in Natural History, a poisonous kind of serpent. It is said to be thus denominated from the Greek doré, a shield, in regard to the manner of its lying convolved in a circle, in the centre of which is the head, which it exerts or Asparagus raises like the umbo or umbilicus of a buckler. This species of serpent is very frequently mentioned by authors, but so carelessly described that it is not easy to determine which, if any, of the species known at present may properly be called by this name. It was with the asp that Cleopatra is said to have despatched herself, and prevented the designs of Augustus, who intended to have carried her captive to adorn his triumphal entry into Rome. But the fact is contested: Sir Thomas Brown places it in the list of vulgar errors. The indications of that queen's having used the ministry of the asp were only two almost insensible pricks found in her arm; and Plutarch says that the cause of her death is unknown. Naturalists now suppose the asp of the ancients to be a species of viper, either the V. Echis or V. Cerastes of Schlegel; and some suppose it to be the Naja Haje.

ASPARAGUS. See Horticulture.