336 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
while it lasts, and turning to a rich, mellow, olive purple, for 
some time before it falls, it falls early. It should not often, 
therefore, stand alone, in a conspicuous place, but in a corner 
among other trees. 
The wood is white, and remarkable for its toughness and 
elasticity. For these qualities, it is used for hoops, for handles 
of pitch-forks and rakes, and for the shafts and springs of wag- 
ons and other carriages. Itis used to make oars, in preference 
to any other wood. ‘The oars, already made, are brought to 
Boston, from the Penobscot and Kennebec Rivers, n Maine. 
They are made of forest ash, which is considered lighter and 
more springy than any other. It is also used for ship’s blocks, 
for which purpose, it 1s wrought in a green state, as it is then 
almost as soft as pine. It is used for the boxes of pumps, almost 
exclusively. White ash, from Maine, is used, for its superior 
softness, for the bodies, brackets, sills and pillars of carriages; 
a tougher variety, from the interior or from the west, being pre- 
ferred for shafts, springs and bars, requiring strength. Lance- 
wood alone, as more elastic and strong than ash, is preferred 
for carriage shafts. Ash is also used for sofa frames and chair 
frames, for backs and bottoms, for staves for inferior casks in- 
tended for dry articles, and for bowls. 
The leaves and branches of the ash are said to be so offensive 
and perhaps poisonous to serpents, that they will not come nigh 
them. The leaf is also said to give relief in case of a bite from 
poisonous serpents. ‘This property is of small consequence in 
New England, where poisonous serpents are few, and probably 
confined to the single species of the common rattlesnake. A 
more important property has been tested. An ash-leaf rubbed 
upon the swellings caused by mosquitoes, removes the itching 
and soreness immediately. The same effect is produced on the 
poison occasioned by the bite of the bee. A decoction of the 
leaves is said to be an antidote to the poison of lamb-kill, Kalmia 
angustifolia, when taken by lambs. 
