74' ELMS. GENTIAN. 
each four stamens, and the fruit is oblong : those of the second 
are jive or six deft, and have each five or six stamens, the fruit 
is roundish, and the leaves are broad ; those of the third are 
four-cleft, and have four stamens, and the bark of the branches 
has a corky appearance* 
The Dutch elm is grown in most parts of England. 
The common elm, though plentiful in Worcestershire, 
Middlesex, and some other southern counties, is said to 
be rare further north than Grantham or Stamford. The 
wych hazel is common in woods and hedges throughout 
the whole of South Britain. 
The use of the elm as timber is chiefly confined to 
rough arid inferior work. Implements of husbandry are 
almost wholly made of it ; and it is employed for wag- 
gons, carts, mill-wheels, water-pipes, low-priced chairs, 
blocks for hat-makers, and various other purposes ; and 
amongthe lower and middling classes, almost exclusively, 
for coffins. The preference which it has obtained for the 
latter purpose, is supposed to have originated in its pe- 
culiar durability in moist situations. 
Some of the northern writers state that, from the 
inner bark of the elm, if stripped offin the spring, and 
boiled in water, a very palatable kind of beer may be 
brewed ; and that this bark, dried and ground to pow- 
der, has, in times of scarcity, been mixed with meal to 
make bread. It is occasionally administered as a de- 
coction for obstinate cutaneous complaints ; and it has 
been proposed for use in rheumatism, dropsy, and other 
-diseases. The young leaves may be used for the feeding 
of silk-worms. 
Few trees are better adapted than the elm for 
planting in hedge rows, along the sides of roads, and 
along shady walks ; but in the latter case the numerous 
suckers which grow up from its roots give much trouble 
to keep the ground clear. 
84. GENTIAN is a bitter drug, the dried root of a plant 
(Gentiana lutea) which grows wild amongst the Alps, and in 
other mountainous parts of the Continent, 
