HISTORY OF THE OAK. 57 



An interesting volume might be formed, entitled 

 the u History of the Oak." The first mention that 

 we know of this tree is that ancient of days, the 

 " oak of Mamre," under which Abraham sat in the 

 heat of the day ; and that it was an oak, one of the 

 fathers, Eusebius, tells us, as it remained an object 

 of veneration even in the time of Constantine. We 

 would note all the celebrated querci of antiquity ; 

 the use, value, strength, duration, See., of its timber ; 

 the infinite variety of purposes to which its various 

 parts are applied by the mechanic, the dyer, the 

 artisan ; the insects, which amount to hundreds of 

 species, that live and have their being on the oak ; 

 the vegetables it nourishes, ferns, lichens, mosses, 

 agarics, boleti, &c. ; the sawdust, apples, gallnuts, 

 acorns, leaves, and innumerable et cetera of Britain's 

 guardian tree. However highly the Druids might 

 venerate the oak, and make it the emblem and resi- 

 dence of their deity, yet the intrinsic value of this 

 tree was unknown to our remote forefathers. All 

 their knowledge of its virtues was probably included 

 in its uses for building, its acorns for their swine, 

 and, perhaps, its bark for preserving the skins 

 which they used. Modern ingenuity and necessity 

 have brought its various qualities into notice, or 

 our oak would have received such honours, as in 

 days of darkness were conferred upon inanimate 

 things : Attica considered the olive as the gift of 

 her tutelary goddess, and some benevolent saint 



