36 THE TREES AND SHRCJBS [LECT. 



tree in other regions does not appear to be adapted 

 for the purposes to which in ancient times the 

 Cedar was applied. 



Virgil speaks of the Cedrus in common with 

 the Cypress as employed in house-building : 



" Dant utile lignum 

 Navigiis pinos, domibus cedrumque cupressosque." 



In the 7th book of the ^Eneid, line 13, he alludes 

 to the Cedar as used for fragrant torches : 



" Urit odoratam nocturna in lumina cedrum :" 



and, in line 178, for statues, the images of the 

 ancestors of Latinus being carved out of an old 

 Cedar: 



" Quin etiam veterum effigies ex ordine avorum 



Antiqua e cedro, 



Vestibule adstabant." 



But if the word Cedrus cannot be supposed to 

 have any reference to our Cedar, it is somewhat 

 difficult to determine what the tree intended can 

 have been. 



That which seems best to correspond with the 

 descriptions given of the Cedrus by ancient writers 

 is the Juniper, and hence it may be worth while to 

 note down the accounts given of it by classical 

 authorities. 



Now that which we meet with in Theophrastus 

 is probably the most authentic, as it is the most 

 detailed, of any that can be gathered from their 

 writings. 



c Georg. ii. 443. 



