REMARKS ON THE LIME, OR LINDEN TREE. 233 



was planted in St. James's Park ; and we find it was also frequently 

 planted in country towns, and trimmed up to screen the windows 

 from the sun ; for which purpose it was well adapted, both on account 

 of the fragrance of its flowers and its shade, which is not required 

 after the time the linden throws off its leaves ; and few trees were 

 found to bear clipping better than this, as it soon heals the wounds 

 that are caused by the knife ; and the branches are so tough that 

 they seldom suffer by the wind, and were found to bear so great a 

 weight that platforms were laid on them, and arbours made in the 

 tree, one over the other. Dr. Turner says he had seen one in Ger- 

 many with a table on it, around which ten men could sit. Parkinson 

 also notices one which he had seen at Cobham in Kent, that formed 

 three arbours over each other, " which was a goodly spectacle." 



The leaves of this tree begin to open about the middle of April, 

 and are generally fully expanded by the 20th of that month. The 

 flowers begin to open by the middle of May, but are not in their full 

 beauty before the middle of July. They are in some degree similar 

 to those of hawthorn, but neither so white nor quite so large, and the 

 flower-stalk is attached to a whitish tongue-shaped leaf. Their fra- 

 grance is agreeable to most people, and very attractive to the indus- 

 trious swarm, for 



" the bee 



Sits on the bloom, extracting liquid sweet 

 Deliriously." 



But it is observed that no animal will eat the fruit or seed of the 

 linden tree. Columella recommends the leaves as a good fodder for 

 cattle. 



A coarse cloth was formerly made of the inner thready bark, but it 

 was more generally used for cordage, because it has the property of 

 remaining in the water without rotting. The Greeks made bottles of 

 the middle bark of the linden, which were lined with pitch to prevent 

 leakage. 



It is said that no wood chars better than this for the purpose of 

 gunpowder. It is also turned into bowls and dishes, and little pill- 

 boxes were made of it before those of paper were invented. 



The flowers were formerly held in esteem by the apothecaries, 

 being accounted cephalic and nervine, and good for the apoplexy, 

 epilepsy, and palpitation of the heart, &c. They were sometimes 



