346 THE AILANTUS. 



tree is worthy of attention chiefly as a curiosity. Like 

 the witch-elm of Great Britain, it was formerly used for 

 divining-rods. Its magic powers might have been sug- 

 gested by its remarkable habit of bearing flowers late in 

 the autumn, thereby reversing the general order of nature ; 

 also by producing buds, flowers, and fruit in perfection at 

 the same time. All such phenomena might be supposed 

 to have some connection with witchcraft 



THE AILANTUS. 



THE Ailantus is a native of China, where it becomes 

 a very large tree, often attaining the height of seventy 

 feet. It was imported into Great Britain more than a 

 century ago, for the benefit of the silk manufacture. A 

 species of silkworm, which was known to be hardy and 

 capable of forming its cocoons in the English climate, is 

 attached to this tree and feeds upon its leaves. " The Bom- 

 lyx cyntTiia" says Mongredien, " thrives well in the open 

 air (of England) in ordinary seasons, and requires no care 

 after being once placed on the tree. About August it 

 spins its cocoon on one of the leaflets, bending its edges 

 inwards, so as to form a partial envelope. As the tree is 

 deciduous, the leaf would drop and the cocoon with it, 

 were it not that, by an instinct, the insect, before spinning 

 its cocoon, attaches by its strongly adhesive threads the 

 stalk of the leaf to the woody twig that sustains it. Hence 

 the leaves that bear the cocoons are the only ones that do 

 not drop, and there remain persistent through the whole 

 of the winter." 



This experiment with the Ailantus proved a failure ; 

 but the tree, being very stately and ornamental, continued 

 to be cultivated in pleasure-grounds. It was introduced 



