THE HORSE CHESTNUT. 



47 



subject to no blight or disease ; in the earliest 

 springs bursting its immense buds into that 

 vigour, exuberance, and beauty, which we have 

 here feebly attempted to describe. The natives 

 said it was originally brought from the east of 

 Asia but grows freely in any climate, and in their 

 tongue its name is designated by a combination 

 of three words, signifying, separately, a noble 

 animal, an elegant game, and a delicious kernel. 

 Had Linnaeus seen this tree, he would have as- 

 suredly contemplated it with delightful ecstacy, 

 and named it ^Esculus Hippocastanum." 



