CUP 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



CUP 



409 



smell, and is fitted by its hardness for a variety of purposes. 

 It is fit, says Evelyn, for chests, and other domestic furniture ; 

 harps and other musical instruments, being a sonorous wood ; 

 for stakes to vinos, pales, rails, and planks, of which there 

 were some of this wood at Venice above four feet in breadth. 

 It is used for building by the Maltese and Cretans. It is re- 

 commended for the improvement of the air, and as a specific 

 for the lungs, by sending forth great quantities of aromatic 

 and balsamic scents ; hence, many of the ancient physicians 

 of the Eastern countries, used to send their patients, who 

 were afllicted with disorders of the lungs, to the island of 

 ( iindia, which at that time abounded with these trees. The 

 Cypress, among the ancients, was sacred to Pluto and Pro- 

 serpine, and was used at funerals, especially of persons of 

 fashion. It was placed in front of the house, or in the ves- 

 tribule, that no person who was to perform any sacred rites 

 might enter a place polluted by a dead body ; and the rea- 

 son assigned for its use on this melancholy occasion was, 

 that the Cypress, when once cut down, never springs up 

 again : hence it would be an improper emblem in a Christian 

 country. The use of evergreens is yet not uncommon 

 among us ; but they are supposed to be significant of immor- 

 tality, at the same time that their balsamic scent guards the 

 attendants against the effluvia and infection that may be 

 apprehended from a putrid body. On account of its extreme 

 durability, Plato would have the laws and sacred rites in- 

 scribed on Cypress tablets ; and Pliny informs us, that the 

 statue of Jupiter in the capitol, made of this wood in the year 

 of Rome 6C1, was sound in his time. Notwithstanding all 

 the excellent qualities it possesses; it is not much cultivated 

 in England, principally because it cannot endure the frost 

 of our winters, and the severe blasts which follow in the 

 spring. The upright Cypress above described is the most 

 common sort in .England, although it seldom produces good 

 seeds ; it is therefore the best way to have the cones brought 

 over entire 'from the south of France and Italy, where they 

 ripen perfectly well, and take them out just before you sow 

 them. When you wish to extract the seeds, expose the cones 

 to a gentle heat, which will cause them to open, and easily 

 emit their seeds. Dr. Hunter recommends the ground, in 

 which the seeds are to be sown, to be well worked, turned 

 over, and mellowed by frost ; and, if the soil be not naturally 

 sandy, to work in some drift-sand all over the bed, six inches 

 deep ; to sow the seeds moderately thin, because when they 

 are sown too thick the roots become matted together, so 

 that the plants cannot be removed out of the seed-bed into 

 the nursery without great danger. Mr. Uoutcher informs 

 us, that if in the beginning of winter some saw-dust be sifted 

 over them, it will much contribute to their preservation, in 

 case of severe weather. In the spring after sowing, the 

 plants, if well managed, will be six or seven inches high, 

 and should be removed and planted in rows eighteen inches 

 asunder, and eight or nine inches from each other ; they 

 should remain here only one year, when they ought to be 

 upwards of a foot high. In the second spring, they ought to 

 lie planted in the common nursery, in rows three feet asun- 

 der, and eighteen inches from each other ; and after having 

 stood two years in this nursery, they may be removed to the 

 place where they are to remain. As it is no uncommon thing 

 for a hard winter to destroy whole beds of these plants, it 

 becomes necessary to provide against such a misfortune, by 

 sowing some seed in pots, which must be placed in a shel- 

 tered situation, so as to receive the morning sun till eleven 

 o'clock, kept moderately watered, and removed in October 

 under a frame. In the succeeding spring, let them be shaken 

 out of these pots, and planted in others of fourteen or sixteen 

 VOL. i. 35. 



inches diameter, each of which will admit from sixteen to 

 twenty plants, which must be placed in the shade till in a 

 free growing state, and removed in winter under a frame. 

 Mr. Miller declares, that the spreading Cypress is rare in 

 England, and that the tree which has passed under that title 

 is only a variety of the common sort, the branches of which 

 grow much looser ; but that the true spreading Cypress ex- 

 tends its branches horizontally from the first year, and con- 

 tinues to extend them to a great length, as the tree advances. 

 He affirms, that it is certainly a distinct species, growing to 

 a much larger size, and that there are some of a considerable 

 stature in Italy. The fruit of the Cypress, gathered before 

 it is quite ripe, and dried, is an excellent balsamic and styp- 

 tic medicine. It stops bleeding at the nose, the bloody flux, 

 spitting of blood, and is beneficial in excessive discharges 

 of the menses. Hill observes, that the fruit, which is the 

 only part employed in medicine, ought to be gathered before 

 it bursts, and carefully dried, and given in powder ; five and 

 twenty grains is the dose. Few are aware how powerful 

 this remedy is, or it would certainly be held in greater 

 estimation. 



2. Cupressus Disticha ; Deciduous Cypress Tree. Leaves 

 distich, spreading. It is a native of America, where it grows 

 in watery places, and rises to a prodigious height and won- 

 derful bulk, some reaching seventy feet high, and being se- 

 veral fathoms in circumference. They grow constantly in 

 water ; and may therefore be of singular advantage to plant 

 in such swampy or wet soils where few other trees will grow, 

 especially of the. resinous kind. That they are very hardy 

 with respect to cold, is evident from some few trees of this 

 kind, which were formerly planted in England ; particularly 

 one in the gardens of John Tradescant, at South Lambeth, 

 near Vauxhall, " which (says Miller) is upwards of thirty feet 

 high, and of a considerable bulk though in a common yard, 

 where no care is taken of it, but, on the contrary, many hooks 

 are driven into the trunk to fasten cords thereto for drying 

 clothes, yet the tree is in great health and vigour, but it has 

 not produced any fruit, which may be occasioned for want of 

 moisture ; for we often see many aquatic plants growing 

 upon a drier soil, but seldom so productive of either flowers or 

 fruit as those which grow in the water." The tree above de- 

 scribed has however been long destroyed, and is only intro- 

 duced here, to shew how well this species will resist the cold 

 of our climate. The cones may be easily procured from Vir- 

 ginia or Carolina, of which it is a native ; and the seeds will 

 rise as easily as those of the first species, for it is at least 

 equally hardy. It was formerly kept in pots, and housed in 

 winter ; but did not succeed so well with this management, 

 as since it has been planted in the full ground ; and it has 

 always been observed to thrive best in a moist soil. Hy cast- 

 ing its leaves in winter, it does not suit with plantations of 

 evergreens at that season, but in summer it has much the ap- 

 pearance of an evergreen. It may also be propagated by cut- 

 tings, which should be planted in a bed of moist earth in the 

 spring, before they begin to shoot. 



3. Cupressus Thyoidcs ; White Cedar, or Arbor-l~it<t- 

 leaved Cypress. Leaves imbricate ; fronds ancipital. This 

 tree grows to a considerable size in North America, where it 

 is a native. It seldom exceeds fifteen feet high in England ; 

 and when raised from cuttings, has rather the appearance of 

 a shrub, not being above nine or ten feet high. Loureiro 

 informs us, that in China, and Cochin-china, where it also 

 grows naturally, it is only eight feet high. The branches are 

 numerous, and stand two ways ; the tree naturally forms itself 

 into a regular head ; the leaves are evergreen, flat, sharp, 

 very short, imbricated, and resemble those of the Arbor-Vital; 

 5M 



