79 



ASH.— FRAXINUS, 



Natural order, Sepiarice. Jasminece, Juss, 

 genus of the Polygamia Dioecia class. 



" No tree in all the grove but has its charms, 

 Though each its hue peculiar; 



And ash far stretching his umbrageous arm." 



Cowper. 



*' The tow'ring ash is fairest in the woods." Virgil. 



This tree was called by the Greeks p-x/a, 

 and by some ^sXea. The Latins, it is thought, 

 named it Fraxinus, quia facile frangitur, to ex- 

 press the fragile nature of the wood, as the 

 boughs of it are easily broken. We are 

 thought to have given the name of ash to 

 this tree, because the bark of the trunk and 

 branches is of the colour of wood-ashes, 

 whilst some learned etymologists affirm that 

 the word is derived from the Saxon JEsc. 



It will be seen that we have been particu- 

 larly fortunate in our antiquarian researches 

 respecting this tree, so much celebrated by 

 the ancients, as we have not only discovered 

 the purposes to which it was converted bv 



