ROUGH EQUISETUM. 
21 
and best. We are further told by Lightfoot that Northum- 
berland the dairy-maids scour their milk-pails with it.” The 
value of this plant for the purpose of smoothing or polishing is 
not, however, merely traditionary, nor, like its medicinal virtues, 
imaginary : it is still used for polishing wood, bone, ivory, and 
various metals, particularly brass ; for this purpose it is import- 
ed, under the name of “ Dutch Rush,” in large quantities, from 
Holland, where it is grown on the banks of canals and on the 
sea ramparts, which are often bound together and consolidated 
by its strong and matted roots. Bundles of this imported Dutch 
Rush are exposed for sale by many London shopkeepers. They 
may be seen at Mr. Woodward’s, Old Compton St., corner of 
Frith St., Soho. 1 find however that a doubt exists with some 
excellent botanists, as to whether the Dutch Rush cultivated in 
Holland is identical with either of our British species. Mr. 
Shepherd, the curator of the Liverpool Botanic Garden, having 
this plant in cultivation, has most kindly supplied me with spe- 
cimens in a recent state. These are of much larger size than 
any British examples of E. hyemale I have yet seen, and pre- 
sent structural characters different from those of 
either of the British plants. The most obvious 
difference is the much greater number of striae, 
amounting in some instances to thirty-two. 
The roots are strong, black and frequently divi- 
ded; therhizoma or underground stem is creeping, 
jointed, branched, and with age extends to a great 
length : at the joints it is solid, but between them 
it is partially hollow, the interior being occasion- 
ally more or less divided by longitudinal septa. 
The stems are generally erect and simple ; when 
divided, the branch is lateral, and issues from the 
main stem immediately below the base of one of 
the sheaths ; a stem has rarely more than a single 
branch : the annexed figure represents a branched 
specimen, for which I am indebted to Dr. Gre- 
ville ; it is from Roslin woods, near Edinburgh. 
The engraving at page 17 is intended to represent, of the 
natural size, a stem of fine but not extraordinary growth. The 
