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ASARABACCA. Aristolochiaceæ, a native of Europe, growing in woods; rare, and perhaps not truly indigenous, in Great Britain. The whole plant has acrid properties; the roots and leaves are aromatic, purgative, and emetic. The use of Asarabacca. however, as an emetic has been much super- seded by that of Ipecacuanha, which is milder and safer. The powdered roots and leaves en- ter into the composition of cephalic snuffs, which cause sneezing, and are employed as a counter- irritant in cases of headache, ophthalmia, tooth- ache, etc. The plant contains a volatile oil and a crystalline substance called asarin, to which it seems to owe its active properties. The genus Asarum is distinguished by twelve horned stamens, distinct from each other and from the style, and by a bell-shaped three- lobed perianth. Asarum europæum has a very short stem, with two shining kidney-shaped leaves on long stalks, from the axil of which springs a single drooping greenish-purple flower. A nearly allied species, Asarum Canadense, a native of the United States, is stimulant and diaphoretic, and is used under the name of Canada Snakeroot, instead of Aristolochia ser- pentaria. It is also called Wild Ginger and used as a spice, being of a warm aromatic qual- ity, and not acrid like its European congener.

AS'ARUM. See.

ASBEN, as-ben'. See.

ASBES'TIC. A name given to a mixture of second-grade asbestos and serpentine, obtained as a by-product in asbestos mining. The material is crushed and mixed with lime to form a light, strong, fireproof wall-plaster, which can be given an excellent finish.

is a somewhat similar material, made from short-fibred asbestos, used for flooring and fireproofing. See.

ASBES'TOS (Gk. da/Sfarof, inextinguishable, incombustible, from a, a negat. + ajSevnivai, sheiini/nni, to extinguish). A fibrous mineral, used chiefly for protection against heat, its structure permitting it to be matted or woven. The asbestos of commerce belongs to two mineral species — viz., true asbestos and chrysolite. The former is a variety of amphibole (q.v.), closely allied to tremolite, actinolite, and hornblende. It is a silicate of magnesia and lime together, and iron-oxide and its fibres are sometimes com- bined together in a compact mass, sometimes easily separable, elastic, and flexible. It is gen- erally of a whitish or greenish color. The variety known as Rock-cork, resembling vegetable cork, is soft, easily cut, and lighter than water. Rock-leather and Rock-wod are varieties of true asbestos, somewhat similar to Rock-cork, but not so light. Chrysolite, the second mineral called asbestos, is a fibrous variety of ser- pentine, a silicate of magnesia. The Italian product is true asbestos, Canadian asbestos being chrysolite. The finest variety of asbes- tos, with easily separable fibres, is called ami- anthus (Gk. unpollutable). Amianthus cloth was indestructible by fire, and was used by the ancients to enwrap dead bodies placed on the funeral pile, in order to preserve the ashes of the body. Asbestos deposits of commercial value occur in Italy. Tasmania, New South Wales, Canada, and the United States. Asbestos is now employed for boiler coverings, for the radi- ating surfaces of heating apparatus, as an ab- sorbent in lamps, as an insulator in electric mechanisms, and for a great many other pur- poses in connection with manufactures, such as making paint, which forms an almost fireproof coat that protects wood against sparks and small flames. Cloths made of asbestos are used for curtains in theatres, for firemen's clothing, etc. Made into a lining felt, asbestos serves as a good insulator for heat, and has great value for packing steam ducts, pistons, hot-air joints, etc. Asbestos paper and board is made in much the same manner as ordinary paper and pasteboard, by reduction of the mineral to pulp, and sub- sequent pressing, drying, etc. The asbestos pro- duced in Canada is almost pure white, and has long fibres. It can be spun into fine thread and woven into rope or yarn. Although the prop- erties of asbestos were known to the ancients, and even to some extent utilized by them, the substance has been extensively employed for practical purposes only in recent times. Most of the American supply of asbestos is obtained from Canada. See the articles ; ; and : and consult Jones, ''Asbestos. Its Properties and Uses (London. 1890); article on "Asbestos" in Mineral Industry,'' Vol. VI. (New York. 1897).

ASBJÖRNSEN,, (1812-85). A distinguished Norwegian student of folk-lore and zoölogy, born at Christiania. He studied at Christiania University, and taught for several years. He made long journeys on foot for scientific purposes, in the course of which he collected popular tales and legends, which, in coöperation with his friend Jörgen Moe, the future Bishop of Christiansand (1838), he published, and later several times supplemented (Norwegian Folk Tales, 1842-44; Norwegian Fairy Tales and Folk Legends, 1845). His scientific researches earned him traveling stipends at intervals from 1846 to 1853. He then studied forestry, and held various official positions in connection with the forest and turf industries from 1860 to 1876, when he was pensioned. He made several important discoveries in deep-sea soundings, and wrote on zoölogy and other scientific subjects; but this side of his work is quite overshadowed by work in folk-lore, which shows literary talent and much originality. He did not, like the Grimms and Arnason, aim merely at reproduction, but retold the stories in settings that illustrated the life and mental horizon of the people, with exquisite bits of natural description that found immediate and wide recognition.

ASBOTH, ŏsh'bōt, (Alexander) (1811-68). A Hungarian-American soldier. After fighting under Kossuth (1848-49), he accompanied him to America in 1851, and became a citizen of the United States. During the Civil War he commanded divisions under Frémont and Curtis, as brigadier-general, and was seriously wounded at the battles of Pea Ridge (March 7-8, 1862) and Marianna (September 27, 1864). He resigned with the brevet rank of major-general (August, 1865), and was United States Minister to the Argentine Republic (1866-68), where he died of his wounds.

ASBURY, az1)er-i. (1745-1816). The first bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church ordained in the United States. He was born at Hamstead Bridge, 4 miles northwest