BOX-TREE. 215 
bred, the leaves of the mulberry-tree, but particularly 
those of the WHITE MULBERRY, which is distinguished 
by its having obliquely heart-shaped and smooth leaves, 
are requisite for the feeding of these insects ; and they 
are very extensively cultivated for this purpose. The 
wood is hard and of yellow colour ; and is applied 
to numerous uses in carving and turnery. The hark 
is so fibrous that it may be manufactured into cordage, 
ropes, and coarse paper; and that of the root has an 
acrid and bitter taste, is powerful in its effects, and 
has been successfully used as a remedy against worms, 
particularly the tape-worm. Mulberry-trees nourish 
best in a light and rich soil, and in open situations. 
232. The BOX-TREE (Buxus serapervirens) is a shrubby 
evergreen tree, twelve or fifteen feet high, which has small, 
oval, and opposite leaves, and grows icild in several parts of 
Britain. 
It has been remarked that this tree was formerly so 
common in some parts of England, as to have given 
name to several places, particularly to Box-hill in 
Surrey, and Boxley in Kent; and, in 1815, there were 
cut down at Box-hill as many of these trees as were 
sold for upwards of 1Q,000/., a circumstance perhaps 
unparalleled in their history. The box-tree was much 
admired by the ancient Romans, and also by our own 
ancestors, on account of its being easily clipped into 
the form of animals, and other fantastic shapes. In 
the South of Europe it is cultivated in gardens, and 
kept in flower-pots, with as much attention as we be- 
stow upon myrtles. 
The wood is of yellowish colour, close-grained, very 
hard and heavy, and admits of a beautiful polish. On 
these accounts it is much used by turners, by engravers 
on wood, carvers, and mathematical instrument makers. 
Flutes and other wind instruments are formed of it ; 
and furniture made of box-wood would be valuable 
were it not too heavy, as it would not only be very- 
beautiful, but its bitter quality would secure it from 
