AS'AFCET'IDA, or ASSAFCETIDA (Lat., fetid asa or assa). A gum-resin, which has been supposed to he identical with the exuded juice of the Si/phion of Dioscorides, so highly esteemed among the Greek physicians; but this, perhaps, was rather the .1sa du/cis (q.v.). This drug is brought from Persia, Turkestan, and Afghanistan. and is procured by drying the milky juice which flows from the root of the &rata fatida. The root is long, and generally undi vided; white inside, hut having a black covering; and contains in its interior a quantity of juice of an overpowering odor, which much resembles that of garlic. About April the root-leaves are taken away, and the root' itself is more or less exposed by removal of the soil from about it. After a lapse of six weeks, a slice is cut hori zontally from its summit and a thick white juice exudes, the smell of which even exceeds in strength that of the drug when dry. The drug is sometimes met with in the market in the form of tears, but more frequently in lumps, which are made up of irregularly shaped tears, aggluti nated together by a softer substance. Asafetida is used in medicine, and possesses stimulant. car minative. and antispasmodic properties. It is most useful in minor hysteria• and from its carminative action, in tympanitis or distention of the intestines with gas. When taken inter
nally it undergoes absorption, and may be de tected in almost every secretion of the body, as the saliva, breath, and urine. It is composed mainly of resin and gum. with a few per Pent. of oil of garlic and a small amount of fernlaic acid. ln many parts of the East asafoetida is used as a condiment.
ASAM, ;Vs:1m A family of Bavarian artists. IlAxs GEono (died 1698) prepared several oil paintings and frescoes for the churches at Munich, Denediktbeuren, and Tege•nsee. He later gave instruction in architeetu•e at Prague.
His sons, COSMAS DAMIAN (1“80-1742), painter, and :ECIDII'S QUTRINUS (died c.1746), sculptor and worker in stucco, studied at Rome, and settled at Munich about 1715. They completely remodeled the cathedral of Freising, and deco rated the monasteries of Maria-Einsiedeln and Metten and the Church of Saint Emmeram. at Ratisbon. They built the so-called Congrega tion Hall at Involstadt. and at their own ex pense constructed the church of Saint John, be sides their dwelling in Munich. which building, with its numerous fantastic features, is in some respects one of the most striking specimens of time baroque style of architecture in Germany.