138 A MANUAL Of THE CONIfEEiE. 



have been planted in 1676. There are many other old trees in England 

 and among them, Some of the finest in Europe.* 



The economic value of the Cedar of Lebanon in modern times, 

 otherwise than for ornamental planting, is inconsiderable; the timber 

 of trees felled in Britain is inferior ; " the wood is light, soft, brittle, 

 apt to warp, and by no means durable."! There are, however, 

 grounds for believing that the Cedars growing under very different 

 circumstances of climate in proximity to the snows of Lebanon and 

 Taurus yield timber of the finest quality. In the expedition to Mount 

 Lebanon, undertaken by Sir J. D. Hooker, Captain "Washington, R.N., 

 and other gentlemen, in the autumn of 1860, " a section of the 

 lower limb of one of -the oldest trees (which lay dead on the ground) 

 was procured, which gave a totally different idea of the hardness of 

 Cedar- wood from what English specimens do." t 



The secretions of the Cedar of Lebanon are not abundant, but they 

 appear to possess very remarkable properties, some of which were 

 known in very ancient times; the Egyptians are said to have used its 

 whitish resin in embalming their dead; and Pliny states that books 

 were sometimes perfumed with it. § The most recent notice of these 

 properties appears in Mr. Smee's entertaining book, My Garden, p. 429 : 

 " The wood of the Cedar contains a volatile essential oil, which has 

 the curious property of unsettling printers' ink and making it run. 

 Some years ago a Bank of England note was offered to the cashier with 

 its printing disturbed. Inquiry was set on foot, and it was traced to 

 several individuals who satisfactorily explained its custody and possession. 

 It was then brought to me, when I suggested that the detectives 

 should inquire whether it had been kept in a Cedar box; it was 

 then discovered that the last possessor had kept it in a new Cedar 

 box, which she had recently bought, and thus the mystery was solved." 



The specific name Libani refers to the ancient mountain with which 

 the tree has been associated from remote antiquity, and especially in 

 the Sacred Writings. The Cedars, on Mount Lebanon have thence 

 acquired a separate and special interest throughout the Christian world. 

 Since the Reformation they have been visited from time to time by 

 travellers from western Europe, mos^of whom have .left^-some account 

 of the trees they found standing at The"" time of their visit. These 

 accounts agree as to their majestic proportions and venerable aspect; 

 they also contain evidence that the once famous forest, which clothed 

 the mountain side, has diminished to a small grove, whose extent can 



* The Cedars at Syon House, Warwick Castle, Linton Park, ChisWick, Goodwood Park, 

 Gunnersbury, Blenheim, &c. 



t London, Arb. et Prut., p. 2417. 



X Gardeners' Chronicle, p. 67, 1862. 



§ Pesinam albidam olim sub Cedrite nomine ad libros cedratos et ut videtur, ad cadaveta 

 antiquonmn t jEgiptiorum preservanda usitatissimam soatens.— Prod., xvl. , p. 408. Libri cedratl 

 occurs in Pliny, 18— 27, but the reading is disputed, 



