Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/135

ASCLEPIAS. hooded appendages. The fibre of the stem of some species is strong and has been used for making ropes; the lint in the pods has been used for pillows and similar purposes. It is fine and silky, but, not having the twist of the cotton fibre, cannot be used for spinning. Asclepias cornuti, or Asclepias syriaca, and Asclepias tuberosa, pleurisy root, are among the best known. The name of the genus was given on account of the medicinal virtues of the plants, which are sudorific, expectorant, and carminative. The young shoots are sometimes used as a substitute for asparagus, to which they bear some resemblance. A few fossil-leaves from reeks of Tertiary age at Kumi, Greece, have been referred to the genus Asclepias.

ASCLE'PIUS. See.

ASCOLI, iis'ko-le, (1829—). An Italian philologist of European celebrity, and one of the pioneers in modern methods of com- parative linguistics. He was born of a wealthy Jewish family at Görz, in the Austrian prov- ince of that name, July 16, 1829. Trained by his father for a business career, he pursued his lin- guistic studies without masters, and at the age of fifteen gave evidence of exceptional talent by publishing a paper upon the relation between Wallachian and the Friuli dialect. His first important work, Studi orientali linguistici (1854), established his reputation and led to his appointment in 1800 to the chair of phi- lology at the Aecademia Scientifico-Letteraria of Milan. In addition to his academic work, he found time to issue a number of important vol- umes, including Studi critici (2 vols., 1801-77); Corsi di glottologia (Turin, 1870); and his most notable work, Saggi ladim (1872), which marked an important advance in the study of Romance philology, and was the forerunner of the monumental Archivio glottologico italiano, which under his editorship became the receptacle of the most important contributions made by him and by his pupils to the study of Celtic and Ital- ian dialects. The numerous honors bestowed upon Ascoli testify to the wide recognition of his talents. He became a member of the Insti- tute of France, of the Academies of Vienna, Budapest, Berlin, and Saint Petersburg, was elected to the Italian Senate in 1888, and suc- cessively chosen as delegate of Italy to the Ori- ental congresses at Berlin, London, and Geneva.

ASCOLI PICENO, iis'kft-le pe-cha'nc') (Lat. Asculum Picenum). A city of the Province of Ascoli Piceno, in Central Italy, on a hill beside the Tronto, 73 miles southwest of Ancona by rail (Map: Italy, H 5). A branch railway, 19 miles long, connects it with an inferior har- bor on the Adriatic, and with the Bologna- Brindisi Railway. The public buildings are beautiful, and constructed chiefly of marble; al- most all traces of the ancient Asculum Picenum have disappeared. Ascoli manufactures majol- ica-ware, glass, wax, silks, leather, hats, and cloth, and is commercially very active. Popula- tion, in 1881, 11,200 (commune, 23,225); in 1901 (commune), 28,882.

ASCOLI SATRIANO, sa'tre-a'n6. A city and episcopal see in the Province of Foggia, southern Italy, 20 miles south of Foggia by rail. It is the ancient Asculum Apulum. celebrated as the scene of the defeat of the Romans by Pyrrhus. B.C. 279. Population, in 1881 (commune), 9906; in 1901, 8550.

AS'COMYCE'TES (Gk. iinKOf, askos, skin- bag + nom. pl. /tvKt/Tc(, mykētes, mushrooms, fungi) . One of the largest groups of Fungi, only rivaled in the number of species by the Basidio- mycetes (mushrooms and their allies). Its members are readily distinguished by the char- acteristic fructification called the 'ascocarp.' The essential elements in an ascocarp are small, delicate sacs, called 'asci.' Each ascus gener- ally contains eight spores, called 'ascospores.' There may be only a few asci in an ascocarp, or they may be numbered by the thousand. The asci are usually arranged in a flat or concave layer, packed in among parallel sterile hyphæ ('paraphyses'), and around the fruiting surface is a variously modified envelope ('peridium'). The fruiting surface (hymenium) may be entirely inclosed by the peridium, when the ascocarp is generally a firm, rounded body cleistothecium).

(1) Macrosporium: a, section of perithecium showing asci and paraphyses; b, a single ascus with 8 ascospores, and a paraphysis; (2) Lachneo-hemispherica: a, apothecia; b, an ascus with paraphyses.

The largest cleistothecia are the truffles, but the condition is also well illustrated by some of the mildews (e.g. the lilac mildew) parasitic on the surface of the leaves of many herbs and shrubs. A very large number of Ascomycetes grow on decaying wood, or as parasites under the bark, and form hard black fructifications, an excellent example of which is the "black knot' (Plowrightia) of plum and cherry-trees. In most of these forms the ascocarps are cavities termed 'perithecia,' opening to the exterior by a pore, and this type of ascocarp characterizes the group called Pyrenomycetes.

The most beautiful Ascomycetes, however, have a saucer or cup-shaped ascocarp (apothecium), the upper surface being the hymenium, and frequently brilliantly colored red, yellow, or brown. The most conspicuous of these cup fungi, called Discomycetes, are in the order Pezizales, and grow in the rich humus of moist woods. They are fleshy forms, and some species are large enough to be eaten. The saucer-shaped apothe-