110 THE MAPLE; 



which the sap flows, and the air circulates for the 

 supply of all the diversified requirements of the 

 plant ; and it is good and delightful to contemplate 

 the wonderful mechanism that has been devised by 

 the Almighty Architect, for the sustenance and 

 particular necessities of the simple maple, this 

 " ditch trumpery," as Gilpin calls it ; which natu- 

 rally leads one to consider that, if he have so re- 

 garded such humble objects, how much more has 

 he accounted worthy of his beneficence the more 

 highly destined orders of his creation ! As Eve- 

 lyn says, on another occasion, " I beg no pardon 

 for this application, but deplore my no better use 

 of it."" Modern practice records no medicinal vir- 

 tues to be derived from the maple ; but Pliny, in 

 the quaint language of old Philemon Holland, tells 

 us that a cataplasm made from the roots of this 

 tree is " singular to be applied for the griefs of the 

 liver, and worketh mightily." In summer, the 

 leaves of the hedgerow maple often assume a 

 whitish, mouldy look, which appears to be a mere 

 exudation, as it neither presents any after-character, 

 nor have I observed that any thing results from it. 

 The young leaves, soon after their appearance in 

 the spring, are beset with numerous fine spines of 

 a bright red colour, most probably occasioned by 

 the puncture of some insect, though I have never 

 been able to discover any of the larvae inclosed in 

 them. Some insects wound the leaves and sprays 



