PLANE. 115 



gious army of 1,700,000 soldiers to halt whilst 

 he adorned the tree with all the jewels be- 

 longing to himself, his concubines, and the 

 principal men of his court, until the branches 

 were loaded with gems, necklaces, bracelets, 

 scarfs, and ornaments of every kind. He 

 called it his mistress and his goddess, and it 

 was some days before he could be prevailed 

 on to leave the tree of which he was so ena- 

 moured, and even then he caused a figure of 

 it to be stamped on a gold medal, which he 

 constantly wore about him. Herodotus re- 

 lates that he encircled this favorite tree by a 

 fence of gold, and that he appointed one of 

 his suite to guard it. We are more disposed 

 to consider that Xerxes had some political 

 cause for this action, more than the bare in- 

 fatuation which the beauty of the tree could 

 create, unless it recalled to his remembrance 

 some interesting circumstance of his life that 

 was dear to his heart. 



The Greeks named this tree IIXcctuvos, from 

 irXctTvs wide, on account of the wide spreading 

 of its branches, for which, and for the beauty 

 of its shade, it was so greatly esteemed at 

 Athens, that it formed the principal shade in 

 the groves, where the philosophers of that 

 city held their discourses or retired to study. 



The plane-tree was always planted on the 

 i 2 



