26 
AMERICAN MOUNTAIN ASH. 
round to more genial climates, or during their hybernal 
residence: — 
“Sanguineisque inculta rubent aviaria baccis.” Virgil. 
The European species, which differs very little from 
the present, becomes in the North of England, Scotland, 
and Wales a tree of considerable size, so as occasionally 
to be sawn into planks and boards. It attains the height 
of 25 to 30 feet, with a diameter of 2 feet, and a tree in 
Scotland, in Forfarshire, at Old Montrose, 65 years old, 
is 50 feet high, with a diameter of 2 feet 10 inches. 
The wood is said to be hard and durable, fit for econo- 
mical purposes, such as mill-work, screws for presses, 
spokes for wheels, &c. In ancient times it was also 
esteemed for bows next to the Yew. The berries dried 
and reduced to powder have even been made into bread, 
and an ardent spirit may be distilled from them of a fine 
flavour, but in small quantity. Though acid and some- 
what astringent, they are accounted wholesome, and, 
in the Highlands of Scotland, are often eaten when per- 
fectly ripe; in the cold and sterile climate of Kamts- 
chatka, according to Gmelin, they are used for the same 
purposes. 
The tree was formerly held sacred, and in the North 
of England it is called the Witch-Hazel. In Wales it 
o 
was formerly planted in the church-yard as commonly 
as the Yew, and on a certain day of the year, every 
body religiously wore a cross made of the wood as a 
charm against fascinations and evil spirits! 
The American species, scarcely forms so large a tree 
as that of Europe, attaining only the height of 15 to 20 
feet, and the leaves are very smooth, except before their 
complete expansion; the leaflets are about from 13 to 
15, oblong-lanceolate, acuminated, with sharp and deep 
