a sort of native fossile stone, which in Medice, may be split into threads and filaments, from one inch to ten inches in length, very fine, brittle, yet somewhat tractable, silky, and of a greyish colour, not unlike tale of Venice. It is almost insipid to the taste, indissoluble in water, and endued with the wonderful property of remaining unconfused in the fire, which only whitens it. There are some sorts of asbestos whose filaments are rigid and brittle; others more flexible. The first are not at all to be spun or formed into cloth, and the latter very difficultly. This manufacture appears to have been known among the ancients, who, according to Pliny, wrapt the corpses of the dead in asbestos clothes to preserve their ashes separate from those of the funeral pile; an use to which they are still said to be applied among the princes of Tartary. The method of preparation, as described by Ciampini in the Philosophical Transactions, no. 273, is as follows. The stone is laid to soak in warm water, then opened and divided by the hands, that the earthy matter may be washed out. This earth is white like chalk, and renders the water thick and milky. The ablution being several times repeated, the flax-like filaments are collected and dried: they are most commodiously spun with an addition of flax. Two or three filaments of the asbestos are easily twisted along with the flaxen thread, if the operator's fingers are kept oiled. The cloth also when woven is best preserved by oil from breaking or wasting. On exposure to the fire, the flax and oil burn out, and the cloth comes out pure and white. Probably from the dissipation of some extraneous matter of this kind proceeded the diminution of weight which an asbestos napkin suffered in the fire, in an experiment made before the Royal Society; for pure asbestos loses nothing.—The shorter filaments, which separate in washing the stone, may be made into paper in the common manner. This stone is found in many places of Asia and Europe; particularly in the island of Anglesey in Wales, and in Aberdeenshire in Scotland.

ASCAMEA, a fountain of Cappadocia, near Tyana, sacred to Jupiter, and to an oath. Tho' this fountain bubbled up, as in a state of boiling, yet its water was cold; and never ran over, but fell back again. (Philostatus, Ammian).