CHERVIL CHIGOE. 



23 



has not been positively ascertained whether this spe- 

 cies is ovoviviparous, that is, whether it hatches its eggs 

 internally, and brings forth the young alive ; but the 

 analogy renders this probable, as that is the case with 

 all the venomous serpents of whose mode of produc- 

 tion we have any knowledge. The habits of the 

 aquatic ones are not, however, so easily studied 

 as those of the land, and even they are but little 

 known. 



CHERVIL is the Chcerophyllum sativum of bo- 

 tanists. It is a native of Britain, and cultivated as 

 a salad or pot-herb. It being an annual, the seeds 

 are sown in the spring, and at several different times 

 afterwards, where a supply of the tender leaves are 

 required. It belongs to the natural order UmbelUferce. 



CHESTNUT is the Castanca vesca of Thouars, 

 and the Fagus castanea of Linnaeus. There are 

 four species, and several varieties of this fine useful 

 genus in cultivation. As a timber tree it is only 

 equalled by the oak ; it being equally picturesque in 

 habit, and as durable when converted to the purposes 

 of the builder. For coppice wood it is unrivalled, 

 yielding as quick a return as any other kind of tree 

 whatever. 



It is to be regretted that our early planters that 

 is, all those who were prompted by the immortal 

 Evelyn to improve and adorn their estates and 

 country seats by planting forest trees, did unaccount- 

 ably neglect the sweet chestnut. It could not be 

 from ignorance of the value of the timber, because it 

 had always been previously used in the construction 

 of the roofs of public buildings ; nor could it be from 

 fear that the trees would not succeed in these king- 

 doms, as, if not the largest, certainly the oldest tree 

 in England was a chestnut, then and we believe 

 now growing in Gloucestershire, a tree which was 

 called "the great chestnut" in the reign of King 

 John. Nor was the propagation difficult. Seeds in 

 any quantity could have been had from Spain and 

 other parts of the continent at any time ; and no 

 seeds rise more readily, or grow away more vigo- 

 rously, than chestnuts, provided mice, squirrels, and 

 jays, can be kept from devouring them while in the 

 seed-bed. Sowed in a bed of any light soil in the 

 month of March, not too closely together, and 

 covered with about an inch and a half, or two inches 

 of soil, they soon make their appearance, and where 

 they may stand till large enough to be transplanted 

 into nursery rows in an open quarter. 



The sweet chestnut requires a kind of training in 

 the nursery, much more than other forest trees do. 

 They rarely rise with a single stem ; but beside the prin- 

 cipal stem, which is always the most central, four or five 

 others rise from the collet, and were they suffered to 

 remain, would disfigure the tree, if intended to grow 

 as a forest, or for open grove planting. These super- 

 numerary stems are, therefore, pruned close off when 

 first transplanted from the seed-bed ; and, while stand- 

 ing in nursery rows, all such side shoots from the 

 lower part of the stem, must be pruned off. 



Tin's character and manner of growth of the 

 chestnut seedlings, and which requires the attention of 

 the nurseryman to correct in the first stages of their 

 growth when intended for timber, is the very property 

 fi>r which this tree is so suitable for underwood. 

 Here the greater number of stems which rise at once 

 from the root, not only increase the value of the pro- 

 duce, but improve the form of the poles, by inducing 

 a more upright and straight growth. 



From the circumstance of many of the principal 

 timbers in the roofs of our cathedrals being found to be 

 chestnut, it has been surmised by several writers, that 

 this tree was once plentiful and of great size in this 

 country. The only argument against the probability 

 of this idea is, the present scarcity of this tree in our 

 parks and natural forests ; for, if they were at any 

 former period natives, why should this kind of tree 

 have so suddenly disappeared. The greater probability 

 is, that when a cathedral was about to be built, all 

 Christendom was called on to assist, especially when 

 the Pope could issue imperative commands on such 

 occasions. And it is most likely, that the beams and 

 rafters of Westminster and other cathedrals, were 

 from the forests of Spain and Italy. 



As a fruit tree, the chestnut is of little value in 

 England, it being only in very favourable seasons that 

 the nuts come to perfection. As an ornamental and 

 timber tree, however, it deserves the first notice of the 

 planter ; and as it has been pretty extensively planted 

 within these last four-score years, another generation, 

 perhaps, may see chestnut timber as plentiful as the 

 best oak is at the present time. 



Sweet chestnut underwood, judiciously planted on 

 light loamy soil, and carefully managed, proves a 

 profitable possession ; the produce being usually fit to 

 cut every eight or ten years, and sells at high prices. 

 Hop growers prefer chestnut poles, as well for their 

 regular form as durability ; and the stools yield great 

 numbers of stakes and headers for fencing. 



CHICK PEA is the Cicer arietinum of Tournefort. 

 This plant is cultivated in the south of Europe, where 

 it is indigenous, and is an article of diet among the 

 poor, but is chiefly used for feeding poultry. 



CHIGOE, or, as the English residents in the 

 West Indies have corrupted the name, Jigger. A 

 species of insect belonging to the family of fleas, 

 PulicidcE, but considered by Latreille as probably 

 forming a distinct genus. The names Nigua, Tungua, 

 and Pique, have also been applied to this insect, but 

 Latreille has considered that the first and third belong 

 to the Acarus Americanus, whilst he gives the Chigoe 

 as another species of Acarus. Mr. Mac Leay, however, 

 who, from his residence at the Havannah, must be con- 

 sidered a more competent authority, states that the 

 Spanish name for the troublesome Pulex penetrans is 

 .A%w6r,and the British West India name Chigoe or Jigger. 

 The habits of this insect are very different from those 

 of the common flea. According to Stedman it gets in 

 between the skin and the flesh without being felt, 

 generally under the nails of the toes, where, while it 

 feeds, it keeps growing till it (or rather its habitation) 

 becomes of the size of a pea, causing no further pain 

 than a disagreeable itching. It will, however, attack 

 any exposed part of the body ; indeed an instance 

 has been recorded where it got into the hand. In 

 process of time its operation appears in the form of a 

 small bladder, in which are deposited thousands of 

 eggs or nits, and which, if it breaks, produce so many 

 young chigoes, which in the course of time create 

 running ulcers, often of very dangerous consequence 

 to the patient, so that at times the soles of the feet 

 are even obliged to be cut away before the patient 

 can recover, and some men have lost their limbs by 

 amputation, nay, even their lives, by having neglected 

 to eradicate these abominable vermin. The moment, 

 therefore, that a redness and itching more than usual 

 are perceived, it is time to extract the chigoe which 

 produces them. This is done with a sharp pointed 



