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to msan a churchyard only. The yews were'there on account of the sacrednesa 

 of the spot to heathen ideas ; the cross was set up there as a trophy of 

 conquest ; and in due course a Christian church arose in the citadel thus 

 supposed to have been wrested from the demons of heathenism. The Yew 

 was believed to counteract the bite of the serpent, and both the serpent and 

 the yew it should be remembered bore important parts in the Druidical 

 system. By way of addition to the list of remarkable yews given in tha 

 essay, he would just mention the fine grove of yews leading up to the 

 south door of Burghill church. From inquiries, he hid found that these 

 latter trees are about 150 years old. They are about the thickness of a man's 

 body ; and he had found that fact useful in estimating the ages of other 

 trees. The great durability of the wood, when "converted," is shown by the 

 excellent state of preservation in which the yew beams dug up at Nineveh 

 by Mr. Layard were found, and in the equally remarkable state of the yew 

 timber forming part of the submerged lake dwellings of Moosseedorf, in the 

 Canton Berne. There are some important questions about the tree while 

 living which he had hoped to hear discussed. Virgil says, »t fufiiant examina 

 taxos ; and it would be interesting to know whether the bees still avoid the 

 yew flower, because it is admitted that that is the only part of the tree which 

 is not poisonous. Again, he should like_to hear some member explain the 

 chemical reason for the poisonous operation of yew leaves upon animals, and 

 whether the poison affects all animals or only certain genera or species. 



The Rev. Mr. Jones, as the representative of the Monmouthshire Tew 

 trees, expressed his concurrence with the views of the writer of the paper. 



The discussion then dropped, and the following paper was read. 



