48 THE LIME. 



confusion would never arise. Even "teil," the name under which it 

 is mentioned in the Old Testament (if the Hebrew be rightly translated), 

 and which is a modification of Tilia, would be better than the barbarism, 

 unfortunately now too deeply established for eradication, which requires 

 us to write m instead of n. What may be the origin and signification 

 of the name Tilia itself, is obscure. The word occurs in Virgil and 

 other authors of old Rome ; but by the Greeks this tree was called 

 <pi\vpa. Virgil's allusions are to the honey yielded so abundantly by 

 the flowers, and to the value of the timber for purposes where lightness 

 is a great merit. Hence his expression " tilia} lenes," the smooth- 

 grained lindens. In our own times the wood of the lime-tree is 

 valued chiefly for its use to the carver. Grinling Gibbons, the most 

 celebrated wood-carver this country has produced, usually employed it 

 for his more delicate and elaborate work, specimens of which, nearly 

 two hundred years old, are preserved at Windsor Castle, at Chatsworth, 

 and in St. Paul's Cathedral, the lines sharp as when they came from 

 his dextrous fingers. Architects find it serviceable for models of 

 intended buildings ; the makers of piano-fortes also use it for sounding- 

 boards, since this wood does not warp with the changes of the 

 atmosphere. 



The peculiarity referred to in respect of the twiggy thicket in the 

 centre of limes that have attained maturity, is one not observable in 

 any other British tree. So dense is the mass, that to climb a full-grown 

 lime is nearly impossible. That which renders the tree inaccessible to 

 boys and men converts it, however, into an asylum for little birds, and 

 beautiful is it to observe how, when chased by a hawk or other enemy, 

 the fugitives take refuge in the tangle. No doubt a similar asylum is 

 provided in many other ways by the kindness of nature, which means, 

 of course, the goodness of Him who takes care even of the sparrows ; 

 but it is in the lime that, as a large tree, we are made most powerfully 

 sensible of the precaution for their safety. I do not know anything in 

 nature that can give more delight to a kindly and loving heart than 

 the contemplation of its safeguards. Food, drink, warmth, sunshine, 

 fresh air, seem to come almost as a matter of course. Except under 

 occasional and exceptional conditions and circumstances, of these things 

 there is always plenty ; but asylums, places of security and retreat, 

 have to be specially considered and prepared. Rarely, however, do we 

 see the preparation set forth conspicuously. As a rule, that beautiful 

 primitive law of the world and all its contents, that nothing shall exist 

 for itself alone, but always for the sake, at the same time, of some other 



