Ash

[AS.] A genus of trees of the Olive family, mostly natives of Europe and of North America. There are about fifty species. The common ash is a beautiful and umbrageous tree, highly orna¬ mental in parks, growing generally with a smooth stem to a height of from 100 to 150 feet, its wood being white, tough, and hard, in value next to that of the oak, and much used by wheelwrights, coach makers, joiners, and turners. Among other varieties, the weeping ash, the curl-leaved ash, and the entire-leaved ash may be mentioned. The most important ones in the United States are the white ash, the black ash, the red ash, the blue ash, and the swamp ash. The white ash has the best wood, and is used for the same pur¬ poses as that of the common ash. The manna of commerce is a sugar from the sap of the manna ash, a kind of ash tree growing in South¬ ern Europe, especially in Sicily, whence the finest manna is obtained. hooded, poisonous serpent of Egypt and Libya, whose bite is often fatal. gardens for the sake of its young and tender shoots, which form a valuable and well-known article of food. The plants have erect, many branched stems, and very slender branchlets, which are sometimes mistaken for leaves. species of poplar tree growing in Europe and in Siberia. It has received the specific name tremula, from the trembling of its leaves, which move with the slightest impulse of the air. The wood is white, soft, light, and smooth. It is not good for fuel, but is much in use for the turning lathe, in making troughs, trays, and pails. The bark contains a bitter, alkaloid called salicin, and charcoal made from the aspen tree can be used in the manufacture of gunpowder. of the Dead Sea, which is therefore called Asphaltites, or the Asphaltic Lake. It is found also in Asia, Europe, and America, there being a very extensive lake-like deposit of it in the island of Trinidad, West Indies. It is brittle, and of a black or brown color melts and burns when heated, leaving no residue.—Asphaltic cement is a composition of bitumen, pitch, lime, and gravel, used for forming pavements, and as a waterproof cement for bridges, roofs, etc. It has been of late years very largely used as a paving material in the United States and Eu¬ rope.—Artificial asphalt is prepared from coaltar, lime, and sand.