164 ENGLISH BOTANY. 
and torn dresses to secure the ripe black fruit so much prized by youthful appetites ? 
We can well remember with what joy we have set forth on a bright September day, 
crooked stick in hand, and an empty basket slung over the arm, to return in the evening 
with hands and face dyed with the purple juice, and enough fruit to furnish the larder 
with tarts and pies for many a day. We can speak with certainty of the advantage of 
a few slices of apple mixed with the Blackberries in tarts, and we have eaten a delicious 
jam or “rob” made in Scotland of Blackberries, not inferior to any other fruit. This 
species of Bramble is more common than any other, and also attains a greater size. 
The fruits are called in some parts of England ‘ bumblekites,” and in others “ scald- 
berries,” from the notion that they give children the “scald head ;” but, as they have 
been eaten abundantly by young folks since the time of Pliny, we doubt the 
imputation, In some parts of France they are called mires sawvages (wild mul- 
berries), and are used for colouring wine : and the red muscat of Toulon is so coloured. 
In French Guiana, the fruit is gathered and given to pigs. The leaves are sometimes 
used for feeding silkworms, as a substitute for mulberry-leaves. In the hot summer of 
1858, a number of cocoons of the silkworm were found upon some Brambles in Kent, the 
caterpillars having probably been hatched from some eggs accidentally scattered there. 
The silk produced was of good quality. The caterpillars seemed to have fed on various 
wild plants in the vicinity, as well as on the Bramble-leaves. Whether silkworms 
could be successfully reared here in that manner in ordinary seasons is very doubtful ; 
but it would be worth a trial. The strong stiff stems of the Bramble make the best 
standards for kites, according to country boys, and the pliable ones are used for binding 
down thatch, being pegged down to prevent the straw being blown away by the wind, 
and also for the same purpose in beehives. In country churchyards we find them used 
for binding down graves, in the manner of osier-twigs. The green branches yield a 
black dye, which has been used to dye woollen and silk. According to Gerarde, a 
decoction of the leaves with honey makes a good and astringent gargle. The other 
species of Rubus yield edible fruits. 
Group I—SUBERECTI. Bad. 
Barren stems usually sub-erect, not rooting at the end, 
glabrous or with distant hairs, destitute of gland-tipped sete; 
prickles nearly uniform. Sepals with a narrow white-felted border 
externally. 
Sus-Speecres .—Rubus suberectus. Anders. 
Pirate CCCCXLIV. 
Bab, Man. Brit. Bot. ed. v. p. 97. 
Barren stem erect or sub-erect, not rooting at the apex, 
angular with the angles obtuse at the top, smooth; prickles 
mostly confined to the angles of the stem, few, small, straight, 
from a narrow compressed base. Leaves of the barren stem 
quinate, ternate, or accidentally pinnate (from the central leaflet 
being divided into 3); leaflets thin, flat, rather finely serrate ; 
terminal leaflet ovate, cordate at the base, acuminate at the apex; 
