58 CHAPTER VII. 



of Robur. Alnus, the Alder gives Alnetum, an 

 Alder grove, and Aulnay, a village probably not very 

 far from some spongy ground. From Castanea, the 

 eatable Chestnut, we have Castanetum and the 

 village of Chatenay. Overlooking the Var just be- 

 yond Aspremont, is the hamlet of Castagniers. If 

 you find the word Saussaie on the map of France, 

 be sure that you have lighted on an osier bed, for 

 " Saussaie " is but the Latin salictum for salicetum, a 

 plantation of Willows (Salix). Similiarly Pinetum 

 is a Pine forest, from Pinus. Oliretum, Dumetum, 

 and Rubetum, are other instances. 



In England, also, the forest trees have left their 

 trace upon the map. From the Oak are derived 

 Oakley, Acton, &c. The Gaelic " Dair," an Oak, 

 gives Derry, Kil-dare, and many another Irish place- 

 name. Buckingham is the hamlet of the Beech 

 (M.H.G. " Buch") forest, where the loutish Sax on churl 

 fattened his master's swine. Thus we may often read 

 in the names of our towns and villages the record of 

 a forest growth which has long since vanished. 



The poets relate that acorns formed the main 

 sustenance of man before the day of cereals ; 



" Quercus ante datse Cereris quam seruina vitse. " 



A Spanish Oak (Q. grammnntia) has eatable 

 fruits. On these the French soldiers were fed during 

 the Peninsular war. These same Malaga acorns were 

 the kind sent by Sancho Panza's wife to the Duchess, 

 with the regret that they were not as large as turkey- 

 eggs. The tunny-fish, as they pass along the coast 

 of Spain in their annual migrations, consume quan- 

 tities of acorns which have fallen into the water. 

 Some varieties of the Ilex Oak also produce sweet 



