ASH-TREE. 127 



gardener that he may venture his green-house plants into 

 the open air ; in autumn, their sudden fall, when breathed 

 upon by the slightest frost, warns him to shelter them. 

 Much, too, of advantage to the farmer is derived from my 

 roots, as under drains, on the side of ditches or boggy 

 meadows, by means of which the ground is rendered both 

 firm and hard. Men owe to me the best handles for their 

 tools employed in husbandry, for carts also, and wains, 

 and work pertaining to the wheelwright; and my bark is 

 available for tanning calf-skin. The chemist, by using a 

 slight infusion of it, produces a beautiful and curious 

 transition from one colour to another. The infusion, when 

 viewed between the eye and light, appears of a pale yellow 

 colour; but when looked down upon, or placed between 

 the eye and an opake substance, it becomes blue. This 

 blueness is destroyed by the addition of an acid, and 

 alkalies recover it again. 



Poets sing concerning the light and airy elegance of my 

 quivering branches, my smooth rmd ? and bright green 



