CATKIN-BEARING TEIBP: 175 



the leaf itself. This footstalk is flattened Aertically at the upper part, and 

 by this form counteracts the ordinary waving motion of leaves in the wind, 

 and hence the quiA'ering movement. This is the earliest flowering Poplar, 

 its catkins appearing in March. It will, in dry soils, live many years, but it 

 never attains the size of the Abele. The roots lie very near the surface of 

 the soil, and Avere considered by Dr. Withering so to impoverish the land as 

 to prevent other plants from thriving near it ; and he thought, too, that the 

 \ea\es destroyed the grass. The foliage of the Aspen is, however, in countries 

 Avherc it is -abundant, of much ^-alue as food for cattle, and both in France 

 and Germany it is used for this purpose, both when green and dried. Many 

 owners of these trees cut regularly, every two years, the leaves and spray ; 

 and sheep are so fond of this food that the foliage sometimes constitutes the 

 chief worth of the Aspens. The teudenc}' of the wood of this tree to crack 

 and split lessens its value, but it may be employed in bixildings in dry places, 

 and is well fitted for heating ovens ; while, being white and tender, it is 

 used by turners, and the white pails which hold the whiter milk of the dairy 

 are often made of Aspen-wood. It serves for clogs and sabots, and is of old 

 i-epute as the best wood for the m.aking of pattens. This last manufacture 

 has, for some years past, been on the decline, for pattens are now but of 

 rustic use, though, even at the commencement of the present century, they 

 were commonly worn in wet weather by ladies. But in past times pattens 

 formed part of a gentleman's daily costume; and Camden, in his "Remains," 

 tells how "their shoes and pattens are snowted and piked, more than a finger 

 long upwards." The Church of St. Mary's-at-Hill, whose old records still 

 bear evidence of many a long-discarded usage, has its item, in 1491, for 

 "ij paire of pattens for the priest." Mr. Albert Way mentions that, in 1464, 

 the craft of " jiatyn-makers " petitioned the Crown that the statute of the 4th 

 of Henry V., which forbade them to use the Avood of the Aspen-tree, as being 

 that which was used by the fletchers, might be repealed — representing that 

 "it was the best and lightest timber to make of patyns and clogges." 



The bark of the Aspen is somewhat astringent, and, as well as that of the 

 White and Black Poplars, has been used for tanning. In the Highlands of 

 Scotland it is sometimes biu-ned for torches. When powdered, the bark 

 is given as a medicine to domestic animals ; and in Russia, where the tree 

 is frequent, this bark is commonly prescribed by the physician to his patient. 



The Aspen grows in high latitudes, and is found near the Frozen Ocean ; 

 while it is abundant also throughout Southern Europe and in Asia Minor, 

 usually preferring low soils, but found on some of the highest mountains of 

 Scotland. It is called by the French, Le Tremhle, and l)y the Italians, La 

 Trcinclla, as Avell as L'Alhcndlo and L'Alberctfo. The Germans term it Ziffer- 

 happel, and Eqje ; and the last name is probably the origin of oitr Aspen 

 and Aspe. In Norfolk, the tree is commonly called Ebble. It is thought 

 Iw most botanists to be the only species of Poplar indigenous to this 

 kingdom. 



4. Black Poplar {!'. lu'i/ni). — Leaves triangular, narrowing to a point, 

 serrated and smooth on both sides ; stipules egg-shaped and pointed ; stigmas 

 4, simple, spreading ; scales of the catkins cut into segments nearly to the 

 middle. If we happen to glance from the Altcle, when the \\'ind turns up 



