EVSRGUEEN BOX-TREE. 43T 



rosary-beads, forks, spoons, buttons, and numerous other articles. The wood o( 

 some roots is more beautirully marbled, or veined, than that of others; and the 

 articles manufactured from tliem, as well as from the warty excrescences, vary 

 in price accordingly. Articles formed of the trunk, arc easily distinguished from 

 those of the root, when the wood is cut transversely, by that of the trunk alwayr 

 displaying a beautiful and very regular star, wliicli is never the case with that of 

 the root. Box-wood is very apt to split in drying ; and, to prevent this, the French 

 turners put the wood, designed for their finest works, into a dark cellar, as soon 

 as it is cut, where they keep it from three to five years, according to circum- 

 stances. At the expiration of the given time, they cut otf the sap-wood with a 

 hatchet, and place the heart-wood again in the cellar till it is wanted for the 

 lathe. For the most delicate articles, the wood is soaked for twenty-four hours, 

 in very clear, fresh water, and then boiled for some time. When taken out of 

 the boiling water, it is wiped quite dry, and then buried, till wanted for use, in 

 .^'and, or bran, so as to completely exclude it fiom the light and air. Articles 

 made of the wood thus prepared, resemble, in appearance, what is called, in Eng- 

 land, Tunbridge ware. Olivier de Serres, in the " Theatre d'Agriculture," recom- 

 mends the branches and leaves of the box, as by far the best maiuire for the grape ; 

 not only because it is very common in the sonth of France, but becanse there is 

 no plant, that by its decomposition, which affords a greater quantity of vegetable 

 mould. The spray of the box, though it burns very slowly, is much esteemed, 

 also, in France, as fuel for lime-kilns, brick-kilns, ovens, &c., where a great and 

 lasting heat is required. 



The other uses of the box, in former times, were various ; but many of them, 

 doubtless, are forgotten. The bark and leaves are bitter, and have a disagreea- 

 ble smell ; and a decoction of them, when taken in large doses, is said to be pur- 

 gative; and, in small doses, sudorific. An empyreumatic oil is extracted from 

 them, which is said to cure the toothache, and some other disorders. A tincture 

 was once made from them, which was a celebrated specific in Germany for 

 intermittent fevers ; but, the secret having been purchased, and made pnblic by 

 Joseph I., the medicine fell into disuse. The box is said to enter into the compo- 

 sition of various medicated oils, for strengthening and increasing the growth of th 

 hair ; and Parkinson says that " the leaves and saw-dust, boiled in lye, will change 

 the hair to an auburn colour." It is stated in Dodsley's " London Annual Regis- 

 ter," that, in the year 17G2, "A yonng woman of Grunburg, in Lower Silesia, 

 had a malignant dysentery, and lost her hair. She washed her head, and acci- 

 dentally her face and neck, with a decoction of box-wood, and her whole face 

 and neck were soon covered with red hairs." Pliny afiirms that no animal will 

 eat the seeds of the box ; and it is said that its leaves are particularly poisonous 

 to camels. It is also asserted by many authors that box-trees are never cropped 

 by cattle. 



In modern gardening, the Buxus sempervirens forms a most valuable ever- 

 green shrub or low tree. It is more particularly eligible as an undergrowth 

 in ornamental plantations; where, partially shaded by other trees, its leaves 

 assume a deeper green, and shine more conspicu(Misly. :\o\t to the liolly, it has 

 the most beautiful appearance in winter, more es})ocially wlit-n the ground is cov- 

 ered with snow. The variegated sorts are admissible as objects of curiosity ; but, 

 as they are apt to lose their variegation when planted in the shade, and as in the 

 full light, their green is frequently of a sickly, yellowish hue, they certainly can- 

 not be recommended as ornamental. 



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