Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/167

ASPARAGUS. paragus, are not edible, on account of their bitterness. There are a number of species of asparagus grown in greenhouses as ornamentals. See. see.

The principal disease to which this plant is subject is a rust caused by the fungus Puccinia asparagi. The disease has been known for several years in Europe, but did not appear in the United States to a threatening degree until 1897. The leaves and stems are attacked and become covered with red blotches. Varieties seem to differ in the degree of susceptibility to disease.

ASPARAGUS IN'SECTS. Cultivated asparagus is remarkably free from insect pests. It is, however, preyed upon by two small chrysomelid beetles (Crioceris asparagi, and Crioceris duodecim-punctata), the former introduced from Europe to Long Island. N. Y., about 1856, and the latter more lately. The common one is nearly half an inch long. "The head is black, the prothorax reddish, often with two black spots above: the elytra are yellow, with a sutural (median) stripe of black, from which stripe extend two black bands dividing the yellow part of each elytron into three portions. ... Beneath, the beetle is nearly or entirely shining black." These beetles, as adults, attack the young growing shoots, and as larvæ destroy shoots, berries, and seeds. The heads of the asparagus should be cut off, after the eggs are laid, and boiled. Wild asparagus in the neighborhood of the cultivated beds should also be looked after. Several other European beetles are more or less injurious to this plant; and our cucumber beetle (q.v.) is often pernicious in asparagus beds. The larvæ of several moths feed upon the plant, as do many species of plant-bugs and aphids, but none does persistent damage. Consult: The United States Department of Agriculture Year-Book (Washington, 1896), and Report of United Stales Department of Agriculture, Bulletin No. 10 (Washington, 1898).

ASPARAGUS STONE. See.

ASPASIA, as-p;"i'shi-a (Gk. AcrTraoia) (c.440 B.C. I . . celebrated woman of ancient Greece, noteil for her genius, beauty, and political influ- ence; daughter of Axiochus, and born at Miletus. The eiremnstances of her removal to Athens are unknown, but the beginning of her con- nection with Pericles dates from about B.C. 400. Pericles finally divorced his first wife by her own consent, and married Aspasia, by whom he had a son, also called Pericles. The real status of Aspasia in Athenian society has been a subject of much difference of opinion. The fact that at Athens marriage with any woman of foreign birth was held to be incomplete, and the offspring of such a union illegitimate, may have contributed to the notion that Aspasia was a courtesan. She was without doubt a woman of intelligence and wit; and this fact, combined with her freedom from the restraints which regularly confined the activity of women at Athens, naturally gave her prominence, and brought upon her not a little obloquy. After her marriage with Pericles, her house became the rendezvous of men of learning and distinction. The eomic writers found her a convenient butt for their satire. Pericles is said to have been greatly influenced by her, but we can hardly consider as serious the charge that she was the

cause of the Samian and Peloponnesian wars. On one occasion the comic poet, Hermippus, charged Aspasia with impiety, but she was successfully defended by Pericles himself. When the two sons of Pericles by his first marriage died, Pericles obtained from the State the rights of full citizenship for his son by Aspasia. After the death of Pericles, Aspasia married a sheep-owner, with whom she lived but a single year, and by whom she had one son. Her further career is unknown, but she continued to live at Athens, and died there.

ASPASIA, or ASPATIA. The heroine in Beaumont and Fletcher's Maid's Tragedy, whom Amintor makes love to, and then deserts.

ASPASIA, A Phocean at first called Milto. She became the lawful wife of Cyrus the Younger, who named her Aspasia, after the wife of Pericles. Upon the death of Cyrus she was claimed by Artaxerxes, with whom she lived until he was succeeded by Darius. His son, Darius, then claimed Aspasia, according to the custom of the Persians, and Artaxerxes surrendered her to him, but soon after made her a priestess of Artemis at Ecbatana. In revenge Darius formed a plot to assassinate his father, but was detected and put to death.

AS'PECTS (Lat. aspectus, a sight, appearance: from ad, to + spicere, to look). In astronomy and astrology, certain positions of planets with respect to one another, as seen from the earth. In the days of astrology there were five aspects — conjunction, indicated by the symbol (☌), sextile (⚹), quartile (□), trine (△), opposition (☍). Two planets are in conjunction when they have the same longitude; the aspect is sextile when they are 60° apart; quartile, when the distance is 90°; trine, when it is 120°; and at 180° they are opposite to one another, or in opposition. Astrology ascribed to these aspects great influence over the fate of individuals and of nations. The only two of the terms now in use are conjunction and opposition.

ASPEITIA, iis'pft-e'tya. A town of Spain, in the Province of Guipuzcoa. It has some iron-works and mineral springs. About a mile from the town is situated the convent of Loyola, containing a library and museum, and the house in which Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, was born. Population, in 1887, 6616.

AS'PEN, or Populus tremula (see ). A tree which grows plentifully in Europe and in Siberia. It is a native of Great Britain, and is frequent in Scotland, where it is found even at an elevation of 1500 feet above the sea. It has received the specific name tremula, from the readiness with which its leaves are thrown into a tremulous motion by the slightest breath of wind — a property for which, indeed, the aspen leaf has become proverbial. The leaves are nearly orbicular, but are broadly toothed, so as almost to exhibit angles. The footstalks are compressed, and in part to this compression is due the sensitiveness of the leaves to the breeze. The aspen grows quickly, with a straight stem, reaching to a height of from 50 to 80, or even 100 feet. In unfavorable situations it becomes dwarfish. The wood is stiff, porous, light, white, and smooth; it does not make good fuel, but is very fit for the turn-