THE WILLOW. 317 



forth, in the spring, tender and woolly flowers like unto 

 the blossoms of the Poplar-tree, only they are of a more 

 drying quality, of a pale colour, and a fragrant smell. 

 The inhabitants pull off these (because they bear no fruits) 

 in great quantities, and distil a very precious and sweet 

 water out of them, very comfortable and corroborative to 

 the heart." 



In Babylonia Willows were so abundant that Bochart 

 says of the channels of the Euphrates, " The banks were 

 so thickly lined with Willows, that Babylonia was called 

 from them ' the Valley of Willows.' " Burckhardt also 

 mentions a fountain in Syria, called Ain Sa/af, or the 

 Willow Fountain. 



The trees on which the captives of Israel hung their 

 harps belonged, there can be little doubt, to the species 

 which botanists have named Salix Babylonica, or Weeping 

 Willow, which grows on the banks of the Euphrates, and 

 in other parts of Asia, and also in the North of Africa. 

 In China it is a very favourite tree, as appears from its 

 frequent occurrence in drawings of Chinese ornamental 

 scenery. Throughout the same country, as well as Turkey 

 and Algiers, it is said by Loudon to be commonly planted 

 in cemeteries, suggesting, with its drooping branches, the 

 idea of grief for the departed. 



Gilpin considers the Weeping Willow to be a very 

 picturesque tree. It is a perfect contrast to the Lombardy 

 Poplar. The light airy spray of the Poplar rises perpen- 

 dicularly ; that of the Weeping Willow is pendent : the 

 shape of its leaf is conformable to the pensile character 

 of the tree, and its spray, which is still lighter than that 

 of the Poplar, is more easily put into motion by a breath 

 of air. The Weeping Willow, however, is not adapted 

 to sublime subjects. We wish it not to screen the broken 

 buttresses and Gothic windows of an abbey, nor to over- 

 shadow the battlements of a ruined castle : these offices it 

 resigns to the Oak, whose dignity can support them. The 

 Weeping Willow seeks a humble scene some romantic 



