ASGILL, asigil, John, English writer: b. Hanley Castle 1659; d. 1738. He was bred to the law, and gained considerable reputation, not only by skill in his profession, but from his pamphlet declaring that man might pass into eternal life without dying. In 1703 he took his seat in the Irish Parliament, but was dismissed after four days on account of his so-called blasphemous pamphlet. In 1705 he sat in the English Parliament for Bramber; but in 1707 he was expelled, nominally on account of his unlucky pamphlet, but really perhaps because of his debts. The remainder of his life he spent in the Fleet and King's Bench prisons, in one of which he died. He wrote a number of pam phlets against the Pretender in behalf of the Hanoverian succession.
ASH (Fraxinus), a genus of about 50 spe cies of hardy, ornamental trees of the family Oleacete, natives mainly of North America, Europe and western Asia. The species are prized for street and park planting for which their usually tall pyramidal or broad-topped hab it and light green foliage, which turns yellow or purple in autumn but which falls early, make them specially attractive. From the ele gance of their forms several species, notably the first mentioned below, have been called the Venus of the forest; the oak being the Her cules. The leaves are rather large, opposite, pinnate and deciduous; the flowers greenish or whitish in panicles, appearing either before, with or after the leaves; the fruits are rather small samaras. Since grass and other plants do not grow well in the immediate vicinity of the ash it is not a good lawn species. The common ash (Fraxinus excelsior), a native of Europe and western Asia, found in its perfection upon loamy soil, often attains a height of 120 or even 150 feet. It also thrives in exposed and ele vated situations better than many other trees. Its naked flowers appear long before the leaves, which drop early in the autumn, but during the summer are very ornamental. Its leaflets are ses sile and toothed. Its tough, hard, white wood makes excellent fuel and is highly valued for turning (for carriage wheels especially) when the tree has grown rapidly, since the toughness is then very great. It is then particu larly valuable for carriage shafts, ladders, and handles of agricultural tools, such as rakes, pitchforks and hoes, where pliability, toughness and lightness are essential. For such uses its only important rival in America is the hickory. When gnarled, as it occasionally is, it is pre pared like ((curly° maple for cabinet work and furniture, especially fine-grained specimens be ing used as veneer. The bark is used to some extent in leather tanning. A large number of cultivated varieties have been produced, among which the most remarkable are: monophylla, with simple instead of compound leaves or with only one or two small leaflets at the base of the main leaf-blade; albo-marginata, the leaflets of which are bordered with white; albo-varie gala, with mottled white and green leaflets; aurea, yellow-branched; aurea-pendula, droop ing yellow branches; pendula, one of the best weeping trees; crispa, with curled and twisted very dark green leaves. The American or white ash (F. americana), a very variable species common from New Brunswick to Florida and westward to Minnesota and Texas, attains about the same size as the preceding species, but has lighter bark and leaves. The
leaflets have short stalks and are entire. In rich, moist, dense woods the trunks often attain a height of 40 feet without a branch, thus fur nishing valuable timber, which is used for the same purposes as that of the preceding species. There are many varieties 'which more or less resemble those of the common ash. The black or water ash (F. nigra), common in swamps and upon stream banks from Nova Scotia to Minnesota and southward to Missouri and Vir ginia, often attains a height of 80 feet. Its wood is softer than that of the preceding, but, being tough and easily separable longitudinally into layers, is largely used for veneer, baskets, barrel staves and hoops. The red ash (F. penn sylvanica) is common in low ground from mari time Canada to Florida, being especially abun dant in the swamps of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. It is rare west of Ohio, though found as far west as Dakota and Minnesota. It resembles the American ash in uses and in gen eral appearance. The interior of the outer bark of the branches is cinnamon color or red when fresh. The blue ash (F. quadrangulata), com mon in rich, dry or moist woods from Michigan and Minnesota to Tennessee and Arkansas, and especially abundant in Ohio and Kentucky, at tains a height of 80 to 120 feet. Its branches are more or less four-angled, hence the spe cific name. The inner bark yields a blue color when steeped in water, hence the common name. The green ash (F. lanceolata), a species very widely distributed over eastern Canada and the United States, is so called from the brilliant green of its young shoots. It is extensively planted to form wind-breaks in Minnesota and the Dakotas on account of its extreme hardiness and because it is easily propagated by seeds and also because it grows very rapidly. It is less valued for its wood than the white ash, but is useful for fuel. The Carolina or water ash (F. caroliniana) seldom exceeds 40 feet in height, but is noted for its very large leaflets. It is distributed from Virginia to Florida and westward to Arkansas and Texas, being most plentiful in swamps, along watercourses and in damp, rich woods. Its wood is used like that of the white ash. F. cuspidata, a native of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, is a shrub or small tree which seldom exceeds 20 feet in height, and on account of its conspicuous panicles of fragrant flowers is often planted in temperate climates for orna mental purposes. F. velutina, another species of the same region, seldom attains a height of 50 feet, and not being hardy is confined to southern planting. The manna or flowering ash (F. Ornus), a native of southern Europe and western Asia, is a small tree 25 feet tall which resembles the common ash. It furnishes manna (q.v.). It is a native of Greece. Many other species are of botanical, economic or ornamen tal interest, but probably none of as much im portance as the species mentioned. The moun tain ash (q.v.), a member of the family Mala cca obtains its name from its ash-like leaves. Consult Nicholson,