( 57 ) 
addreffed a letter to the Royal Society on this fubjedt. Even our indefatiga¬ 
ble countryman Mr. Ray, when he published his hiftory of plants, appears 
to have been ignorant that the Sorbus was ever found wild in this irfaii-d, * 
tho’ fome years after the publication of that work he altered his opinion, it 
having been difcovered by Walter Moyle, Efq; in Cornwall. The error is re¬ 
tracted in the laft edition of his Synopjis. ** 
The beautiful appearance of the fruit is well known, and it is ferved up 
at tables in France as one of the ornaments of the defiert, and is faid to 
have an agreeably tafte, fome what fimilar to the Medlar. Its aftringent 
property has given it a place in the materia medica; -f* but amid a variety of 
foreign medicines, it appears now a mere expletive. Cyder is extracted 
from the fruit on the Continent, and the beverage with which it furnilhes 
the inhabitants, - is ftronger than that obtained from the Apple. £ 
The extreme hardnefs of the wood renders it of fingular utility to feveral 
artificers : turners have long been acquainted with its great ufe and durability; 
mill-wrights find it of conftderable advantage in fundry parts of their bufi- 
nefs. 
We are informed, that M. de Buffon%. has for fome years part cultivated the 
Sorbus with great care at his plantations in Burgundy. Quadrupeds, as well 
as birds, are particularly fond of the fruit. 
k In 
* In Anglia fponte non provenit , are his words. Hi ft. Plant, p. 1456. 
** Page 452. 
■f It is of great fervice in hemorrhages .—See Ray. 
t On peut faire avec le fuc des forbes ou des Cormes. infiilees dans l’eau une afiez 
bonne boiffon; fi 1* on a cependant alTez de ces fruits pour fe pafier du fecours de 
l’eau, on en obtient un cidre plus fort que celui des Pommes. Du Hamel tom. 2. 
A 274. 
f Some of his coadjutors in Natural Hiftory affert, that in thofe grounds are trees 
at leaft one foot in circumference, and twenty five in height. They be^r removal well. 
§ Le bois eft fur tout excellent pour les parties de machines expofe'es a de grands 
frottemens, telles que des pieces de prelfoir, des outils de menuiferie, des chevilles 
de moulins, &c.— Bomare. 
