420 THE JUNIPER. 



species from that which is indigenous to Britain. The 

 common species, in Evelyn's time, was frequently trans- 

 planted from the open commons to make hedges and 

 arbours. The berries were used as a spice, and were also 

 employed medicinally. "If it arrive to full growth, spits 

 and spoons, imparting a grateful relish, and very whole- 

 some where they are used, are made of this wood, being 

 well dried and seasoned : and the very chips render a 

 wholesome perfume within doors, as do the dusty blossoms 

 in spring, without." Phillips says, that on the Continent 

 both the wood and berries are burnt to fumigate the rooms 

 of the sick. In Sweden the berries are made into a 

 conserve and eaten at breakfast. In some places they are 

 roasted and used as a substitute for coffee. The heathcock 

 of Germany, he also says, is not eatable in autumn, being 

 so strongly flavoured with Juniper-berries, on which it 

 then feeds. The principal use of the berries at present 

 is to flavour hollands or geneva, a spirit distilled from 

 corn. In the manufacture of London gin (a corruption of 

 geneva) oil of turpentine is said to be substituted for 

 Juniper-berries, and is perhaps one of the least noxious 

 ingredients. 



The wood will take a high polish, but is rarely to be 

 obtained of a sufficient size for useful purposes. Loudon 

 mentions some trees which have attained a height of from 

 sixteen to thirty feet. 



The Pencil-Cedar, Jnniperus Bermudiarta, is a native 

 of the island from which it derives its specific name. 



