l^aO AUUOItK'lUIM AND l-RUTlCLTUiM. I'A HT IJI. 



One buslii'l of nuts will yield 1 J Hi. of [xjulfil anil clear kernels, and these half as many puunds of oil. 

 The small thic-k-shelled fruit, other circumstances being the same, always yields more oil in proportion 

 to their bulk, ihaii the large, or thin-shelled, fruit. A very interesting account of the mode of prepar. 

 iiig tlic walnuts for lieiug crushed for oil, and of tiie various uses to which the fruit is applied in Pied- 

 mont will be found in Bakewell's Trnivls in the Taroitaisc. 



Alkaline Ashes. A fulUsized walnut tree, Uosc, in IS'.'iJ, slates, will produce two sacks of nuts, 

 worth I'i francs ; and, if the leaves which fall, or are knocked down from the tree, are burned, they 

 will give a third part of their weight in poUashes, which are valued at 6 francs ; thus giving a total 

 increase jicr annum which, at li per cent, represents a capital of .JCK) francs. The tree, the same 

 author states, is particularly valuable for a cultivator without much floating capital ; for he has known 

 repeatedly a prinluct in fruit and ashes of KK) IVaucs, procured at a total expense of not more than 

 ;!() francs ; and that this sum was expended almost entirely in manual labour, with scarcely any>id 

 from building or machinery. 



JMcdicinally, the use of the wahiut is of the greatest antiquity. It is said to 

 have been one of the antidotes used by Mithridates. Pliny recommends it 

 " for driving worms out of the stomacli ;" aiul adds tliat, " eaten after onions, 

 they keep them from rising." (Book xxiii. c. 18.) An extract of the unripe 

 fruit is used by rustic practitioners for tlie destruction of worms : the fruit 

 itseU is stomachic ; and the bark, either green, or dried and [)owdered, is a 

 powerful emetic. The root is said to be purgative and diuretic; and a de- 

 coction of the wood, siidorific. The sap of the leaves, mixed with milk, is 

 considerei! a reinetly for horses having the fistula. Evelyn tells us that the 

 iuisks and leaves, being macerated in warm water, and that liquor poured on 

 grass walks and bowling-greens, infallibly kills the worms, without endangering 

 the grass. Not, says Dr. Hunter, that there is anything peculiarly noxious 

 in this decoction, but worms cannot bear the a[)plication of anything bitter to 

 their bodies ; which is the reason that bitters, such as gentian, are the best 

 destroyers of worms lodged in the bowels of animals. Worms are seldom 

 observeil in the intestines of the human body, except in cases where the 

 bile is either weak or deficient. (Hunter's Ere/., p. 178. note.) Philii)s states 

 tliat anglers water the ground with a decoction of walnut leaves, to cause the 

 worms to come to the surface of the ground, when they pick them up for 

 bait. The leaves, dried and mixed with those of tobacco, are said to have 

 similar virtues to those of that plant. An extract of the imripe fruit, and 

 also a rob prepared from its juice, are laxative; and the vinegar in which 

 walnuts have been pickled is a very useful gargle. 



Foeticdl and legendary Allunions. The walnut tree was dedicated to Diana, 

 and the festivals of that goddess were held beneath its shade. The Greeks 

 and Romans, as before observed, strewed walnuts at their weildings. 

 Horace, Virgil, Catullus, and many of the other Latin poets, allude to this 

 custom, which [)robably had reference to the bride's deserting the ranks of 

 Diana (to whom, as we have seen above, the walnut wda dedicated,) for those 

 of Hymen (see p. 1426.); and there is an allusion to it in Herrick's Epilha- 

 Uimium on Sir Thomas Southwell and his lady : — 



" Now bar the door — the bridegroom puts 

 The eager boys to gather nuts." 



1S[)enscr mentions walnuts as employetl in Christmas games ; and many other 

 British poets mention it for different (jualities. Cowley, however, has 

 enumeratetl so many of the [)roj)erties, which the walnut was believed to 

 possess in his day, that we give the passage entire : — 



" The walnut then approached, more large and taU, 

 Her fruit which we a nut, the gods an acorn call : 

 Jove's acorn, wliiili doo.s no small praise confess, 

 T ve called it in^ui'.-- ambrosia had been loss ; 

 Nor can this head-like nut, shaped like the brain, 

 Within be said that t'lrni by change to gain. 

 Or C'aryon called by learned (irccks in vain : 

 Kor membranes soft as silk her kerml bind. 

 Whereof the inmost is of tendere.-.t kind, 

 Jyike those which on the brain of man we tiiid. 

 All which are in a seain-ji)ine<l shell enclosed. 

 Which of this brain the skull may be supposed. 

 This very skull enveloped is again 

 In a green coat, her pericranium. 

 Lastly, that no objection may remain. 

 To thwart her near alliance with the brain, 

 She nourishes the hair, remembering how 

 iJcrself dei'orm'd, without her leaves docs show. 



