o70 TAXACE.E. 



or the antiquarian ; as instances, may be cited the deco- 

 ration of the interior of our churches and houses with 

 sprigs of holly at Christmas, a custom derived from the 

 heathens, and which originated in the celebration of the 

 Saturnalia in pagan Rome. The suspension of the miseltoe 

 bush, also, within the dwelling-house, which still prevails 

 in some parts of England at the same period of the year, 

 is supposed to be a vestige of Druidical rites which pre- 

 vailed long anterior to the introduction of Christianity. 



The wood of the Yew possesses qualities of first- 

 rate excellence, being not only hard, compact, of a fine 

 and close grain, and elastic, but susceptible of a very 

 high polish and. almost incorruptible. The colour of the 

 matured wood is peculiarly rich, varying from shades of 

 the finest orange red to the deepest brown, and near to 

 the root and at the ramification of the branches it is 

 marbled and veined in a way surpassed by few of the 

 finest foreign cabinet woods ; the sap wood, also, which 

 is white and of a firm and hard texture, may be worked 

 up with the other kind, and thus add to the numerous 

 shades of colour it exhibits. From the qualities above 

 enumerated, the Yew may safely be pronounced, not only 

 one of the most valuable among European trees for cabinet 

 purposes, but scarcely, if at all, inferior to the most costly 

 exotic woods that have been introduced ; unfortunately, 

 from the neglect of not having been treated as a timber 

 tree, or planted extensively with a view to profit, it is not, 

 at present, to be procured in quantity sufficient to make 

 it generally available for the larger articles of furniture, 

 and its application is, therefore, restricted to the making 

 of small tables, work-boxes, &c, when it is generally used 

 in the form of veneers, or for inlaid work and the smaller 



