86 SAMBUCUS PUBENS. RED-BERRIED ELDER. 



observed when they are growing side by side. The Inflorescence 

 is less racemose In ours, diat Is to say the bunch of flowers Is less 

 drawn out ; the flowers Individually have a pinkish tinge in their 

 early stage, becoming pure white only on complete expansion ; 

 and the berries are smaller than the European ; while the bark 

 has a rough, warty character, apparendy wholly wanting in the 

 European form. How far these characters may lay claim to the 

 disdnction of being specific depends on the views of different 

 botanists, some giving plants distinctive botanical names on 

 more slender distinctions than others, so that what one would 

 regard as a mere variety another would class as a distinct 

 species. 



Sanibucus, as applied to the Elder, is a very old name, being 

 found in the works on Natural History of Pliny the Elder, 

 whose curiosity as a student of nature led to his death by an 

 eruption of the volcano of Mount Vesuvius, seventy-nine years 

 after the birth of Christ. It Is not quite clear why the plant was 

 called Sanihiiciis. The Greeks had a stringed instrument called 

 Sambiika, the exact construction of which Is unknown In these 

 days ; and, from the similarity In the names. It is supposed that 

 the wood of the Elder was used in the construction of the instru- 

 ment. The wood is very hard and bone-like. It has a very 

 large pith, which, when removed, makes the hollow tube sought 

 for by boys who delight In "pop-guns." Butchers use the wood 

 tor skewers, and the pith has Its use In the toy-making art. 



Many singular stories cluster about the different kinds of 

 Elder trees. Though the popular mind has setded on a legumi- 

 nous tree — Cercis — as the "Judas tree," some ancient authors 

 regarded the Elder tree as the one on which the remorse- 

 stricken apostle hung himself; and this probably is the founda- 

 tion of many superstidons which have existed among the people 

 of Europe up to a very recent date. A dwarf form in England 

 Is known as " Dane-wort," from Its being supposed to have 

 sprung from the blood of Danes. Wherever they fought and 

 bled, the dwarf Elder is supposed to have sprung up and 



