EVERGREEN BOX-TREE. |;~ 
rosary-beads, forks, spoons, buttons, and numerous other articles. The wood of 
some roots is more beautifully marbled, or veined, than that of others- and thfl 
articles manufactured from them, as well as from the warty excrescences vary 
in price accordingly. Articles formed of the trunk, are easily distinguished i,\ 
those of the root, when the wood is cut transversely, by that of the trunk alway 
displaying a beautiful and very regular star, which is never the case with thai of 
the root. Box- wood is very apt to split in drying; and, to prevent this, the French 
turners put the wood, designed for their finest works, into a dark cellar, as soon 
as it is cut, where they keep it from three to five years, according to circum- 
stances. At the expiration of the given time, they cut oil' the sap-wood with a 
hatchet, and place the heart-wood again in the cellar till it is wanted for the 
lathe. For the most delicate articles, the wood is soaked for twenty-four h.-urs, 
in very clear, fresh water, and then boiled for some time. When taken out of 
the boiling water, it is wiped quite dry, and then buried, till wanted for use, in 
?and, or bran, so as to completely exclude it from the light and air. Articles 
made of the wood thus prepared, resemble, in appearance, what is called, in Eng- 
land, Tunbridge ware. Olivier de Serres, in the " Theatre d'Agriculture," recom- 
mends the branches and leaves of the box, as by far the best manure tor the L r raj>e : 
not only because it is very common in the south of France, but because there is 
no plant, that by its decomposition, which affords a greater quantity of vegetable 
mould. The spray of the box, though it burns very slowly, is much esteemed, 
also, in France, as fuel for lime-kilns, brick-kilns, ovens, &c., where a great and 
lasting heat is required. 
The other uses of the box, in former times, were various ; but many of them, 
doubtless, are forgotten. The bark and leaves are bitter, and have a disagreea- 
ble smell ; and a decoction of them, when taken in large doses, is said to be pur- 
gative; and, in small doses, sudorific. An empyreumatic oil is extracted from 
them, which is said to cure the toothache, and some other disorders. A tincture 
was once made from them, which was a celebrated specific in Germany for 
intermittent fevers ; but, the secret having been purchased, and made public by 
Joseph I., the medicine fell into disuse. The box is said to enter into the compo- 
sition of various medicated oils, for strengthening and increasing the growth of th 
hair; and Parkinson says that " the leaves and saw-dust, boiled in lye, will change 
the hair to an auburn colour." It is stated in Dodslcy's " London Annual Regis- 
ter," that, in the year 1762, "A young woman of Grunburg, in Lower Silesia, 
had a malignant dysentery, and lost her hair. She washed her head, and acci- 
dentally her face and neck, with a decoction of box-wood, and her whole face 
and neck were soon covered with red hairs." Pliny affirms that no animal will 
eat the seeds of the box; and it is said that its leaves are particularly poisonous 
to camels. It is also asserted by many authors that box-trees are never cropped 
by cattle. 
In modern gardening, the Buxus sempervirens forms a most valuable ever- 
green shrub or low tree. It is more particularly eligible as an undergrowth 
in ornamental plantations; where, partially shaded by other trees, its leaves 
assume a deeper green, and shine more conspicuously. Nexl to the holly, u has 
the most beautiful appearance in winter, more especially when the -round is cov- 
ered with snow. The variegated sorts are admissible as objects <>i curiosity ; but, 
as they are apt to lose their variegation when planted in the shade, and as m the 
full light, their green is frequently of a sickly, yellowish hue, they certainly can- 
not be recommended as ornamental. 
