NOVEMBER. 511 



ably not without foundation. A decoction of the leaves is 

 said to be an antidote to the poison occasioned by the bites 

 and stings of insects, when the swelling is washed with it ; 

 and it would seem reasonable to make further experiments 

 respecting its medical virtues, to ascertain whether they 

 would be efficacious in curing the bites of venomous serpents 

 or of rabid animals. 



The Tupelo, (Nyssa multijlora,) has, I believe, no repre- 

 sentative on the old continent, but it is, though not very 

 well known, one of our most remarkable trees in a pictur- 

 esque point of view. The swamp hornbeam is the name 

 usually applied to it, on account of the toughness of its 

 wood. It has also been called umbrella tree, from a peculiar 

 habit of spreading out its branches into a flat top. It is most 

 generally known among our country people as the wild pear 

 tree, from a fancied resemblance to the general mode of 

 growth and foliage of the pear, though it has no sort of bo- 

 tanical affinity with this tree. In the Middle and Southern 

 States, it is the sour gum. The name of Tupelo, which is 

 now by the general consent of botanists applied to it, was 

 originally given to it by the aborigines. 



The shapes assumed by this tree are exceedingly grotesque. 

 It is sometimes quite erect, throwing out its branches hori- 

 zontally and equally on all sides, but always forming a more 

 or less flattened top. More frequently this tree has no regu- 

 larity of shape, leaning over to one side, and often putting 

 out a single branch greatly beyond all the others. The 

 branches are commonly more or less twisted and gnarled, 

 inclining downward from a horizontal position, not with a 

 curve, like the branches of an elm, but forming an acute an- 

 gle below where they join the trunk, like the lower boughs 

 of a fir tree. Some of the swamp oaks greatly resemble the 

 tupelo in their mode of growth and ramification ; but the 

 former have in general more symmetry, and never exhibit a 

 flattened top. It is the twisted irregularity of the lower 

 branches that constitutes the resemblance. 



The foliage of the tupelo is remarkable for its fine glossy 

 verdure, and for the brightness and uniformity of its hues. 



