366 
PLIIST S NATUEAL HISTORY. 
[Book XYi: 
morning or tlie evening, be it ever so long ; indeed, they will 
always keep at the greatest possible distance from it. "We 
state the fact from ocular demonstration/^ that if a serpent 
and a lighted fire are placed within a circle formed of the leaves 
of the ash, the reptile will rather throw itself into the fire than 
encounter the leaves of the tree. By a wonderful provision 
of !N"ature, the ash has been made to blossom before the ser- 
pents leave their holes, and the fall of its leaf does not take 
place till after they have retired for the winter. 
CHAP. 25. (14.) TWO VAEIETIES OF THE LINDEK-TREE. 
In the linden-tree the male''^^ and the female are totally dif- 
ferent. In the male the wood is hard and knotty, of a redder 
hue, and with a stronger smell ; the bark, too, is thicker, and, 
when taken olf, has no flexibility. The male bears neither 
seed nor blossom as the female does, the trunk of which is 
thicker, and the wood white and of excellent quality. It is a 
singular thing, but no animal will touch the fruit of this 
tree, although the juice of the leaves and the bark is sweet. 
Between the bark and the wood there are a number of thin 
coats, formed by the union of numerous fine membranes ; of 
these they make those bands"^^ which are known to us as ^^tilise." 
The finer membranes are called philyrao,'' and are rendered 
famous by the honourable mention that the ancients have 
made of them as ribbons for wreaths"'^ and garlands. The 
'^^ This story of Pliny has been corroborated by M. de Yerone, and as 
strongly contradicted by Camerarius and Charras : with M. Fee, then, we 
must leave it to the reader to judge which is the most likely to be speaking 
the truth. It is not improbable that Pliny may have been imposed upon, 
as his credulity would not at all times preclude him from being duped. 
"'^ There is no such distinction in the linden or lime, as the flowers are 
hermaphroditical. They are merely two varieties : the male of Pliny being 
the Tilia microphylla of Dccandolles, and a variety of the Tilia Europaea 
of Linngens ; and the female being the Tilia platyphyllos, another variety 
of the Tilia Europaea of Linnaeus. 
''^ Not at all singular, Fee says, the fruit being dry and insipid. 
In France these cords are still made, and are used for well-ropes, 
wheat-sheafs, &c. In the north of France, too, brooms are made of the 
outer bark, and the same is the case in Westphalia. 
See B. xxi, c. 4. Ovid, Fasti, B. v. 1. 337, speaks of the revellers at 
drunken banquets binding their hair with the philyra. 
