COPAL. COMMON ELDER. 83 
Celery is eaten raw in salads, boiled in soup, or 
stewed. The seeds are used, particularly at sea, for the 
flavouring of soup, to which they give the same taste 
as the plant itself. 
95. COPAL is a somewhat resinous substance, obtained 
from a tree (Ilhus copallinum) the produce of America, which 
has winged and very entire leaves, the foot-stalks membranaceom 
and jointed. 
We annually import considerable quantities of copal 
from the Spanish colonies in America, in irregular 
masses, some of which are transparent, of yellowish or 
brown colour, and others are whitish and semi-trans- 
parent. When copal is dissolved in any volatile liquid; 
and thinly spread upon wood, metal, or any other 
firm substance, so that the liquid may evaporate, the 
copal remains perfectly transparent; and forms one of 
the most beautiful and perfect varnishes that can be 
imagined. The varnish thus formed has the name of 
copal varnish, and is said to have been first discovered 
in France. One mode of preparing it is by melting the 
copal with an equal quantity of linseed oil (97); another, 
by mixture with oil of turpentine ; and a third, by mixture 
with alcohol or spirit of wine. The particular processes 
are described in the fourth volume of Dr. Thomson's 
System of Chemistry, fifth edition ; but they are too 
long and intricate for insertion here. 
Copal is the varnish which is chiefly used in the 
japanning of snufi-boxes, tea-boards, and other similar 
articles. 
TRIGYNIA. 
96. The COMMON ELDER (Sambucus nigra) is a wild 
English shrub, distinguishable by its winged leaves, with ser- 
rated and somewhat oval leaflets, its clusters of small white, 
flowers divided into five principal branches, and the small^ 
black or purple berries by which these are succeeded. 
The uses of the elder are more numerous than those 
of most other shrubs. There is scarcely any part of this 
