The Scottish Naturalist. 27 



used. From the purplish-black berries a wine is made, by no 

 means despicable when mulled ; and from the same part a pre- 

 paration for colds, etc., is also prepared. The flowers are made 

 into wine also, and the cluster of flower buds is said to make a 

 delicious pickle to eat with mutton. Tea, even (which cannot, 

 however, be recommended), has been made from the dried 

 flowers. It is said not to be prudent to sleep under the shade 

 of the tree, from its narcotic properties. 



The Crow-berry (Empeirum nigrum L.) is one of those 

 plants which clothe our mountain sides in great abundance, and 

 whose very name brings to the memory of the naturalist many 

 pleasant days on the hills, when the watery berries have been 

 eagerly sought for, to allay the thirst that a too eager pursuit of 

 his treasures — be they animal or tegetable — under the broiling 

 sun, has induced. In this country the berries are always 

 purple-black, but in North America they are often purple, and 

 in South America red. I was at one time rather puzzled to 

 account for the name of the Crow-berry, for, though both the 

 berry and the crow are of the same colour, yet that did not 

 seem a sufficient reason why the Empetrum should be called 

 Crow-berry. My friend, Mr. J. W. H. Traill, however, told me 

 that he once saw a lot of hoodie-crows feeding on the berries, 

 and that fact, I think, explains the name. I was not aware till 

 recently that a jam could be made from Crow-berries, but it 

 seems that they are not very unfrequently so used. To my 

 idea, the taste of this jam is not agreeable. In large quantities 

 the berries are said to occasion headache. In Iceland and 

 Norway, a kind of wine is made from them. With alum, the 

 berries dye a dark purple. 



We now come to the genus Vaccinium, of which all the 

 British species produce an edible fruit. As the fruit in each 

 species has different qualities, it will be well to consider them 

 in detail. 



The Blaeberry ( Vaccinium myrtillus L.). I imagine that 

 few people would declare the fruit of this plant to be neither 

 agreeable nor wholesome, and yet that is the judgment that the 

 great botanist, Sir J. E. Smith, " dignissimus LitMesi hceres" 

 pronounced upon them. Dr. Johnston delivers a different 

 opinion — "good plucked from the bush, better when eaten with 

 cream in the manner of strawberries." They also make good 

 jam or jelly, which last the highlanders are said to flavour with 

 whisky. The Blaeberry is one of the few wild fruits that are 



