426 
HABITS AND LATIN NAMES OP BRITISH PLANTS. 
and bears lopping, from which practice it suffers such general mutilation that it 
is rare to behold a perfect tree. In 1764, in Lord Petre’s park, at Writtle, in 
Essex, stood a Kornbeam-tree measuring full twelve feet in girth, at five feet 
above the ground. Cattle eat the leaves, but pasturage will not flourish in its 
shade. The wood burns like a candle, being highly inflammable, as was well 
known to the ancients— 
“ Carpinus tcedas Jissa faces-tjue dabit .” 
It is very white, tough, harder than that of Hawthorn, and capable of supporting 
a great weight. It is useful in turning, and for many implements of husbandry, 
especially celebrated for yokes for coupling oxen, and therefore designated £uy/«, 
jug a (q . d. conjugalis ), by the Greeks and Romans. It makes cogs for mill¬ 
wheels, even superior to Yew. The inner bark is much used in Scandinavia to 
dye yellow. 
Carum. —From Caria, a district of Asia-Minor, from which the seeds may 
have been imported as an article of commerce. 
Carum Carui , Caraway.—The tender leaves may be boiled with potherbs, and 
were probably considered dainty fare in the olden time, for with some such treat 
did Justice Shallow entertain Falstaff — 
“ Nay you shall see mine orchard, where, in an arbour, we will eat a last 
year’s pippin of my own grafting, with a dish of Caraways.” 
Shakspere’s Hen. IV. 
The seeds are used in cakes; incrusted with sugar are called caraway comfits; 
and are distilled with spirituous liquors for the flavour they afford. 
Castanea. —From K xo-rxvis, a town in Thessaly, the neighbourhood of which 
abounds with these trees. In Latin, Castanea; Italian, Castagno; Spanish, 
Castano; French, Chatagnier; and English, in declension, and by the more 
ancient orthography, Chesnut. 
Castanea vulgaris , Spanish Chesnut.—The Chesnut may well be considered 
as one of the most stately of European trees, exceeding the Oak in height, and 
equalling it in bulk and extent. “ Being planted in avenues to our country-houses, 
they are a magnificent and royal ornament; and although our Englishmen delight 
not so much in the fruit as other nations, yet will they yield no small advantage 
to supply our other occasions.” The foliage exhibits a more marked character 
than that of the Oak, being formed into stellate clusters, glossy, less liable to 
depredations from insects, and peculiarly elegant when surrounded by the 
florescent catkins. ‘‘This is the tree,” observes Gilpin, which graces the 
landscapes of Salvator Rosa. In the mountains of Calabria, where Salvator 
painted, the Chesnut flourished. There he studied it in all its forms, breaking 
and disposing it in a thousand beautiful shapes, as the exigences of his 
composition required. I have heard, indeed, that it is naturally brittle, and 
