CHAP. LXI. CORNa'cE^. BENTHA'M/^. 1019 



nor has he yet seen any plants which have produced fruit in England. 

 There is a fine specimen at Syon Hill, upwards of 20 ft. high ; and another at 

 Syon House, 17 ft. high, both of which have flowered. There are many 

 plants, from 6 ft. to 12 ft. high, in the grounds at White Knights, which 

 flower freely every year. 



Properties and Uses. The wood is hard, compact, heavy, and fine-grained ; 

 and it is susceptible of a brilliant polish. The sap-wood is perfectly white, and 

 the heart-wood is of a chocolate colour. In the United States, it is used for 

 the handles of hammers and light tools, such as mallets, &c. In the country, 

 some farmers use it for harrow teeth, for the hames of horses' collars, and 

 also for lining the runners of sledges ; but, to whatever purpose it is applied, 

 being liable to split, it should never be wrought till it is perfectly seasoned. 

 The shoots, when three or four years old, are found suitable for the light 

 hoops of small portable casks ; and, in the middle states, the cogs of mill- 

 wheels are made of them, and the forked branches are taken for the yokes which 

 are put upon the necks of swine, to prevent their breaking into cultivated 

 enclosures. The inner bark is extremely bitter, and proves an excellent 

 remedy in intermitting fevers. It has been known, and successfully used, by 

 the country people in the United States, as a specific in these maladies, for 

 more than fifty years. (Bigelow's Jwier. Bot., ii. 74.) Half an ounce of dog- 

 wood bark, 2 scruples of sulphate of iron, and 2 scruples of gum arable, 

 infused in 16 ounces of rain-water, make an excellent ink. (Mic/ix.) From 

 the bark of the more fibrous roots the Indians obtain a good scarlet colour ; 

 and Bartram informs us (vol. i. p. 31.) that the young branches, stripped 

 of their bark, and rubbed with their ends against the teeth, render them 

 extremely white. In England, the sole use of this species is as an orna- 

 mental shrub; and, wherever it will thrive, few better deserve a place in 

 collections. , 



Soil, Situation, Projmgation, Sfc. This species thrives best in a peat soil 

 which must be kept moist ; and the situation should be sheltered, though the 

 foliage of the plants must be fully exposed to the influence of the sun, other- 

 wise they will not flower. They are propagated by cuttings or layers, both 

 of which readily strike root. Plants, in the Fulham Nursery, cost Is. Gd. 

 each ; at BoUwyller, 1 franc and 50 cents ; and at New York, 37^ cents. 



Genus II. 



BENTHA'M/J Lindl. The Benthamia. Lin. Syst. Tetrandria 

 Monogynia. 



Identification. Lindl. in Bot. Reg.,t. 1579. 

 Synonyme. Ciirnus sp. Wall., Dec, and G. Don. 



Derivation. Named in honour of George Bentkam, Esq., F.L.S., Secretary to the Horticultural 

 Society ; and nephew of the celebrated moralist and jurist, Jeremy Bentham. 



S 1. B. fragi'fera Lindl., The Strawberry-bearing Benthamia, 



Cornus capitata Wall, in Roxb. FL Ind. i. p. 434., Z). Don Fl. Prod. 

 Nejjal., 141., and G. Don's Mill., iii. p. 399., Bot. Reg., t. 1579., and 

 our Jig. 770., has the branches spreading, and the leaves smooth, lan- 

 ceolate, and acuminated at both ends, coriaceous, 2 in. long, glaucous 

 and pale beneath, sometimes with pink-coloured nerves. The flowers 

 are terminal, congregated into globular heads, surrounded by an involucre 

 2 in. across when expanded, and composed of 4 yellowish-coloured parts, 

 resembling petals : the flowers themselves are greenish, small, and incon- 

 spicuous. The fruit, when ripe, is of a reddish colour, a good deal re- 

 sembling that of the mulberry, but exceeding it considerably in size. The 

 flesh is yellowish white, rather insipid, but not unpleasant, although a little 



