2118 ARIJORETUM AND FRUT1CETUM. PART III. 



or corn. The pollen of the male flowers, which is produced in immense 

 quantities, is a fine powder, of a lively yellow, without taste or smell ; which 

 inflames readily, and burns brightly, like that of the powder of the Lycoperdon, 

 which it greatly resembles, it has been analysed by M. Macaire Prinsep 

 (Bib. univers. de Geneve, 1830, p. 45.), but it has not been yet applied to any 

 useful purpose. 



The wood called cedar by the ancients was supposed so incorruptible, 

 that the expression of dignus cedro (worthy to be preserved in cedar) was 

 applied to anything thought worthy of immortality ; and, in allusion to this, 

 Persius says, in his first satire, " Et cedro digna locutus" (worthy to be 

 placed in cedar). The words " cedro digna" are often applied as a compli- 

 ment at the present day. The resinous products of the tree were, like 

 the wood, highly valued by the ancients. The Romans believed that the 

 gum which exuded from this tree, and which they called cedria, had the 

 property of preserving incorruptible every thing that was steeped in it. 

 Vitruvius states that the leaves of papyrus, when rubbed with it, were never 

 attacked by the worms ; and Pliny, that the books of Numa, which were found 

 uninjured in the tomb of that prince, 500 years after his death, had been 

 steeped in the oil of cedar. The Egyptians also used this cedria in embalming 

 their dead ; and Pliny, Dioscorides, Scribonius Largus, &c., recommend the 

 cedria for curing the toothache, and for various other complaints. 



As an ornamental object, the cedar is one of the most magnificent of trees ; 

 uniting the grand with the picturesque, in a manner not equalled by any other 

 tree in Britain, either indigenous or introduced. On a lawn, where the soil 

 is good, the situation sheltereu 1 , and the space ample, it forms a gigantic py- 

 ramid, and confers dignity on the park and mansion to which it belongs ; and it 

 makes an avenue of unrivalled grandeur, if the trees are so far apart as to allow 

 their branches to extend on every side. If planted in masses, it is, like any 

 other species of the pine and fir tribe, drawn up with a straight naked trunk, 

 and scarcely differs in appearance from the larch, except in being evergreen. 

 This is exemplified at Kenwood, at Claremont, and other places near London. 

 On the other hand, where the cedar is planted in masses, and a distance of 

 50 ft. or 60 ft. allowed between each tree, nothing in the way of sylvan majesty 

 can be more sublime than such a forest of living pyramids. 'This is exemplified 

 around the cedar tower at Whitton, and on the cedar bank at Pepper Harrow. 



Gilpin, speaking of the cedar of Lebanon, says: " To it preeminence belongs, 

 not only on account of its own dignity, but on account of the respectable 

 mention which is every where made of it in Scripture. Solomon spake of 

 trees, from the cedar of Lebanon, to the hyssop that springeth out of the wall; 

 that is, from the greatest to the least. The Eastern writers are, indeed, the 

 principal sources from which we are to obtain the true character of the cedar, 

 as it is an Eastern tree. In the sacred writers particularly, we are presented 

 with many noble images drawn from its several qualities. It is generally 

 employed by the prophets to express strength, power, and longevity. The 

 strength of the cedar is used as an emblem to express the power even of 

 Jehovah: * The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.' 

 David characterises the palm tree and the cedar together, both very strongly. 

 * The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, and spread abroad like a 

 cedar of Lebanon.' The flourishing head of the palm, and the spreading 

 abroad of the cedar, are equally characteristic. But the prophet Ezekiel hath 

 given us the fullest description of the cedar : ' Behold, the Assyrian was a 

 cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of 

 a high stature ; and his top was among the thick boughs. His boughs were 

 multiplied, and his branches became long. The fir trees were not like his 

 boughs, nor the chestnut trees like his branches, nor any tree in the garden 

 of God like unto him in beauty.' In this description, two of the principal 

 characteristics of the cedar are marked : the first is the multiplicity and 

 length of its branches. Few trees divide so many fair branches from the main 

 stem, or spread over so large a compass of ground. ' His boughs are multi- 



