THE JUNIPER 



The Juniper is an historical tree, and has been the sub- 

 ject of many interesting traditions, — supposed by the 

 ancients to yield a shade that was injurious to human 

 life; the emblem of faith, because its heart is always 

 sound ; the bearer of fruit regarded as a panacea for all 

 diseases, and a magic charm which was thrown on the 

 funeral pile to protect the spirit of the dead from evil, 

 and bound with the leaves to propitiate the deities by 

 their incense. It is not improbable that the superstitious 

 notions respecting the power of its fruit to heal diseases 

 gave origin to the use of it in the manufacture of certain 

 alcoholic liquors ; and it is a remarkable fact that imi- 

 versal belief in its virtues as a panacea should have at- 

 tached to a plant which is now used for no important 

 medical purpose whatever save the flavoring of gin ! 



The Juniper, very generally called the Eed Cedar, and 

 known in many places as the Savin, is well known to all 

 our people, and is associated with the most rugged 

 scenery of our coast. On all our rocky hUls which have 

 been stripped of their original growth the Juniper springs 

 up as if it found there a soil congenial to its wants. On 

 the contrary, the soil is very poorly adapted to it, for the 

 tree never attains a good size in these situations. Its 

 presence there may be attributed to the birds that feed 

 in winter upon its fruit, and scatter its seeds while in 

 quest of dormant insects among the sods. As we journey 

 southward, we find this tree in perfection in New Jersey 

 and Maryland ; and in all the Atlantic States south of 



