Asphalte (or Asphalt) Rock, a limestone impregnated with bitumen, found in large quantities in various localities in Europe, as in the Val de Travers, Neufchâtel, Switzerland; in the department of Ain in France; in Alsace, Hanover, Holstein, Sicily, &c. These rocks contain a variable quantity of bitumen (from 7 or 8 to 20 or 30 per cent) naturally diffused through them. The Val de Travers asphalt was discovered in 1710. In 1837 an English patent was taken out for its application to roads, pavements, terraces, areas, roofs, &c. Since then other asphalte-rocks, as well as artificial preparations made by mixing bitumen, gas-tar, pitch, or other materials with sand, chalk, &c., have been brought into competition with it.
As´phodel (Asphodĕlus), a genus of plants, ord. Liliaceæ, consisting of perennials, with fasciculated fleshy roots, flowers arranged in racemes, six stamens inserted at the base of the perianth, a sessile almost spherical ovary with two cells, each containing two ovules; fruit a capsule with three cells, in each of which there are, as a rule, two seeds. Two species are cultivated in Britain as garden flowers, the yellow asphodel (Asphodelus lutĕus) and the white asphodel (Asphodelus albus). The English word 'daffodil' is a perversion of asphodel. The Asphodelus ramōsus, which attains a height of 5 feet, is cultivated in Algeria and elsewhere, its tubercles yielding a very pure alcohol, and the residue, together with the stalks and leaves, being used in making pasteboard and paper. The asphodel was a favourite plant among the ancients, who were in the habit of planting it round their tombs. In Greek religion it is associated with Persephone, the dead, and the underworld.
Asphyx´ia, literally, the state of a living animal in which no pulsation can be perceived, but the term is more particularly applied to a suspension of the vital functions from causes hindering respiration. The normal accompaniments of death from asphyxia are dark fluid blood, a congested brain and exceedingly congested lungs, the general engorgement of the viscera, and an absence of blood from the left cavities of the heart while the right cavities and pulmonary artery are gorged. The restoration of asphyxiated persons has been successfully accomplished at long periods after apparent death. The attempt should be made to maintain the heat of the body and to secure the inflation of the lungs as in the case of the apparently drowned. See Respiratory System.
Asphyxiating Gas. See Poison Gas.
Aspic, a dish consisting of a clear savoury meat jelly, containing fowl, game, fish, &c.
Aspidistra, a genus of plants of the lily family, comprising three or four species, natives of China and Japan, being plants with large smooth oblong lanceolate leaves, rising from an underground rhizome, and with campanulate flowers of a dull purplish or brownish colour. They are now very common in Britain, being especially cultivated as indoor plants.
Aspid´ium, a genus of ferns, nat. ord. Polypodiaceæ, comprising the shield-fern and male-fern.
As´pinwall. See Colon.
As´pirate, a name given to any sound like our h, to the letter h itself, or to any mark of aspiration, as the Greek rough breathing (῾). Such characters or sounds as the Sanskrit kh, gh, bh, and the Greek ch, th, ph, are called aspirates.
As´pirator, an instrument used to promote the flow of a gas from one vessel into another by means of a liquid. The simplest form of aspirator is a cylindrical vessel containing water, with a pipe at the upper end which communicates with the vessel containing the gas, and a pipe at the lower end also, with a stopcock and with its extremity bent up. By allowing a portion of the water to run off by the pipe at the lower part of the aspirator a measured quantity of air or other gas is sucked into the upper part.