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ASTEROIDS 313 ASTOB Now, it is a vast order, comprising the whole of the compositee proper. It in- cludes plants like the daisy, the thistle, the dandelion, and others, possessing what, to a superficial observer, appears like a calyx, but is in reality an in- volucre, surrounding a receptacle on which are situated not, as might at first sight appear, numerous petals, but many florets. They are believed to constitute about one-tenth of the flowering plants. They are everywhere diffused, but in different proportions in different coun- tries; thus they constitute one-seventh of the flowering plants of France, and half those of tropical America. The order is divided into three sub-orders : (1) hibull- floras; (2) lahiatiflmse ; and (3) liguli- florae. All are bitter. For more specific information regarding their qualities see the sub-orders and some of the genera. ASTEROIDS. See Planetoids. ASTEROLEPIS, a genus of ganoid fishes named on account of the starry color of its scales. ASTEROPHYLLITES (-fil-i'tez), a genus of cryptogamous plants, allied to calamites, belonging to the order equise- t^cess. All are fossil, and belong to the carboniferous period. Their name was given on account of the starry appear- ance of the verticillate foliage. Their stems were articulated and branched, and it is now known that the fossils termed volkmannia constituted their fructification. ASTHMA, a chronic shortness of breath, from whatever cause it may arise. It is most common in persons possessing the nervous temperament. After some precursory symptoms, it commences, often at night, with a parox- ysm in which there is a great tightness and constriction of the chest. It is pro- duced by a morbid contraction of the bronchial muscles. There are two lead- ing varieties of the disease, a nervous and a catarrhal, the former of pure sympathetic and symptomatic forms, and the latter latent, humeral and mu- cous chronic sub-varieties, besides an acute congestive, and an acute catarrhal, form. ASTI (as'te) (Asta Pompeia), a city of Piedmont, Italy, in the province of Alessandria, on the left bank of the Tanaro, 35 miles E. S. E. of Turin by rail. It has a large Gothic cathedral, which was completed about 1348, and a royal college. There is carried on a considerable trade in silk and woolen fabrics, hats, leather, and agricultural produce. Asti spuma/nte, a sparkling wine, is highly esteemed. The city is of high antiquity, having been famous for its pottery before its capture by the Gauls in 400 B. c. On the occasion of its being again taken and destroyed in an irruption of the Gauls, it was rebuilt by Pompey, and received the name of Asta Pompeia. In the Middle Ages, Asti was one of the most powerful republics of upper Italy. It was captured and burned by the Emperor Frederick I. in 1155, and, after a series of vicis- situdes, came into the possession of the Visconti of Naples ; by them it was ceded to the French, in whose hands it remained till the middle of the 16th century, when the Dukes of Savoy acquired it. Alfieri was born here, 1749. Pop. about 45,000. ASTOR, JOHN JACOB, an American merchant, born in Waldorf, Germany, July 17, 1763. In 1783 he came to the United States and engaged in buying furs from the Indians and selling them to dealers. His success in the fur business led him to become the owner of a number of vessels in which he shipped furs to London and brought merchandise there- from. In furtherance of a scheme for becoming independent of the Hudson Bay Company and establishing a thoroughly American system of fur trading, he sent out expeditions to open up intercourse with the Indians on the Pacific coast, by which the present city of Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia river in Oregon was planted in 1811. An inter- esting outline of his projects in this con- nection is given in Washington Irving's "Astoria." Mr. Astor acquired large wealth, invested heavily in real estate in New York City; and at his death left a fortune estimated at $20,000,000, and the sum of $400,000,, with which to found a public library in New York City. He died March 29, 1848. ASTOR, JOHN JACOB, an American capitalist, born in Rhinebeck, N. Y., July 13, 1864; great grandson of John Jacob, graduated from Harvard Univer- sity in 1888. In 1897 he built the As- toria Hotel in New York, adjoining the Waldorf Hotel, which had been built by his cousin, William Waldorf Astor, and subsequently the two were united under the name of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. He was appointed Colonel on the staff of Gov. Morton; was commis- sioned a Lieutenant-Colonel of Vol- unteers in May, 1898, and served on inspection and staff duty in the United States and Cuba till the surrender of Santiago. He published "A Journey