4 HOLLY. 



of this tree are well known emblems of Christmas, being used to 

 adorn our houses and churches at that season ; a custom which 

 Dr. Chandler thinks a relic of Druidism, " houses being* decked 

 with them that the sylvan spirits might repair thither, and remain 

 unnipped by the frost and cold winds, until a milder season had 

 renewed the foliage of their darling abodes." From its consecra- 

 tion to religious observancies, we have the name Holly i. e. Holy- 

 tree. It serves for various useful purposes. Walking-sticks and 

 knife-handles are made of the branches ; the wood being very 

 hard, and susceptible of a fine polish, is much used by turners, es- 

 pecially in the manufacture of Tonbridge ware ; it is also used in 

 veneering, and is sometimes stained black, to imitate ebony. The 

 substance called bird-lime is chiefly obtained from this tree, and 

 in the following manner : — The bark is peeled off in the month of 

 July, and the outer rind, or brown epidermis, being removed, 

 it is put into boiling water in an earthen vessel, and left in a damp 

 place for about a fortnight ; it is then taken out and well bruised 

 in a mortar, until reduced to a kind of paste or mucilage, washed 

 in cold water to separate extraneous matters, and finally left to 

 itself for four or five days ; the scum is then removed from the 

 surface, and it is ready for use. 



The sensible qualities of every part of this tree are rather feeble, 

 but the bark has some resemblance to the odour of turpentine, 

 while to the taste't is bitter and viscous. This viscidity is owing 

 to the presence of a glutinous matter, chiefly abounding in the 

 liber or inner bark, already mentioned as affording bird-lime ; it is 

 very soft, tenacious, and filamentous, condensing by cold, and 

 liquefying by heat; soluble in alcohol, ether, and the fixed and 

 volatile oils, but insoluble in water ; thus bearing some affinity to 

 caoutchouc. 



Medicinal Properties and Uses. — Holly has hitherto been con- 

 sidered unworthy of a place in the legitimate Materia Medica, but re- 

 cent investigations have proved it to be a remedial agent of no small 

 efficacy. The old writers appear to have been slightly acquainted 

 with its properties ; they discovered that the berries were emetie 

 and purgative ; and Gerard, Ray, and others, mention that ten or 

 twelve of them " are good against the colic/' The root and the 

 inner bark of the stem they also considered emollient and resolving, 

 as also the viscid matter usually called bird-lime, which was recom- 

 mended to be applied to tumours and to parts affected with gout. 



