vant persons never to lose their leaves, so the stems 
of the Kuscus may seem never to decay ; yet the 
leaves of the one, and stems of the other, obey alike 
the law of Nature, and give place periodically to 
their successors. The stems of the Ruscus do not, 
however, flower till the second year, after which they 
die to the ground as the Raspberry. The flowers of 
Ruscus, resting as it were, on its leaves, is rather 
remarkable ; but it is not less so that they are on 
pedicels, which emanate from the stem, the pedicels 
being concealed beneath the outer coat of the leaf. 
The branches of this plant are used in some parts 
of Germany, France, and Italy, to make little be- 
soms, for various uses ; and its use in the butcher’s 
shop, to cleanse their blocks, and keep off flies, pro- 
cured for it the name of Butcher’s Broom ; it has 
also names in other languages indicative of its use in 
defending articles from mice, for which purpose it is 
said to have been used. According to the Arbo- 
retum Britannicum, its branches are, in London, em- 
ployed by the manufacturers of cigars, for sprinkling 
the saline liquor over tobacco leaves ; and its green 
branches, with ripe fruit on them, were formerly 
stuck up in sand, with the stalks of the common 
Peony, and wild Iris, full of their ripe seeds, which 
altogether made a show in rooms during winter. Its 
young shoots have been eaten as Asparagus; and a 
decoction of its roots has been esteemed as a useful 
medicine in dropsy. 
The cultivation and increase of this plant is very 
simple. As we have before said, it will grow in any 
shady damp situation ; and its roots admit of fre- 
quent division for increase. 
