128 CHESNUT. BEECH. 



native trees, and is remarkably long lived. In 

 Gloucestershire there is a chesnut-tree which is 

 known to have stood there ever since the year 1 1 50, 

 and even then was so remarkable, as to be called the 

 great Chesnut of Tortworth ; it measures fifty-two 

 feet round, and still continues to bear fruit, though 

 probably not less than a thousand years old. 

 But tha largest chesnut-trees known grow upon 

 Mount ./Etna in Sicily. The tree is very beautiful, 

 and Salvator Rosa, who painted often in the 

 mountains of Calabria, where the chesnut flou- 

 rishes, frequently represents it in his pictures. The 

 nut forms a great part of the food of the common 

 people in the south of Europe, and the wood is 

 very valuable. 



The common Beech, Fa'gus sylvat'ica, is also a 

 native of England. The old leaves, after turning 

 brown, sometimes remain on the tree throughout 

 the winter; and they are often gathered in the 

 autumn by poor people, for the purpose of making 

 mattresses, which are much better, and more dur- 

 able, than those of straw or chaff. The wood soon 

 decays when exposed to the weather: but it lasts a 

 long time under water, and is of the greatest value 

 for making carpenters' tools. The nuts, when 

 dried and ground, are said to make a tolerable sort 

 of bread, but, if eaten raw, they cause giddiness : 

 the poor people of Silesia use an oil procured from 

 them, instead of butter. 



