WILLOW. 
wards they are tied in linen bags, and boiled in water 
until the oil which they contain rises to the surface ; 
this is carefully skimmed off, strained to free it from 
any accidental impurities, and bottled for use. The oil 
which is obtained by boiling is considered more mild 
than that obtained by pressure, but it sooner becomes 
rancid. The mildest and finest of the Jamaica castor- 
oil is limpid, nearly colourless, and has scarcely more 
taste or smell than good olive-oil. 
The uses of castor-oil in medicine are well known. 
The plant is sufficiently hardy to grow and ripen its 
seeds in the open ground of gardens, in the south of 
England. 
CLASS XXIL DKECIA. 
DIANDRIA. 
255. WILLOW, OSIER, or WITHY. Of this 
very extensive tribe nearly fifty distinct species have 
been discovered in our own island. The slender 
branches of many of these are applied to useful pur- 
poses, but particularly for making baskets, bird-cages, 
and what is called wicker-work ; springles for fastening 
down thatch, wheels or traps for catching lobsters and 
eels; hoops and crates. The wood is useful for the 
handles of hatchets, prongs, spades, and other rural im- 
plements ; and also furnishes shoemakers with cutting 
and whetting boards, on which they cut leather and 
sharpen the edges of their knives. 
As willows generally flourish in wet situations, some 
of the species are planted with a view to prevent the 
banks of rivers and brooks from being washed away by 
floods, 
M2 
