THE BIRCH. 



205 



Pliny describes the Birch as a slender tree inhabiting 

 the cold parts of Gaul. The branches, he says, were 

 used for making baskets and the hoops of casks ; and the 



THE COMMON 



fasces or bundles of rods, which were carried before the 

 Roman magistrates, were made of birch twigs ; the use, 

 therefore, of the weapon which, in modern times, is the 



