96 HISTORY OF FRUITS. 



into many useful articles, such as soap, &c.; and as it 

 loses its bitter astringent taste after it has been rasped 

 into water, it is concluded that it would be a wholesome 

 food mixed with flour or potatoes. The prickly husks 

 are valuable for tanning leather. 



Zannichelli affirms, that he has made a great many 

 trials, and has found the bark of the horse-chesnut-tree to 

 have the same effect as the Peruvian bark ; but the gene- 

 rality of practitioners tell us it is much inferior to that 

 article. 



The bark of horse-chesnut is inodorous, but has an 

 astringent and agreeable bitter taste ; it should be taken 

 from those branches which are neither old nor young : it 

 may be preserved for several years without having its 

 virtues impaired, for they do not reside in any volatile 

 matter, but in a substance called tannin, which may be 

 extracted from the bark by spirit or water. Its medical 

 properties are astringent and tonic. Medical Botany. 



The common horse-chesnut is propagated by sowing 

 the nuts in the same manner as the eatable chesnut. This 

 tree will grow luxuriant and healthy even in very cold, 

 barren, and hungry earth, being, as Dr. Hunter observes, 

 " not very nice in its diet ;" but in a sandy loam it makes 

 the greatest progress, and retains its verdure longest in a 

 moist soil. After horse-chesnuts have been transplanted, 

 neither knife nor hatchet should come near them, but 

 they should be left to Nature to form their fine parabolic 

 heads, and assume their utmost beauty ; for the fine 

 spikes of flowers come out at the extremity of each 

 branch, therefore when pruned or crowded by other trees 

 they lose half their splendour. 



The timber is not considered valuable ; but as Mr. 

 Hanbury justly observes, " It grows rapidly to a con- 

 siderable magnitude, and is therefore well worth the 

 planting for the sake of the timber." It is used by the 



