196 Plants 



no less useful than numerous. The pur- 

 poses to which the trees of Britain are ap- 

 plied are well known, from the flexible 

 willow, which forms the basket, to the 

 hardy oak, which composes the most sub- 

 stantial parts of a ship of war, guards the 

 British islands from foreign invasion, and 

 displays to the most remote countries the 

 greatness of our maritime power. All 

 possess different qualities, adapted to 

 their different purposes. The meanest, 

 and in their appearance the most unplea- 

 sant, have their use ; even the thistle is 

 not only the food of some animals, but is 

 serviceable in making glass. There is 

 scarcely a plant which although rejected 

 as food by some animals is not eagerly 

 sought by others. The horse yields the 

 common water hemlock to the goat, and 

 the cow the long-leafed water hemlock to 

 the sheep. The goat again leaves the 

 aconite, or bane-berries to the horse* 

 The euphorbia or spurge, so noxious to 

 man, is greedily devoured by some of the 

 insect tribes. The aloe is a magazine of 

 provisions and of implements to the In- 

 dians who inhabit the banks of the Ohio 

 and the Missisippi. Some plants, a* 



