ASPIC, a poisonous African snake popularly supposed to give a quick and easy death. "The worm's an odd worm," said the clown to Cleopatra, "those that do die of it do rarely re cover," and the aspic was welcomed by the queen as the means of swift dispatch. The French have a proverb froid comme un aspic, and it is to be supposed that French cooks, when they invented as a dainty savoury a bit of meat, game or fish imbedded in calf's-foot jelly, called it an aspic because it was cold to the touch like a snake. Aspic is also the botanical name of the Lavandula spica, or spikenard, from which a white aromatic and highly inflammable oil is distilled, called huile d'aspic.