lr#i Introdmtory View of the 



ably elegant plant, with its flowers collected together into 

 crowded heads : they have a smooth and wax-like appear- 

 ance, very similar to the blossom of the ^^rbutus. The fine- 

 leaved heath (^. cinerea) is very common on dry sandy 

 grounds, and is often cut, together with ling, for making 

 brooms, and for fuel. Ling is employed in Scotland in 

 building and thatching cabins, and for rustic beds ; in the Isle 

 of Islay it is mingled with malt in brewing beer. 



We are told by the poets that Daphne, the fair fugitive 

 who eluded the pursuit of the god of day, was changed into 

 a laurel, with which Apollo crowned his brows, in honour 

 to her memory. The genus that now bears the name, some- 

 what resembles that noble laurel, chiefly in the leaves. We 

 have two British species. One of them, Z). Mezereum^ more 

 commonly known by the name of mezereon, bears its blos- 

 soms in March, before the leaves appear ; they have no 

 corolla ; but a rose-coloured calyx, which is sometimes mis- 

 taken for one, amply supplies the deficiency in point of 

 beauty, and is exquisitely fragrant. This hardly little shrub 

 is seldom found wild. The scarlet berries are. greedily eaten 

 by the hawfinch, greenfinch, and others of that genus. The 

 I). Laureola, commonly called the spurge laurel, is a little 

 evergreen shrub, with drooping leaves and green flowers; 

 the latter oppressively sweet-scented in the evening, but 

 having little or no scent during the day: its berry is black. 

 Both these plants have medicinal properties, valuable in the 

 hands of skilful practitioners, but dangerous when adminis- 

 tered by mock-doctors, however willingly they may assume the 

 title. Every part is acrid, and produces a fierce burning in 

 the mouth and throat. 



Of the genus ^'cer (sharp, in reference to the juice) we 

 have two species; the maple, A. campestre (champaign), and 

 the sycamore. A, Pseudo-pl^tanus (false-plane tree). The 

 maple is common in hedges and thickets, and well known by 

 the peculiar form of the leaf, which is five- 

 lobed, cut into five segments. (Jig. 28.) 

 The wood, which is still used for many 

 light articles, was formerly in great request 

 for cups; and the knots, which were thought 

 to resemble various animals, were prized by 

 the Romans at a most extravagant rate, 

 chiefly for making tables. The expression 

 " to turn the tables upon a person,'' has 

 been supposed to owe its origin to this 

 taste; which afforded the Roman ladies an opportunity of 

 retaliation, when their husbands remonstrated against the cost- 



