CHAP. CXIII. CONl'FJ&RiE. CUPRE'SSUS. 246? 



to Theophrastus, it was dedicated to Pluto ; because the tree, when cut down, 

 never throws up suckers ; and hence also, perhaps, the custom mentioned by 

 Horace, of shutting up in the tomb with the dead a branch of cypress, and 

 enveloping the body in its fronds ; though some suppose it to have originated 

 in the supposition that the balsamic odour of the cypress would neutralise the 

 infectious exhalations proceeding from the corpse. Among the Romans, 

 many authors mention this tree. Pliny tells several extraordinary stories 

 respecting the durability of its wood ; the statue of Jupiter in the Capitol, 

 which was formed of cypress, had existed above 600 years, without showing 

 the slightest symptom of decay ; and the doors of the temple of Diana at 

 Ephesus, which were also of cypress, when 400 years old, had the appear- 

 ance of being quite new. He also says that, in his time, the wood was used 

 for many rural purposes, particularly for vine-props, for which the wood of 

 the horizontal variety was preferred. He adds that the plantations of cy- 

 press were cut down every 13 years, for poles, rafters, and joists ; which made 

 the wood so profitable, that a plantation of cypress was thought a sufficient 

 marriage portion for a daughter ; and, hence, the tree was sometimes called 

 " dos filiae." (Plin., lib. xvi. c. 33.) In another place, he informs us that the 

 Romans made verdant walls of cypress in their gardens ; and also that they 

 clipped the entire trees into a variety of forms, so as to represent a chase, a 

 fleet of ships, and numerous other fancies. He adds that, in his time, there 

 were standing at Rome some cypresses that were more ancient than the city 

 itself. Plato had his code of laws engraved on cypress wood, as being more 

 durable than brass. Vitruvius and Martial also speak of the great dura- 

 bility and beauty of cypress timber. Columella mentions the various rural 

 uses of the cypress wood ; and Cato (De Re Rustica) gives directions for 

 making plantations of cypress trees, recommending the planters to procure 

 the seed from Tarentum. The odour of the cypress was thought so balsamic, 

 that the Eastern physicians used to send those of their patients who had weak 

 lungs to the Isle of Crete. In the middle ages, we find this tree frequently 

 mentioned. Leon Alberti, a celebrated Florentine architect of the fifteenth 

 century, tells us that he found the wood of a vessel which had been submerged 

 1300 years, and which was perfectly sound, to be principally of cypress. The 

 doors of St. Peter at Rome, which had lasted from the time of Constantine 

 to that of Eugene IV. (that is, above 1100 years), were of cypress, and were 

 found, when removed by Pope Eugene, to give place to brass, to be perfectly 

 sound. The popes, in the middle ages, were buried in coffins of cypress wood, 

 from the belief that it would never decay. The Turks plant cypress trees in 

 their cemeteries, one at each end of the grave, when they inter their dead ; and 

 these are so numerous at Scutari, that the cemetery there {see Jig. 2323.) re- 

 sembles one vast forest of cypress. This magnificent burying-ground extends 

 for miles in length ; and, among high and turbaned tombstones, gold-lettered 

 inscriptions, and graves ornamented with flowers, the tall evergreen cypress 

 has a very striking effect. (Alex. Trav., p. 240.) The cemetery at Pera (see 

 fg. 2324.) is on a comparatively level surface : it is of great extent, bordered 

 by the sea, and thickly set, in many places, with Turkish monuments, shaded 

 by cypress trees. 



The question as to whether the upright and spreading cypresses are the 

 same, or two distinct kinds, has long engaged the attention of botanists. Theo- 

 phrastus says that they degenerate into each other, and both bear seeds alike. 

 Pliny supposes C.s. horizontals to be the male, and C. s. stricta to be the female; 

 and his opinion seems to have been adopted by most of the earlier botanists. 

 Gerard calls the upright, the tame cypress ; and the spreading, the wild ; but 

 Johnson, in his edition of Gerard, seems to have supposed the upright cypress to 

 have been made so by art. Miller, writing nearly a century later, appears to be 

 almost of the same opinion, as he says : " The cypresses were formerly planted 

 in the borders of pleasure-grounds, and kept shorn into a pyramidal or conic 

 form ; and some people, believing them to be subject to be killed if they cut 

 them, tied them up with cords into a pyramidal figure, which form they are 



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