EFFECT OF COLD ON THE WYCH. 57 



eight thousand, six hundred, and sixty feet of 

 boards, the sawing of which cost 101. 17*. It 

 contained ninety-seven tons of timber. As Evelyn 

 says, "this was certainly a goodly tree!" The 

 etymology of this tree seenls to be unknown, and 

 different authors, who mention it, spell it, accord- 

 ingly, various ways: Evelyn calls it, wich, and 

 witch; Gilpin, wich; others, wych ; Bacon, weech. 

 The foliage of the young trees of this elm are the 

 favourite food of the larvae of the buff-tip-moth 

 (Phal. Bucephala), for though they likewise feed 

 upon the young leaves of the oak and the ]ime, 

 yet they give the preference to those of this tree : 

 when so feeding it will always be known by their 

 rejectments on the earth beneath, which, when the 

 larvse are in any number, may be noticed by very 

 unattentive persons. This caterpillar, when nearly 

 fed for its change, becomes heavy, and commonly 

 falls to the earth from the spray, and we can see 

 them crawling along the paths, or even upon the 

 clothes of persons that have walked under the trees 

 where they have fed : though this creature is very 

 often found in considerable numbers throughout 

 the summer and autumn, yet, by reason of some 

 fatality, the moth is by no means so common an 

 insect as might be expected from the profusion of 

 its larvae. 



We have no indigenous tree that suffers from 

 the advance of the winter season so early as the 

 wych elm. A few others may manifest its ap- 

 proach nearly as soon, but they become augmented 



