76 EXTIRPATIOlSr OF VEGETABLES. 



haccata, formerly very common in England, Germany, and — as 

 we are authorized to infer from Theophrastus — ^in Greece, has 

 almost wholly disappeared from the latter country, and seems to 

 be dying out in Germany. The wood of the yew surpasses that 

 of almost any other European tree in closeness and fineness of 

 grain, and it is well known for the elasticity which of old made 

 it so great a favorite with the English archer. It is much in 

 request among wood-carvers and turners, and the demand for it 

 explains, in part, its increasing scarcity. It is also asserted that 

 scarcely any insect depends upon it for food or shelter, or aids in 

 its fructification, and birds very rarely feed upon its berries. 

 These are circumstances of no small importance, because the tree 

 hence wants means of propagation or diffusion common to so 

 many other plants.* But it is alleged — though apparently on 

 insufficient evidence, for it is certainly reproduced in England 

 like other wild trees — that the reproductive power of the yew in 

 Germany is exhausted, and that it can no longer be readily prop- 

 agated by the natural sowing of its seeds, or by artificial methods. 

 If further investigation and careful experiment should establish 

 this fact, it wiU go far to show that a chmatic change, of a char- 

 acter unfavorable to the growth of the yew, has really taken 

 place in Germany, though not yet proved by instrumental ob- 

 servation, and the most probable cause of such change would be 

 found in the diminution of the area covered by the forests. 



The industry of man is said to have been so successful in the 



disappeared entirely ; at any rate its present existence in either of these regions 

 is disputed. The SilpMum of Greek and Roman commerce appears to have 

 come almost wholly from Cyrene, that from the Asiatic deserts being gener- 

 ally of less value, or, as Strabo says, perhaps of an inferior variety. The 

 province near Cyrene which produced it was very limited, and according to 

 Strabo (ed. Casaubou, p. 837), it was at one time almost entirely extirpated by 

 the nomade Africans who invaded the province and rooted out the plant. 



The vegetable which produced the Balm of Qilead has not been identified in 

 modem times, although the localities in which it anciently grew have been 

 carefully explored. 



* I am informed by my friend, Sir Alexander Malet, that the above remarks 

 can not fairly be applied to the yew in England — that the common blackbird 

 and various kinds of thrush feed readily on its berries, and that, consequently, 

 young plants are continually springing up in the neighborhood of the old trees. 

 He adds his belief that these plants, if left entirely to themselves, would 

 almost completely extirpate every other arborescent growth. 



