THE YEW. 71 



when the timber is partly burned, the turpentine 

 loses its peculiar flavour, and acquires a sweetish 

 taste. It is used by the natives as a substitute for 

 sugar. 



TIMBER TREES ALLIED TO THE PINES, IN THEIR 

 APPEARANCE OR THEIR USES. 



The principal of these are the Yew, the Cypress , 

 the Juniper , and the Jlrbor mice ; these, like the 

 pines, all belong to the natural order of Coniferce, or 

 cone-bearing trees ; and they have the common cha- 

 racters of being mostly evergreens, and the wood 

 being resinous or bitter: but there are some distinc- 

 tions the pine, the cypress, the juniper, and the 

 arbor vitse, are inonazcius or one-housed that is, 

 have the male and female flower on the same plant; 

 while the juniper and the yew are dicecius or two- 

 housed have the male flowers on one tree and the 

 females on another. 



The YEW TREE (called Taxus) is a tree of no 

 little celebrity, both in the military and the super- 

 stitious history of England. The common yew is a 

 native of Europe, of North America, and of the 

 Japanese Isles. It used to be very plentiful in 

 England and Ireland, and probably also in Scot- 



