ASE'LLUS, a genus of Malaeopterygions Fishes, to which Willughby referred theWhiting-Pout, and Ling. They are now referred respectively to the genera Morrhua and Lola.
ASH. [F'RAxnsts.} ASP, a name commonly given to several species of venomous serpents. By naturalists the term is confined to the Vipera ospis, which is an inhabitant of the European Alps. The asp which is historically interesting from having been employed by Cleopatra as the instrument of her own destruction, is supposed to be the Cerastes Hasselquist ii. The Asp (kith) is often mentioned both by Greek and Roman writers. From various circumstances, however, and particularly from the description of Pliny (` Nat. Hist.' viii. 35.), it is evident that the most common awl celebrated is the species to which the modern Arabs give the name of El Haje, or Haje Nascher. This animal measures from 3 to 5 feet in length : it is of a dark green colour, marked obliquely with bands of brown ; the scales of the neck, back, and upper surface of the tail are slightly carinated, and the tail is about one-fourth part the length of the whole body. The Ilaje is closely allied to the Cobra Capello, or Spectacled Snake of India, the chief apparent difference being its want of the singular yellow mark on the back of the neck, from which the latter species derives its name. In other respects these two serpents are nearly of the same size ; they arc equally venomous, and both have the power of swelling out the neck when irritated, and raising themselves upright upon their tails to dart by a single bound upon their enemies.
The poison of the Asp is of the most deadly nature. Pliny, in the passage above referred to, gives the following account of this celebrated serpent :—" The neck of the asp is capable of distension, and the only remedy against its bite is the immediate amputation of the wounded part. This animal, otherwise so much to be dreaded, has a sentiment,
or rather a kind of affection, truly wonderful. It never lives alone, the male and female being constantly found together, and if one happens to be killed, the other seeks with the utmost fury to avenge its death. It knows and selects the destroyer from among crowds; it follows him to great distances, surmounts every obstacle, and can only he deprived of its revenge by the most speedy flight, or the intervention of some rapid river. It is difficult to say whether nature has been more pro digal of evils or remedies. For instance, she has bestowed upon this reptile, so terrible from the deadly effects of its poison, so indifferent a vision, its eyes being placed on the sides of the head so as to prevent it from seeing straight before it, that it is frequently trodden under foot before it is aware of its danger." Forskcel, a Swedish naturalist, who has written on the animals of Egypt, informs us that the jugglers of Grand Cairo have the art of taming the Haje, as those of India do the cobra capello, and teaching it to dance for the amusement of the populace ; taking care, however, to deprive it of its poison fangs, though even then they avoid its bite when irritated. The habit which this serpent has of erecting itself when approached, made the ancient Egyptians imagine that it guarded the places which it inhabited. They made it the emblem of the divinity whom they supposed to protect the world ; and accordingly they have represented it on their temples sculptured on each side of a globe.