CHAP. XXIII. jEfiCULA CEM. yE'SCULUS. 465 



&c. Boutcher says, that it is suitable for water-pipes that are to be kept 

 constantly under ground ; and it is also reconnnended for tills purpose by 

 Du Hamei. The charcoal of the horsechestnut may be used in the manu- 

 facture of gunpowder ; and the ashes of every part of the plant, more es- 

 pecially of the fruit, afford potash in considerable quantit}'. The bark, which 

 is very bitter, is employed for tanning, and also for dyeing yellow ; and it has 

 been used medicinally as a substitute for Jesuits' bark. In Turkey, the nuts 

 are ground, and mixed with horse food, especially whcnthe horses are broken- 

 winded : and, in their natural state, they are eaten b}' goats, sheep, and deer. 

 Rutty says the nuts are an excellent food for deer and hogs : they also pos- 

 sess a detergent quality, and serve, in some degree, as a soap. They are used 

 in Ireland to whiten flaxen cloth, and for this pui-pose arc rasped into water, 

 in which they are allowed to macerate for some time. (Nat. Hist, of the County 

 of Dublin, \o\.\. p. 107.) The nuts, when ground into flour, and mixed in 

 the proportion of one third with the flour of wheat, are said to add to the 

 strength of bookbinder's paste. {Alecli. Jlcig., vol. viii. p. 223.) M. Vergaud 

 has proposed to change the starch which can be extracted from the nut 

 into sugar, and afterwards to employ it in distillation. (Gard. Mag., vol. i. 

 p. 318.) Parmentier, in his Xouveau Dictionnaire d' Histoirc Katurelle, after 

 noticing most of the uses to which tiiis tree and its nuts have been applied, 

 says, it appears, after all, that no use applicable to every-ilay i)ur[)oses has 

 yet been discovered respecting it. (See Baudnllart, Trailc, Sfc, torn. ii. 

 p. 364.) In Britain, the horsechestnut can only be considered as an orna- 

 mental tree, and, as such, is well known, and needs no eulogium. It produces 

 a splendid effect when in flower, either singly, in avenues, or on the margins 

 of plantations. The finest avenue of these trees in England is that at 

 Bushy Park. Gilpin objects to the horsechestnut, as being lumpish in its 

 form ; but in saying this he evidently judged of the tree merely with re- 

 ference to picturesque beauty, to which it has few pretensions till it 

 becomes very old : whereas, in point of floral beauty, it and its several 

 varieties, or races, are unequalled by any tree of equal size which will endure 

 our climate. A very remarkable vegetable principle, called zesculine, which is 

 found in this genus, and which is said to possess alkaline properties, and to act 

 as a febrifuge, is mentioned in Stephenson and Churchill's Medical Botani/, 

 vol. ii. Miss Kent states that the fruit is not only sometimes ground and 

 given to horses, but that deer are very fond of it, and that it is given to sheep, 

 in a raw state, or when made into a paste, after maceration in lime watei', to 

 fatten them. Soap and starch have also been procured from these nuts. (Mag. 

 Nat. Hist., iii. p. 133.) 



Poetical [and legendary Allusions. The horsechestnut, where allowed to 

 attain its |)roper shape on a lawn, is certainly a most magnificent tree. Some 

 authors have compared it to an immense lustre or chantlelier, its long racemes 

 of flowers tapering up from its drooping foliage like lights. A horsechestnut 

 tree, in full flower, has been called by Daines Barrington a giant's nosegay; 

 and in the ^lag. Xat. Hist., vol. iv. p. 238., an eloquent descriiition of this 

 tree has been given by Mr. Dovaston, who compares its racemes of flowers to 

 those of a gigantic hyacinth. Miss Kent, in the same work, vol. iii. p. 135., 

 calls it a Brobdignagian lupine. In Paris, the magnificent trees in the garden 

 at the Luxembourg have been celebrated by Castel. 



" La (le marroniers les hautcs avenues 

 S'arrondissent en voCite, et nous cachent Ics nues." ' 



The manner in which it scatters its flowers on the grass, and the comparative 

 uselessness of its fruit and timber, make it an excellent emblem of ostentation. 



Soil, Situation, S)-c. The horsechestnut requires a deep, free, loamy soil, 

 and will neither attain an ample size, nor flower freely, except in a situation 

 rather sheltered than exposed. In England, it seldom suffers by the fi'ost in 

 spring; and the severest of our winters do not injure either its young shoots 

 or its buds, which are covered with a resinous gluten. Tlic s[)ccics is always 



K K 2 



