Asparagus
a plant of the order liliaceæ, the young shoots of wnich, cut as they are emerging from the ground, are a favorite culinary vegetable. In Greece, and especially in the southern steppes of Russia and Poland, it is found in profusion; and its edible qualities were esteemed by the ancients. It is usually raised from seed; and the plants should remain three years in the ground before they are cut; after which, for 10 or 12 years, they will continue to afford a regular annual supply. The beds are protected by straw or litter in winter. Its diuretic properties are as- ASPASIA cribed to the presence of a crystalline substance found also in the potato, lettuce, etc.
ASPASIA (as-pā'zē-a), a celebrated Grecian, belonging to a family of some note in Miletus, and was early distinguished for her graces of mind and person. She went to Athens after the Persian War, and by her beauty and accomplishments soon attracted the attention of the leading men of that city. She engaged the affections of Pericles, who is said to have divorced his former wife in order to marry her. Their union was harmonious throughout. Their house was the resort of the wisdom and wit of Athens. Plato says that she formed the best speakers of her time, and, chief among them, Pericles himself.
The sage Socrates was a frequent visitor at her salons, drawn thither, it is insinuated, by the double attraction of eloquence and beauty. Anaxagoras, Phidias, and Alcibiades were also numbered among her admirers. The envy which assailed the administration of Pericles was unsparing in its attacks on his mistress. Her fearless speculation aroused their superstitious zeal. She shared the impeachment, and narrowly escaped the fate, of her friend Anaxagoras. She was accused by Hermippus of disloyalty to the gods, and of introducing freed women into her house to gratify the impure tastes of Pericles. He himself pleaded her cause triumphantly, and Aspasia was acquitted. She survived Pericles some years.