

ARBUTUS. 



ARROW-HEAD. 



screen private walks or low buildings, as it | tree in our shrubberies with double blossoms, 

 gives out flat spreading branches near the | and another with red flowers. Aiton enume- 

 ground ; but it has a sombre appearance, un- 

 less associated with more cheerful foliage, or 

 ornamented by some gay climbing plant, as 

 the everlasting pea, the flaming nasturtium, or 



our native bindweed. 



The arbor vitre, which we have borrowed 

 from the extremity of the east and of the west, 

 as a mere ornament to our pleasure-grounds, 

 forms an article of utility and profit to the in- 

 habitants of its native soil. It is reckoned the 

 most durable wood in Canada, where it is 

 known by the name of the white cedar. All 

 the posts which are driven into the ground, 

 and the palisades round the f>ris. are made of 

 this wood. The planks in the houses are made 

 of it; and the thin narrow pieces of wood 

 which form both the ribs and tin- bottom of the 

 bark boats commonly mad*- use of there, are 

 taken from this wood, because it is pliant 

 enough for the purposf, when fresh, and also 

 because it is very li^ht. The thuja wood is 

 reckoned one of the best for the use of lime- 

 kilns. Its branches an- used all over Canada 

 for brooms, which leave their peculiar scent in 

 all the houses where they are used. The arbor 

 vitce affords [a popular remedy lor rheumatic 

 and some other complaints among the Indians 

 and settlers of North America.] 



The finest trees are alw;r. y seed, 



but they are more easily propagated In 

 or cuttings. (Phil. Sjfi, Fin-.} 



ARBUTUS. A genus of evergreen shrubs 

 which is charactcri/od by its fruit being a 

 berry, containing many seeds. The only va- 

 riety necessary to be enumerated in these 

 pages is the Arbutus unedo, or strawberry tree. 



In Pliny's time, when Rome abounded in 

 wine and oil, they called the tree unedo, which 

 was an abridgment of itnum edo, meaning, 

 "You will eat but one." It has the name of 

 strawberry-tree with us, because its fit- 

 nearly resemble in appearance that delicious 

 fruit. It is found growing spontaneously on 

 rocky limestone situations in the west of Ire- 

 land, particularly in the county of Kerry, near 

 the hike of Killarney, where the peasants eat 

 the fruit. The arbutus is a native of the south 

 of Europe, Greece, Palestine, and many other 

 parts of Asia. 



Horace celebrates the shade of this tree : 



" Nunc viridi membra aub arbuto 

 StratuB." 



But Virgil describes its foliage as rather thin 

 (Eel. vii.), and recommends the twig as a 

 winter food for goats. 



The arbutus tree succeeds best in a moist 

 soil, for when planted in dry ground it seldom 

 produces much fruit. It is therefore recom- 

 mended to place it in warm situations ; and if 

 the earth is not naturally moist, there should 

 be plenty of loam and rotten neat's dung laid 

 about it^ roots, and in dry springs it should be 

 plentifully watered. 



The arbutus trees may be propagated by 

 layers, but they are principally raised from 

 seed ; and they require to be kept in pots for 

 several years before they are ready for the 

 plantation. We meet with a variety of this 



rates five different species of the arbutus, and 

 there are several varieties of them in the Pari- 

 sian gardens not to be seen in our shrubberies. 

 The leaves of the arbutus are said to be. use- 

 fully employed by tanners in preparing their 

 leather. (Phillip* 1 ! Sylra l-'luriferu.') 



This beautiful evergreen grows to the height 

 of ten and fifteen feet. Its flowers, which are 

 of a yellowish white or red colour bloom in 

 September, October, and November, and are 

 succeeded by the fruit, which remain till the 

 (lowers of the following year are full. blown, 

 thus -jiving the tree a beautiful appearance. 



ARCHED. A term employed among horse- 

 men. A horse is said to have arched legs 

 when his knees are bent archwise. This only 

 relates to the fore-quarters, and the infirmity 

 sometimes happens to such horses as have 

 their letrs spoiled in travelling. 



\K<;ilJ,ACEOUS. [Clayey.] Containing 

 clay. 



ARM OF A HORSE. A term applied to the 

 upper part of the fore-leg. 



ARNOTTO, See ANMITTA. 



\KnMATIC. An epithet applied to such 

 and "ther bodies, as yield a fragrant 

 odour, and have a warm spicy taste. 



AROMATIC; REED (Acarus calamus). The 

 comm. Miarshy perennial plant 



of the easiest culture, ilowenni: from June till 

 August, which irrou.s among rushes in moist 

 ditches and watery places, about the hanks of 

 rivers, but not very general. Root, thick, 

 rather sponuy ; leaves, erect, two or three feet 

 lm r h, bright green, near an inch broad. It 

 rarely flowers unless it grows in water, but 

 when it does bloom, it puts forth a mass of 

 very numerous, thick-set, brownish green 

 (lowers which have no scent except when 

 bruised. Every part of the herbage is stimu- 

 lant, and very aromatic, but the roots are espe- 

 cially so. The dried root powdered is used by 

 the country people of Norfolk, [England,] for 

 curing the ague. It is affirmed to possess car- 

 minative and stomachic virtues, having a 

 warm, pungent, bitterish taste, and is fre- 

 quently used in preparing bitters, though it is 

 said to impart a nauseous flavour. It is the 

 C {damns aromaticus of the shops, and Linnaeus 

 says, the roots powdered might supply the 

 place of foreign spices. (Eng. Flor. vol. ii. p. 

 1 57 ; Paxton's Bot. Did. ; Willich's Dom. 



ARPENT. The French name for an acre. 

 [The French arpent contains 51,691 square 

 English feet, or very nearly one acre and three- 

 quarters of a rood English measure.] 



ARROW-GRASS (Tnglochln}. Perennial 

 marsh herbs, of which there are two kinds, the 

 < marsh arrow-grass and the sea arrow-grass, 

 , both perennials, flowering from May till Au- 

 gust. They grow in wet boggy meadows and 

 salt marshes, &c., abundantly, and are very 

 grateful to domestic cattle, the herbage con- 

 taining a large proportion of salt. (Eng. Flor. 

 vol. ii. p. 200.) 



ARROW-HEAD (SrtgiUftria sagittifolia, 

 from sagitfa, an arrow; because of the resem- 

 blance of the leaves to the head of that weapon). 



Ill 



