THE CHESTNUT. 349 
is or is not a native of Britain, is a point that will 
probably never be settled, though general opinion 
inclines to the belief that it is not indigenous, but 
must have been introduced into our island by the 
Romans, who, it .is considered, probably brought 
it here because of its possession of that which, in 
the present day, makes it chiefly valuable to us— 
namely, its edible fruit. It was at one time 
believed that the timber found in a large number 
of our most ancient buildings was that of the 
Chestnut ; and upon this supposition was founded 
a belief in the indigenousness of the Tree. But 
it has since been discovered—and the French 
naturalist Buffon was the first to call attention 
to the subject—that there is a great resemblance 
between the wood of the Chestnut and that of 
the Durmast Oak (Quercus sessiliflora) ; and, upon 
further investigation, it was found that the wood 
in our ancient buildings, supposed to be from 
the Chestnut-Tree, was, in reality, from Quercus 
sessiliflora. The beautiful roof of Westminster 
Hall is amongst the old wooden structures sup- 
posed to have been built of Chestnut wood, 
though now known to be constructed of Durmast 
