Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/136

ASCOMYCETES. cium is also very characteristically illustrated in the lichens (q.v.), whose fungal portion, with few exceptions, are Ascomycetes. PEZIZA, A CUP FUNGUS. Some remarkable parasites (e.g. Cordiceps) that attack caterpillars and their pupie ai'e found here. The infected insect becomes mummified by the growth all through its interior of the fungus, which, finally breaking through some region of the body, forms a club-shaped or plum- like fructification.

One of the most highly developed of the Ascomycetes, and valued for its gastronomical qualities, is the 'morel' (Morchella), a representative of a specialized group called the Helvellales, whose members have large, stalked fructifications, with an exposed and frequently much convoluted hymenium. They are popularly regarded as mushrooms.

Another interesting Ascomycete forms the ergot (q.v.) of wheat. This is really a resting condition of the body (sclerotium), which gathers in the flower clusters of the wheat and transforms the ovary into a hard, black body. The ergot grain falls to the ground, and under suitable conditions of warmth and moisture becomes soft, putting forth a number of stalks with rounded heads, in which are embedded perithecia.

In certain cases the ascocarp is known to be the result of a sexual act. (See .) For an extensive account of the Ascomycetes consult: Engler and Prantl, Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien (Berlin, 1899 — in progress); and in English, Ellis and Everhart, North American Pyrenomycetes (Newfield, N. J., 1892); and Phillips, British Discomycetes (London, 1888).

ASCO'NIUS PE'DIA'NUS, Quintus (c. 3-c. 88 A.D.). A Roman critic and historian. He was born probably at Patavium, but lived mainly at Rome. During the reigns of Claudius and Nero he made a careful study of State papers then extant, and wrote his valuable historical commentaries on Cicero's Orations, of which only those on the five orations, "In Pisonem," "Pro Seauro," "Pro Milone," "Pro Cornelio," and "In Toga Candida," are preserved. These, too, are in a fragmentary condition. The commentaries, written in pure Latin, refer chiefly to points of history and antiquities, and contain interesting accounts of those constitutional forms of the senate, popular assemblies, and the courts of justice, which, under the Empire, were rapidly disappearing. The notes on the Verrine Orations are of a much more grammatical cast, and exhibit traces of a declining Latinity, so that though originally ascribed to Asconius, they are probably to be attributed to a grammarian of a later date. Consult: Madvig, De Asconii Pediani Commentariis (Copenhagen, 1828). Asconius is known to have written also a life of Sallust and a treatise against Vergil's critics, but these have been lost. See the text in C. G. Schultze's and Orelli-Baiter's editions of Cicero.

AS'COT HEATH. A famous English race- course in Berkshire, 26 miles from London (Map: England, F 5). The annual meeting in June is attended by the fashionable and profes- sional sporting public. It is believed to have been established in 1711.

ASCOT RA'CES. One of the most fashionable horse-races in England, held at Ascot Heath in Berkshire.

ASCUT'NEY (Ind., 'Three Brothers'). A mountain rising 3320 feet above the level of the sea in Windsor County, Vermont. It presents a fine example of a monadnock (q.v.). From its summit a beautiful view of the Connecticut Val- ley may be obtained. There are granite quarries at its base.

ASELLI, a-sel'le. ASELLIO, a-sel'yo. or ASEL'LIUS, (c. 1581-1626). A celebrated Italian physician, professor of anatomy and surgery at Pavia. In 1623 he discovered the lacteal vessels. Before his time, anatomists had supposed that the chyle was carried from the intestines into the liver by the mesenteric veins. While dissecting a living dog, he noticed for the first time the multitude of little vessels which suck up the nutritive portion of the food. At first he mistook them for nerves, and did not pay particular attention to them; but on pricking one with the point of his scalpel, a white liquid spurted out, and the discovery flashed on him in a moment. He seems, however, never to have understood or described them with complete accuracy. In the year following his death a treatise on the subject of his discovery was published, entitled, De Lactibus, sive Lacteis Venis.

ASEN, ii'scn. The name of some of the Me- diæval Bulgarian czars. (1186- 95) liberated Bulgaria from the Byzantine yoke, conquered Sophia, and made Tirnova the capital of the realm. He was slain and the throne passed to his brother. (1218-41), a son of the former, fled in his youth to Russia, and later reconquered Bulgaria, which greatly im- proved under his rule. After the subjugation of the despot, Theodore of Epirus, who had assumed the title of Emperor of the East (1230), Asen conquered Albania and Macedonia, and with the aid of the Greeks of Nicæa besieged Constanti- nople, at that time (1235) in possession of the Latins. By his conquest of Albania he obtained access to the Adriatic Sea, and thus greatly ex- tended the commerce of the country, which, under him, eventually attained a degree of prosperity equal to that which it had enjoyed under the great ruler Simeon.

AS'ENATH. The daughter of Potipherah, priest of On, wife of Joseph (Gen. xli. 45, 50; xlvi. 20). The name seems to be the Hebraized form of the Egyptian ns-nt, 'belonging to Neith.' Names of this type occur in the XXI. Dynasty, and become frequent in the XXVI or Saite Dynasty.

ASENATH, See.

ASEP'TICISM. See.

AS'ES. See.

ASGARD, us'giird (Old Norse ass, god + gardhr, garth, inclosure, home). The home of the Norse gods, or the Scandinavian Olympus.