JE S C 



t:apfi:les, laniinas of the corolla obovate, and claws of tlie 

 Iciijji!) of tilt calyx ; and the JE. fnrva, with a long thick 

 Ipikc, and a llirubby ftulk. 



Tlie ill fpctits. or common hor/f-chej?iiiit,\v:ishroug:ht from 

 the northern parts of Afia into Europe about the year 

 1550, and fcnt to Vienna about the year 1558. From 

 Vienna it was conveyed to France and Italy ; but it came to 

 us from the L.vant. It is diilinjriiidied by the beautiful pa- 

 rabolic form of its branches, tlie dlfpofition and ilrufture of 

 its digitate leaves, and by the pyramidal bunches of its 

 white flowers, varie);ated near the centre with yellow 

 or red. Althouj^h this tree is now lefs in elleem for 

 avenues and walks tlian it formerly was, on account of the 

 early decay of its leaves, it affords an excellent fhade ; and 

 the I'pikcs of (lowers which appear in May, with the inter- 

 mixture of laifje leaves, exhibit a noble appearance. The 

 !noft eligible fituation for thcfe trees is in lawns and parks, 

 where they may be planted lingly, and where their fruit 

 will be ferviceable to the deer, who are fond of it. This 

 tiee is of quick growth ; and in a few years it will afford a 

 good fhade in fummer, and yield plenty of flowers. Trees, 

 raifed from nuts, have in 12 or 14 ycai-s become large 

 enough to (liadc two or three chairs with their branches, 

 which in the feafon arc covered with flowers. But the trees 

 are of lliort duration, and the wood is of little value. It. 

 ferves, however, for water-pipes, turner's ware, and fuel : 

 and for thefe ufes it is worth the charge of planting, and 

 ihoult) be felled in November or December. 



The common horfe-cheflnut is propagated by fowing the nuts, 

 after preferving them in fand during the winter, in order to 

 prevent their rotting early in the fpring. In this cafe the 

 plants, in a proper foil, will flioot near a foot the firll 

 fummer ; and they may be tranfplanted, either in the fol- 

 lowing autumn, or in Februai-y and March, into the nurfery, 

 and fet in rows at the dillancc of three feet, and one foot 

 afunder, where they are to remain two years ; and they will 

 then be fit fm- planting where they are to continue. The 

 moil favourable foil for them is a fandy loam, inclining to 

 moifture. The vvjiole fhoot of this tree is completed in lefs 

 than three weeks after the buds are opened ; and as foon as 

 the flowers are fallen, the buds for the fucceeding year are 

 formed, which continue fwelling till autumn, when they are 

 overfpread with a thick tenacious juice, that defends the 

 tender buds from the winter froft ; and on the return of 

 warmth, the juice melts and runs off, and the buds are left 

 at liberty to extend themfelves. Of this tree there arc 

 varieties, with gold and filvcr ftripcd leaves, which are in- 

 crcafed by layers, and by budding or ingrafting them upon 

 flocks of the common fort. 



In Turkey the nuts of this tree are ground and mixed 

 with the provender for their horfes, efpecially thofe which 

 are troubled with coughs, or are broken-winded ; in both 

 which diforders they are reckoned very good. M. Raimont, 

 of Anjou, gave them, mixed with other food, to his cows ; 

 and they increafed the quantity of milk, without injuring its 

 quality ; and he apprehends that if they were blanched and 

 rafped, or otherwife prepared, they might be given to hogs 

 snd poultry. Memoirs of the Royal Society of Agriculture 

 at Tours. voL i. p. 121. 



lo. Jac. Zannichelli informs us, that after many trials he 

 has found the bark to have the fame effeft as the Peruvian 

 bark : and Dr. Fuchs, teacher of medicine at lena, has 

 prepared from the ripe fruit, diverted of the huflcs, an 

 cxtraft, which, according to his txperiments, may be ufed, 

 perhaps, inllead of the expenfive extradum china:. Its 

 good effcAs, as a febrifuge, have been con firmed by many 



^ S H 



The horfe-ch.f.nut has been employed in France and Sveit- 

 zerland for the pu .pofc of bleaching yarn ; and it is recom- 

 mended in the Mem. of the Society of Bemc, vol. ii. part '2, 

 as capable of extenlive ufe in whitening not only flax and 

 hemp, but lllk and wool. It contains an allriugent fa- 

 ponaceous juice, which is obtained by peeling the nuts, and 

 grinding or rafping them. Tiiey are then mixed with hot 

 rain or r,unning water, in the proportion of 2C nuts to 10 or 

 1 2 quarts of %vater. Wove caps and ilockings were milled 

 in this water, and took the dye extremely well ; and fuc- 

 cefsful trials were made of it in fulling llufl's and cloths. 

 Linen wafhed in this water takes a pleafing light Iky-bluc 

 colour ; and the filaments of hemp, ftccped in it fome 

 days, were eafily fcparatcd. The jVuthor of the memoir 

 above referred to, imagines, that if the meal of thecheftnuts 

 could be made into cakes or balls, it would anfwer the pur- 

 pofes of foap, in waihing and fulling. The fediment, after 

 infufion, lofcs its bitter tafte, and becomes good food for 

 fowls when mixed with bran. The Edinburgh College 

 have admitted the horfi-chejiitut into their Phavmacopa-ia of 

 17^3, on the recommendation of Dr. Gardiner, who fays, 

 that three or four grains of the powder fnuffed up the 

 nollrils in the evening, operates next morning as an excel- 

 lent flcrnutatory, and thereby proves very beneficial in ob- 

 flinate inflammations of the eyes. A patent was granted in 

 1796, to Lord W. Murray, for his difcovery of a method 

 of extrafting flarchfrom horfe-cheflnuts. See {tarch. 



The 2d fpecies, or yellotv-Jlo-iuered horfe chejlniit, is a na- 

 tive of Nortli Carolina, was cultivated with us in 1764, and 

 flowers in May and June. 



The 3d fpecies, ox fcarht horfc-chejlmit, rifes to the height 

 of 20 feet, without much extending its branches ; its bark 

 is fmooth, and the leaves, which are oppolite, on long red 

 petioles, are of a light green. Tlie flowers, which are 

 produced from the ends of the branches upon long naked 

 peduncles, are much fniallcr than the common fort and 

 wholly red : they appear in June, and are fomctimes fuc- 

 ceedcdby fruit in England ; but the feeds rarely ripen here. 

 It grows naturally in Bratll, Carolina, Florida, Japan, and 

 feveral parts of the eafl ; and. was cultivated with us in 

 17 1 2. This tree may be propagated by the nuts, which 

 mull be procured from the countries where it grows na- 

 turally. They mufl be fown in pots early in the fpring, 

 and the pots fliould be plunged into a moderate hot -bed, 

 and towards the end of May into the ground in a fouth- 

 eail border ; arid in dry weather the plants fliould be 

 watered, and fecured from early frofls. In the following 

 fpring they fliould be planted at the diilance of a foot from 

 each other, in a fheltered fituation, and in the fucceeding 

 winter fhcltered from cold by fome light covering. The 

 common method praftifed by the nurferynnen, whs propa- 

 gate this tree for fale, is to graft or bud it upon flocks of 

 the common horfe-chefnut ; but as the flocks greatly out- 

 grow the bud or graft, the trees make a bad appearance, 

 nor do they laft long. Martyn. 



TESEPUS, in Ancient Geography, a river of Myfia, which 

 Strabo (1. 12. t. ii. p. 847) on the authority of Homer, 

 makes the houndaiy between MyiiaandTroba. See^SAPUs. 



^SERNIA, in Ancient Geography, Ifernta, a town of 

 the Samnites, which was a Roman colony belonging to the 

 Caracini between Autidena north, and Bovlanum foiith- 

 eaft. It was not far from the river Vulturno. Silius Ita- 

 licus (1. viii. v. 56) refers to it ; and the appellation Efer- 

 nini of Pliay (1. iii. c. 12.) is derived from it. 



,'ESHNA, in Entomology, a fub-divillon of the Unogata, 

 or fifth clafs of infccls, by Fabricius, comprehending feveral 

 fpecies of the Libelluua of Linnxui, charafterized by 



equal 



