THE DOGWOOD — continued. 
necessary to add the marvellous statement that if persons bitten by mad dogs hold 
twigs of this shrub in their hands until they become warm they are driven mad. 
Parkinson, in the seventeenth century, says : — 
“ We . . . call it the Dogge berry tree, because the berries are not fit to be eaten, or to be given to a dogge ” ; 
and he adds that 
“ If one that is cured of the biting of a madde dogge, shall within one twelve moneth after touch the Cornus foemina y or 
Dogge berry tree, or any part thereof, the disease will returne againe.” 
Loudon, even, in 1835, suggests that the name was given 
“ from the astringent properties of the bark and leaves, a decoction of which was formerly used as a wash for curing the mange 
in dogs.” 
This wash probably originated in the name of the shrub, a name which is 
unquestionably correctly explained by Dr. Prior, under the various forms of Dagwood , 
Dag-tree , Dogwood , Dogrise , Prickwood , Skiver-wood , Skewer-wood , Gadrise , Gad-tree , 
Gaitre-tree , Gatten-tree , Gatteridge , Cat-tree , Catteridge , and the modern Houndberry-tree, 
as referring to the use of the hard, tough, horny shoots of this species and of those 
of the Spindle-tree ( Euonymus europ<eus Linne) and of our two species of Viburnum , 
the Guelder-rose ( V . Opulus Linn6) and the Wayfaring-tree ( V . Lantana Linn6), 
for making skewers, formerly known as pricks, goads, and dags or daggers of 
lath, such as the traditional weapon of Harlequin. The confusion of these various 
shrubs continues to this day in the gunpowder trade, in which they are employed 
for the manufacture of fine-grained charcoal. For this purpose the Alder Buckthorn 
( Rhamnus Frangula Linne) is now preferred and it is known as Dogwood. 
Though not very particular as to soil, the Cornel is most abundant on the 
warm sub-soil of calcareous formations, especially on the Chalk. It does not occur 
in Scotland and is uncommon in Ireland ; but is very abundant in our south- 
eastern counties. It grows from four to twenty feet in height, its round straight 
branches spreading horizontally or ascending in opposite pairs, their downy surface 
changing in autumn and other seasons when affected by frost from olive-green 
to a vivid red. The opposite, short-stalked, ovate, and entire leaves vary from 
two to six inches in length and have prominent tough veins. In spring and 
autumn alike they are beautifully tinted with red ; but in the latter season they 
exhibit almost as many tints as does the leaf of the Muscat Grape. The bark and 
leaves have a strong fetid odour when bruised, to which the shrub owes its French 
name bois punais. The cream-coloured clusters of flowers are produced in June and 
July, the berries ripening in September from green to black. 
The flowers are rich in honey and are visited by a variety of insects ; but, as 
they are homogamous, self-pollination is not prevented. Their perfume is not 
pleasant ; and the berries, though eagerly devoured by thrushes, are, like the rest 
of the plant, extremely bitter and astringent in taste. 
