346 plint's NATURAL HISTOEY. [Book XVI. 



their several localities. The quercus 43 and the robur 43 we 

 see growing everywhere, but not so with the resculus ; 44 while 

 a fourth kind, known as the eerrus, 45 is not so much as known 

 throughout the greater part of Italy. "We shall distinguish 

 them, therefore, by their characteristic features, and when 

 circumstances render it necessary, shall give their Greek names 

 as well. 



CHAP. 7. (6.) — THE BEECH. 



The acorn of the beech 46 is similar in appearance to a kernel, 

 enclosed in a shell of triangular shape. The leaf is thin and 

 one of the very lightest, is similar in appearance to that of the 

 poplar, and turns yellow with remarkable rapidity. From the 

 middle of the leaf, and upon the upper side of it, there mostly 

 shoots a little green berry, with a pointed top. 47 The beech is 

 particularly agreeable to rats and mice ; and hence it is, that 

 where this tree abounds, those creatures are sure to be plen- 

 tiful also. The leaves are also very fattening for dormice, 

 and good for thrushes too. Almost all trees bear an average 

 crop but once in two years ; this is the case with the beech 

 more particularly. 



CHAP. 8. THE OTHER ACORNS — WOOD EOR FUEL. 



The other trees that bear acorns, properly so called, are the 



42 The word u quercus " is frequently used as a general name for the 

 oak ; but throughout the present Book it is most employed as meaning a 

 distinct variety of the oak, one of the larger kinds, Fee says, and answering 

 to the Quercus racemosa of Lamarck, the Quercus robur of Linnaeus, and 

 the Rouvre of the French. 



43 This also has been much employed as a general name for the oak ; hut 

 here, and in other parts of this Book, it is applied to one variety. Fee 

 thinks that it answers to the Quercus sessiliflora of Smith, sometimes also 

 called " rouvre" by the French. 



44 The Quercus eesculus of Linnaeus. It is not improbable that this oak 

 is a different tree from the "iEsculus " of Horace and Virgil, which was 

 perhaps either a walnut, or a variety of the beech. 



45 It has been suggested that this is the same with the Quercus eerrus of 

 Linneous, and the Quercus crinita of Lamarck, the gland of which is placed 

 in a prickly cupule. It is rarely found in France, but is often to be met 

 with in Piedmont and the Apennines. 



46 The Fagus silvatica of Lamarck. Its Latin name, "fagus,"_is supposed 

 to have been derived from the Greek 0ayu> ? " to eat." An oil is extracted 

 from the acorns or nuts, that is much used in some parts of France. 



47 He speaks probably of one of the galls which are found attached to 

 the leaves *of the forest trees. 



