138 ULMACE^ 



and other large towns, for this tree will bear an atmosphere which is unsuited 

 to many others ; and the magnificent Elms of Hyde Park and Kensington 

 Gardens are highly prized by those who dwell in the crowded neighbour- 

 hood, affording, as they do, a welcome shadow. Thousands could say, with 

 Milton— 



" Not always city-pent nor pent at home 



I dwell ; but when Spring calls me forth to roam, 



Expatiate in our proud suburban shades 



Of liranching Elms that never sun pervades." 



Scattered over our country, too, are numerous Elms, interesting from 

 their old associations. Mr. Jesse mentions that one of the Elm-trees standing 

 near the passage leading fi'om St. James's Park into Spring Gardens was 

 planted by the Duke of Gloucester, brother to Charles I. ; and that as the 

 hapless monarch passed it on his way to Whitehall, on the morning of his 

 execution, he pointed out the tree to one of his attendants. The Elm at 

 Chipstead Park, in Kent, is remarkable for its great age and size, being 

 sixty feet high, and having a base twenty feet in circumference. The 

 Gospel Elm at Stratford-upon-Avon once served as a parish boundary, 

 beneath whose shadow were read and sung those portions of Holy Writ 

 which our fathers used in the processions of Rogation Day, reminding us of 



Herrick's lines : — 



" Bury me 

 Under that Holy Oke, or Gospel tree, 

 When, though thou see'st not, thou mayst think upon 

 Me, when thou yearly go'st Procession." 



Many compound names of places of which Elm forms a part are to be 

 found in Domesday Book, the drawing up of which was concluded in 1086 ; 

 and many well-known names yet seem to hint at the existence in olden 

 times of Elms in their neighbourhood. We have Elm in Cambridgeshire and 

 in Somersetshire ; and Elmbridge, Elmdon, Elmer, Elmstead, Elmhurst, Elm- 

 ham, and Elmington, in various parts of the kingdom ; yet the Common Elm 

 is, by many writers, not considered indigenous, and the small-leaved 

 variety, which is found principally in Norfolk and Sussex, and which yields 

 better wood than any other of our Elms, is said to have been introduced 

 from Palestine by the Crusaders. 



Our fathers drew from the leaves and roots of the Elms medicines for 

 various disorders ; both these and the bark have an astringent property, and 

 are somewhat mucilaginous ; while the chemists of modern days detect in 

 them gallic acid and supertartrate of potash ; and Klaproth obtained from 

 the inner bark a peculiar principle called ulmine. The decoction of Elm- 

 bark, used both as a lotion and internal medicine, has considerable repute as 

 a remedy for diseases of the skin, and it was regarded in old times as 

 " certainly very effectual to cleanse the skin and make it fair," while the water 

 in which the root was boiled was used to prevent the falling off of the hair. 

 Our ancestors were accustomed to bruise the leaves also, and lay them upon 

 wounds; and the ground bark Avas considered a useful application to the 

 gouty limb. The inner bark of the Elm is, in the North of Europe, com- 

 monly reduced to powder, and, mixed with meal, made up into bread ; but 

 it affords very little nutriment. The leaves were formerly much used in 



