3IYHICA. 



265 



of the Western I^les, instead of hops ; a practice for- 

 merly common in many parts of the north of Europe. 



The catkins being boiled in water, throw up a scum 

 resembhng bees-wax, which, gathered in sufficient quan- 

 tity, would make good candles. 



This shrub is used to tan calf-skin, and to dye wool 

 yellow : the Welsh lay branches of it upon and under 

 their beds, to keep oiF fleas and moths. In Jura the in- 

 habitants garnish their dishes with it, and lay it am.ong 

 their hnen to give it a fine scent, and to drive away moths. 

 When it grows within reach of a port, the sailors make 

 besoms of it to sweep their ships. In the Isle of Ely, it 

 is made into faggots, to heat ovens. The leaves, dried 

 and powdered, are used as spice, as sigTiified by some of 

 the French names of the plant. 



Before the tea shrub was so well known as it now is, it 

 was asserted by Simon Pauli, that it was the same with 

 our Sweet Gale* 



The American Candleberry Myrtle, Myrica cerifera, 

 i^ a tree thirty feet high : the leaves are twice the size of 

 the last, and evergreen ; like the former giving out a 

 grateful odour Y>^hen bruised. The berry is often covered 

 with a sort of meal. It flowers in May and June. This 

 species v>^as cultivated by the Duchess of Beaufort, in 

 1699. 



In North America, candles are made from the berries 

 of this tree, whence it is called Tallow shrub ; by some, 

 more elegantly, the Candleberry tree. Others name it 

 the Bay-berry bush. Like the formier,it afffects a wet soil, 

 and agrees with the true myrtle in its love of the sea- 

 .shore. 



* See Martyn's Milltr. 



