The resin is soluble in alcohol, and yielded analytical results leading to the formula CoH20010, but it is probably a mixture of several substances. The volatile oil, to which the characteristic odour of asafoetida is due, is obtained by distillation with water. It is colourless and transparent, very volatile, and possesses a bitter and acrid taste. It is soluble in alcohol and ether, but nearly insoluble in water. Sulphu is one of its constituents.

Asafoetida is used in medicine, and is employed as a condiment amongst some Oriental nations. The green leaves of the plant, and the roasted roots, are also eaten.

ASAFOETIDA is a gum-resin, obtained from the roots of Narthex, or Ferula asafoetida, a perennial plant, growing in Persia, in Khorassan, and in the province of Laar. In its recent and purest state it is white and transparent, but by exposure to the air it becomes of a clear brown colour, sometimes verging to red or violet, and of a waxy appearance. At the ordinary temperature of the air it is of the consistence of wax, slightly viscid or glutinous, and becoming soft with

the heat of the hand, by which the grains are united into smaller or larger lumps, which, when broken, contain many almond-like pieces. The portions which correspond to this description constitute the best kind of asafoetida, which is called asafoetida in grains.

The inferior sort is dark brown, of a dull, fatty appearance, viscid and greasy, containing portions of the stalks, and other impurities: it is called asafoetida in masses.

Sagapenum, the source of which is unknown, is by many supposed to be a kind of asafoetida.

The smell of asafoetida is penetrating, very disagreeable, and lasts some time. The taste is bitter, unpleasantly aromatic, of an alliaceous or garlic-like character. Its chief component parts are volatile oil, resin, and gum; and it is soluble in vinegar, proof spirit, and yolk of egg. Triturated with water, it forms an emulsion, from which the resin is gradually precipitated. Asafoetida can only be powdered at the temperature of freezing (32° of Fahrenheit); but even after being powdered, though kept in a cool place, it is apt again to run into

masses.

An artificial asafoetida is sometimes formed of resin and garlic juice; but this has only a weak smell, and is more perfectly soluble in alcohol.

Asafoetida acts on the human system as a stimulant, more especially of the nerves of the chest and abdomen. It also influences, like all gum-resins, the vessels distributed on the lower portion of the abdomen, or the pelvis. Though not so heating as its chemical composition might lead us to expect, it not only directs the blood more powerfully to these organs, but ensures its uniform supply. It is also a valuable antispasmodic, in irregular action of the muscles either of the respiratory or digestive organs.

Its power of at once rousing the nervous system and promoting the flow of blood towards the enfeebled stomach and bowels, renders it very serviceable in imperfect digestion, attended with constipation. From a knowledge of its powers in such cases, the Romans employed it along with their food, as the Persians still do.

In hysteria it is extremely useful, both during an attack of spasm, and during the interval between the paroxysms.

In colic, and even ileus, its action is often rapid and effectual, especially if thrown into the rectum in this way, cases of the most obstinate constipation, especially in hysterical females, have yielded

to it.

In asthma, in the later stages of hooping-cough, and in the cough of old age, in cough occurring in weakly subjects, not connected with inflammation or tubercles, above all, in the cough of hysterical females, it is of very great service. In the last-mentioned case, it is improved by combination with myrrh and preparations of iron, as it likewise is when employed to act on the uterine system.

It is also employed externally, as a means of keeping up counterirritation; and a convenient plaster may be formed by adding 1-12th part of camphor to 11-12ths of asafoetida. For internal exhibition, pills, or tincture, or watery solution (which must be used immediately after it is prepared), are the ordinary forms of administration. In cases of organic disease of the heart, especially enlargement, and in fulness or congestion of the brain or spinal chord, or in any organic diseases of these, assafoetida is improper.

ASARONE (C40H28010)?-Asarin, Asarite. A volatile principle, obtained from the Asarum europæum. It has a remarkable tendency to crystallise in beautifully definite forms. It however readily assumes an amorphous condition, from which it is again easily restored to its crystalline state. The facility which this circumstance affords for the study of crystallisation in general, has been taken advantage of by Schmidt, who has published a paper on the microscopic appearances of this substance during its crystallising condition in the 'Annalen der Chemie und Pharmacie,' for February, 1845.

Asarone is soluble in alcohol and ether, fuses at 104° Fahr., and boils at 536°, but is then partially decomposed.

ASA'RUM, a genus of Plants, belonging to the family of the Aristolochiea. It was formerly employed as an emetic, instead of ipecacuanha; but, from the violence of its effects, it is now properly laid aside in medical practice. It is still however used in veterinary medicine to vomit and purge. [ASARUM, in NAT. HIST. DIV.]

ASBOLINE. [SOOT.]

ASCENDANT. [ASTROLOGY.]

ASCENSION, RIGHT and OBLIQUE, and ASCENSIONAL DIFFERENCE, astronomical terms, of which the two latter are nearly out of use, while the term right ascension is preserved, in a somewhat different signification from its original meaning, to denote one of the angles by means of which the position of a star is ascertained.

If we suppose a person at the equator, looking directly towards the east, and raising his arms on each side till they are horizontal, his fingers will then point towards the two poles (which at the equator are in the horizon), and a line drawn through his arms will be a part of the axis on which the heavens appear to turn. Every star will rise vertically; that is, if the diurnal motion were quick enough to justify the phrase, would appear to shoot above the horizon directly upwards. The great circle of the heavens which his eye traces out as he raises his head without turning to right or left, is the equator, and the same point of the equator rises every day with the same star. If there be a

remarkable star in the equator, from the rising of which the spectator chooses to begin his astronomical day, he will know the time of rising of any star as soon as he knows how far the point of the equator which rises with it is from the star at whose rising he begins to count the twenty-four hours.

Suppose, for example, it is 60°; then, since the whole 360° of the equator rise in twenty-four hours, 60 of them will rise in four hours, or the star will rise at four o'clock of his astronomical day.

Let o be the spectator, N and s the north and south poles, E the east point of the horizon, EZ part of the equator, and ▲ the star. Through the north and south poles and the star draw a circle NAS, cutting the equator in T. Then, if q be the star at the rising of which the astronomical day begins, the number of degrees in QT is the right ascension of the star.

Instead of the horizon NES, any other circle may be substituted which passes through N and s; for example, the meridian NZ S. For, draw any circle through N and s, then the diurnal motion will bring a and T upon that circle at the same moment, and Q and T will pass that circle one after the other with the same interval as occurred between their times of passing E or their times of rising.

Substituting the meridian (which always passes through the poles) for the horizon, this method of reckoning may be used in any latitude. For the same point of the equator always comes upon every meridian with the same star; but, instead of using a star in the equator as the point from which to reckon, the vernal equinox is preferred, or the point at which the sun's path crosses the equator when he ascends into the northern hemisphere. The distance of the point of the equator just mentioned from the vernal equinox, measured upon the equator according to the order of the signs, in degrees, minutes, and seconds, is the right ascension in space [see ANGLE] of the star. The same turned into time [see ANGLE] is the right ascension in time, and indicates the interval which elapses between the times when the equinox and star severally come on the meridian. The whole time which a star takes to complete its diurnal revolution, or the sidereal day [DAY], it must be recollected, is not the common solar day, but about four minutes shorter.

The old term oblique ascension is an extension of the right ascension, as derived from our first illustration, to the oblique sphere, in which one pole is above the horizon, and the other below.

Let P be the north pole, z the zenith, E Q the equator, q the vernal equinox. Let a be a star at its rising, and T the point of the equator which comes to the meridian with it (and would rise with it to a person at the equator). In the latitude represented in the figure, E is the point of the equator which rises with it, and Q E is what used to be called the oblique ascension; the right ascension is QT, and TE the difference between the oblique and the right ascension, was called the

ascensional difference, but was principally applied to the sun, because when turned into time, it shows the time before or after six o'clock, of sunrise. The ascensional difference is found by the following formula:

Sin. asc. diff. tan. latitude X tan. star's declination. When the star's declination is north, from the right ascension take the ascensional difference; when south, to the right ascension add the ascensional difference: the result is the oblique ascension.

For the method of determining the right ascensions of the stars, see TRANSIT INSTRUMENT; EQUINOX.

ASCENSION DAY, a festival of the Christian church, on which the ascension of Our Lord is believed by some authors to have been

celebrated from the very first century of the Christian era. It has been held for ages on the Thursday next but one preceding Whitsunday. (See Brady's Clavis Calendaria,' vol. i. p. 357.) It is also called Holy Thursday, a name by which it has been known in this country at least as far back as the time of King Alfred, in whose laws it occurs, On pone balzan þunɲer dæg (or the holy Thursday). It was on this day, or on one of the three days which immediately preceded it, and which were considered as days of preparation for it, that in ancient times the minister of every parish, accompanied by his churchwardens and parishioners, was accustomed to go round the limits of his district, to deprecate the vengeance of God, to beg a blessing on the fruits of the field, and to preserve the rights and boundaries of the parish. The week in which Ascension Day occurs is usually called Rogation Week, from the Rogations or Litanies which were used in the perambulations. The Anglo-Saxons called the days of this week Lanz dagar (walking days), from the perambulations which were made. In London such parochial processions are still observed on Ascension Day itself; and also in some provincial places. In the parish of Lanark, in Scotland, as late as 1845 the 'Statistical Account of Scotland' states that on "Landmark-day, there are processions to inspect the marches of the town-lands. As a method of impressing the boundaries upon the memory, all persons attending for the first time are ducked in the river Mouss." The custom is said to be of Saxon origin. Pennant, in his Tour from Chester to London,' p. 30, tells us that on Ascension Day the old inhabitants of Nantwich piously sang a hymn of thanksgiving for the blessing of the Brine. A very ancient pit, called the Old Brine, was also held in great veneration, and, till within these few years, was annually, on that festival, bedecked with boughs, flowers, and garlands, and was encircled by a jovial band of young people, celebrating the day with song and dance.

It was upon Ascension Day, too, that the Doge or chief magistrate of Venice was formerly accustomed, by throwing a gold ring into its bosom, annually to espouse the Adriatic Sea; using the words Desponsamus te, Mare, in signum perpetui dominii." We espouse thee, O Sea, in testimony of our perpetual dominion over thee.This practice, which is said to have originated in a grant from Pope Alexander III. to the Venetians, of power over the Adriatic Ocean as a man has power over his wife, ceased only with the government of the Doges.

ASCETICS (dσкηταí), a term applied to the pugilists, wrestlers, and other athletæ, among the ancient Greeks, who prepared themselves by abstinence for their combats; subsequently, the term was extended to all those who practised the severity of virtue. The exercise of severe virtue among the Pythagorean and Stoic philosophers was called čoknois, askesis: it consisted in chastity, poverty, watchings, fasts, and retirement. The ascetics seem to have had an eastern origin. The Brachmans, Germani or Sarmani, Samanai, Hylobii or Allobii, Gymnosophiste in Asia, and other sects in East-Africa, were ascetics, who like the present Sanyasseans, Talapoins, and Bonzes, in eastern Asia, exercised their ingenuity in devising new methods of self-torture. For the Jewish ascetics, see the articles NASIREANS, ESSENES. According to Eusebius (Hist. Eccles.' ii. c. 23), James the Just, the brother of Jesus, was an ascetic at Jerusalem before the destruction of that city. The Christians were in the earlier centuries more distinguished by their purity of morals than by ascetic austerities. In the 2nd century, the Christians began to distinguish between the commands given to all believers and the evangelical advice which they supposed to be applicable to those only who aimed at the higher sanctity of ascetics, founding their belief more particularly on some passages in St. Paul's epistles, in which he speaks of struggling against the flesh. This double doctrine, as Mosheim calls it, induced many persons to endeavour to attain a higher degree of communion with God, by practising watchings, abstinence, labour, and hunger, hoping thus to raise the soul above all external objects and all sensual pleasures. The Christian ascetics were divided into abstinentes, or those who abstained from wine, meat, and agreeable food, and continentes, or those who, abstaining from matrimony also, were considered to attain to a higher degree of sanctity. The early ascetics were most numerous in Egypt and Syria. Many laymen as well as ecclesiastics were ascetics in the first centuries of our era, without retiring on that account from the business and bustle of life. Some of them wore the pallium philosophicum, or the philosophic mantle, and were therefore called Christian philosophers, and formed thus the transition link to the life of hermits and monks, which was regulated in the 4th century. In modern times asceticism is occasionally used to signify any peculiar austerity of life.

(Mosheim, De Rebus Christ. ante Const. Max. p. 311, &c.; Neander's Kirchen-Geschichte.)

ASCLEPIADINE. A non-azotised substance of unknown composition met with in the root of the Asclepias vince toxicum. It is bitter and emetic.

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ASCLEPION (C,H2O). An inodorous, tasteless, white and neutral substance met with in the juice of the Asclepias syriaca. It is insoluble in water and alcohol, but soluble in ether, fuses at 219° Fahr., and at a higher temperature decomposes, emitting an odour like burning caoutchouc.

ASH; ECONOMICAL USES. The uses of the ash in the arts are very numerous. The wood is both elastic and tough; it is used for the felloes and spokes of wheels, the beams of ploughs, the tops of kitchen tables, milk-pails, oars, blocks and pulleys, handles for spades and other instruments, hop-poles, hoops, crates, basket-handles, fencewattles, and numerous other purposes. In the neighbourhood of the Staffordshire potteries the ash is cultivated to a great extent, and cut every five or six years for crate-wood, which is in much demand in the pottery district. The ashes yield good potash; the bark is used for tanning nets and calf-skins; the leaves and shoots are used for food by cattle; dishonest traders use ash-leaves for adulterating tea; the seeds or keys are sometimes pickled as a sort of salad, and they are also used in Siberia to give a flavour to water for drinking. The sap is used for some medicinal purposes. The Flowering Ash yields a juice which solidifies into manna.

ASHES, the remains of anything burned, whether of vegetable or animal origin, and to a certain extent of mineral bodies also. Vegetable ashes. Ashes vary in composition according to the nature of the plant, the soil in which it grows, and the manure used upon it. The substances usually contained in the ashes of land plants are potash, soda, lime, magnesia, silica, the oxides of iron and of manganese, chlorine, carbonic acid, sulphuric acid, and phosphoric acid. Alumina occurs rarely, and sometimes oxide of copper has been met with. Very frequently more than one-half of the ashes of vegetables consists of carbonate of lime. The quantity of ashes varies, not only according to the soil, age, and aspect of the plant, but also in different parts of the same plant, from 2 to per cent. of its weight, after drying in the air. The soluble part of wood ashes consists of the alkaline sulphates, carbonates, and chlorides; while the insoluble matter is chiefly composed of carbonate of lime, and probably of magnesia, phosphate of lime, and phosphate of iron.

The incineration of wood is a most important operation; from its ashes are obtained the immense quantities of impure potash, and the carbonate called pearlash, imported from America and other countries. The sap of plants contains also other vegetable acids, as the oxalic, citric, tartaric, malic, &c.; and the salts which these form with potash are decomposed by heat, and yield the carbonate. The ashes of land plants yield principally the salts of potash, such as barilla-those of marine plants afford a large quantity of soda salts, and especially the carbonate, such as kelp.

Coal ashes are extremely various both in their appearance and composition. Thus, much of the coal of the north of England, under common circumstances, burns to a cinder, which is a mixture of the ashes of the coal with some carbonaceous matter requiring rather a high temperature to burn it, on account of its being enveloped by incombustible matter. The coal of Somersetshire burns to red ashes, evidently coloured by peroxide of iron: those of the Staffordshire coal are nearly white. The quantity of ashes yielded by different kinds of coal varies considerably; according to Kirwan, Wigan coal contains 1.57 per cent, of ashes; Whitehaven coal 17, and Swansea coal 3:33 per cent.; they consist principally of silica and alumina, with small quantities of lime, sometimes magnesia, and also peroxide of iron; but they do not contain either the chlorides, phosphates, or alkaline salts found in wood-ashes. Peat ashes differ chemically from both the other kinds.

Animal ashes resulting from the burning of bones and other animal solids, consist principally of phosphate of lime, with traces of salts of lime, magnesia, and soda.

Mineral ashes, such as those of Vesuvius, as examined by Vauquelin, were grayish in colour; they were tasteless, and found to consist of alumina, oxide of iron, muriate of ammonia, sulphate of lime, potash, copper, manganese, lime, and charcoal. Vauquelin also analysed the ashes ejected in the same year from Etna; they were of a gray colour, and in fine powder; they contained sulphur, sulphates of lime, copper, and alumina, and several other mineral ingredients.

The ashes of domestic economy, comprising not only the coal-ash from the grate, but a quantity of dust and miscellaneous fragments, are a valuable commercial article. The ash-heap of a dust contractor has a large money-value, for much of the waste serves as material for manufactures.

ASHLAR, rough stones of various sizes. This term is applied to free-stones when they are first taken out of the quarry.

ASHLER, a facing made of squared stones. In countries where stone is scarce and expensive, ashler principally consists of thin slabs of stone used to face the brick and rubble walls of buildings. These slabs are generally from four to six inches thick. Ashler is of several kinds. Plane ashler is so called when the surface of the stone is made quite smooth. Nearly all the public buildings of London in which stone is used are more or less faced with plane ashler. When the stone shows on its surface a series of narrow parallel flutings, the work is called tooled ashler. This is principally to be met with in the basements of buildings where the stone is set with flutings running perpendicularly. There is also an ornamental kind of ashler, very common in buildings, produced by slightly cutting into the stones, so as to make a depression, along one, two, or more of the sides of the joints. This kind of ashler is called rusticated ashler. The Banqueting Hall at Whitehall, Somerset House, the Bank of England, and St. Paul's Cathedral, may be taken as examples of rusticated ashler in London: