JUNIPER. 211 



JUNIPER. 



JUNIPERUS. 



CONIFERiE. DIOECIA MONADELPHIA. 



French, le genevrier ; le genievre ; le petron : in the old writers^ 

 jupicelle ; genibretos ; cadenelo : in Languedoc, lou geniebre : in Pro- 

 vence, genibre. — Italian, il ginepro : in the Brescian, zenever : at Ve- 

 nice, brusichio. 



The Common Juniper is well adapted for potting, and 

 is the more desirable as being an evergreen. It is com- 

 mon in all the northern parts of Europe, in rich or bar- 

 ren soils, in open sandy plains, or in moist close woods : 

 it will bear the severest cold in our climate, and will re- 

 quire no other attention than to keep it clear from weeds, 

 and to give it a little water in a continued drought. 



This shrub is celebrated for its medicinal properties : a 

 sweet decoction is made from the berries, from which a 

 quantity of sugar may be obtained. The bark may be 

 made into ropes. A spirit impregnated with the essential 

 oil of the berries is known by the name of Holland gin, 

 or Hollands. The common English gin also derives part 

 of its fla,vour from these berries, but is a very compound 

 liquor. We are told by Linnaeus that the Swedes pre- 

 pare a beer from them, which they consider very efficacious 

 in scorbutic cases ; and that, for the same purpose, the 

 Laplanders drink an infusion of them, as we do tea or 

 coffee. Juniper wine is sometimes made, and is said to 

 be a very wholesome one. 



Who would suppose that the word Gin has most likely 

 a common origin with a female name famous in poetry 

 and romance — Ginevra, or Gineura? The Italian word 

 for Juniper is Ginebro, or Ginepro, which, by an alteration 



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