POPLAR. 239 



fit baton for one endowed with superhuman strength. 

 Certain it is, that strong men, who conquered in feats of 

 wrestling, or who pertained to the altars which superstition 

 erected to the memory of Hercules, were decked with 

 chaplets, entwined from our kindred twigs ; and that the 

 altars were adorned in like manner. 



" A double wreath Evander twined. 

 And poplars black and white his temples bind." 



Virgil. 



Beautiful is the effect produced by different members 

 of our family, when growing in fertile soils on river banks, 



" Tall poplars trembling o'er the silver flood," 



especially when contrasted in our singleness and beauty 

 with the umbrageous majesty of the oak, the beech, or 

 elm, or of woodlands, that form a background to the river 

 and its trees. In moist places our services are frequently 

 invaluable ; and the vast extension of our roots, with an 



