THE ASHES 



very slowly. Tennyson also noted this char- 

 acteristic: 



" Why lingereth she to clothe her heart with love, 

 Delaying as the tender ash delays 

 To clothe herself, when all the woods are green ? " 



The rare fitness of this simile might pass un- 

 heeded if we did not study trees first and poetry 

 afterwards. 



In Europe ash seeds were used for medicine. 

 They were called lingua avis by the old apothe- 

 caries, on account of a fancied resemblance to 

 the tongues of birds; young ash seeds were 

 also pickled and used in salads. Evelyn says 

 the wood "is of all others the sweetest of 

 our forest fuelling, and the fittest for ladies' 

 chambers." 



The horsechestnuts, the maples, and the 

 ashes are the three genera of large trees which 

 have opposite leaf-scars. 



4 1 



