LIME. 89 



naturalized in Britain, — the subject of this article ; T. rubra, Dec. ; T. 

 grandifolia, Ehrh. ; and T. parvifolia, Ehrh. ; the latter only, perhaps, in- 

 digenous.* Linnaeus considered these as so many varieties of one species 

 — the Tilia Europoea. 



This tree is much esteemed for forming avenues, and its fragrant 

 flowers, " at dewy eve distilling odours," add greatly to the estimation 

 in which it is held. Du Hamel states, that it was first cultivated for 

 ornament, by the French, in the time of Louis XIV. ; and, at Evelyn's 

 suggestion, it was much employed in this way in England. Fenelon 

 decorates his enchanted isle of Calypso with flowering Lime-trees. 



General Uses. — The inner bark of the stem is tough andpli- 

 ant, and is made into ropes ; and the mats so frequently employed 

 by gardeners, called bass or bast, which form one of the exports 

 from Russia. " Excellent bass for tying plants may be obtained 

 by placing the smooth, lateral branches of the tree in water, about 

 April or Midsummer ; when sufficiently macerated, they are taken 

 out, and the bark, which easily separates from the alburnum, washed 

 in water to make the glutinous matter separate, and hung up to 

 dry, is then ready for use."f 



A coarse but smooth paper may also be manufactured from the 

 bark ; and Ruger states, that, from the outer bark, he prepared a 

 fine rose-coloured lake. With the twigs they make baskets and 

 cradles. The wood being white, soft, smooth, and close-grained, 

 and not liable to be worm-eaten, is much valued by carvers : 

 many of Gibbons' exquisite productions in this material are extant, 

 in various churches and palaces ; as in the choir of St. Paul's, the 

 Duke of Devonshire's at Chatsworth, Trinity College Library at 

 Cambridge, &c. It is also used by shoemakers in cutting leather, 

 as it does not blunt the knife ; and is much sought after by turners, 

 for making small bowls, boxes, and other articles of light ware ; but 

 vessels made of it, when turned thin, are not adapted for holding 

 water, as it resembles ivy-wood in porosity. Lime-wood forms 

 also excellent charcoal for gunpowder, and for painters' scribblets. 

 The flowers, which are very fragrant, easily ferment, and might be 

 used in making wine ; a fine-flavoured brandy was distilled from 

 them by Marcgraf ;$ they are much frequented by bees, and the 



* For the distinctive characters, see Hooker's British Flora, or Lindley's 

 Synopsis of the British Flora, 

 f Don's System of Gardening and Botany, vol i. p. 552. 

 X In Mem. de l'Acad. de Science de Berlin, 1772, p. 4. 



