■i./S JE S C 
tree, between the walnut and mulberry. How little it 
was then known, (in 1629,) may be inferred from his 
faying not only that it is of a greater and more pleafant af- 
peft, for the fair leaves, but alfo of as good life for the 
fruit, which is of a fweet fade, roafied and eaten, as th e 
ordinary fort. He alfo defcribes and figures the corolla 
with four petals. This tree does not feem to have been fo 
common even at the beginning of the prefent century as it 
is now. Mr. Houghton (1700) mentions fome at Sir Wil¬ 
liam Afhhurft’s at Highgate, and elpecially at the bifhop 
of London’s at Fulham. Thofe now {landing at Chelfea- 
college were then very young. There was alfo a very fine 
one in the poft-houfe garden near Old-ftreet, and another 
not far from the ice-houfe under the fliadow of the Obl'er- 
vatory in Greemvich-park. 
2. Hi feu 1 us flava, or yellow-flowered horfe chefnut: 
leaves digitate, with five leaflets ; the laminas of the co¬ 
rolla cordate-roundifh ; the claws twice the length of the 
falyx. This fpecies is a native of North-Caroliua. It 
flowers in May and June. 
3. zEfculus pavia, or fcarlet horfe chefnut: flowers with 
eight itamens : leaves digitate with five or fix ferrate leaf¬ 
lets ; capfules fmooth, laminas of the corolla obovate, 
claws the length of the calyx. This fpecies rifles' to the 
height of twenty feet, but does not fpread its branches to 
any great extent. They appear in June, and are fome- 
times fucceeded by fruit in England ; but the feeds rarely 
ripen here. It grows naturally in Brazil, Carolina, Flo¬ 
rida, Japan, and feveral parts of the eaft; and was culti¬ 
vated here in 1712. 
Propagation and Culture. The common horfe chefnut is 
propagated by fowing the nuts; the belt time for doing 
ibis is early in the fpring ; but the nuts fhould be pre- 
fierved in fand during the winter, otherwife they are apt 
to grow mouldy and rot. They may indeed be put into 
the ground in autumn, but then they will be in danger of 
■rotting, if the winter fhould prove very wet, as alfo of be¬ 
ing diflurbed and eaten by vermin. Others however af¬ 
firm, that, if they are kept till fpring, many will mifearry. 
When the nuts fucceed, and have a proper foil, the plants 
will fhoot near a foot the firfl fummer; fo that, where they 
grow pretty clofe together, it will be proper to tranfplant 
them the following autumn, or February and March, 
planting them in rows at three feet diftance, and one foot 
afunder in the rows : in this nurfery they may remain two 
years, by which time they will be fit to plant where they 
are defigned to be continued ; for tire younger thefe trees 
are planted out, the larger they will grow. But there are 
many who will objedt to their being planted out young in 
parks, becaufe they will require a fence to fecure them 
againft cattle , which will alfo be necefiary whatever fize 
they are when planted ; and, if large, they mull be well 
flaked to prevent their being difplaced by ftrong winds : 
and, when we confider how much fafter a young tree will 
grow than one which is removed at a greater age, there 
can be no excufe for planting large trees. The horfe chef¬ 
nut requires little care in the management, is never injur¬ 
ed by cold in our climate, and will thrive in mod foils and 
lituations: but in a fandy loam it makes the greateft pro- 
grefs; and, if the floiFbe inclining to moifture, the leaves 
will continue in verdure much longer than in very dry 
ground. When thefe trees are tranfplanted, their roots 
fhould be preferved as entire as poflible, for they do not 
fucceed well when torn or cut; nor fhould any of the 
branches be fhortened, for there is fcarcely any tree which 
will not bear amputation better than this ; fo that, when 
any branches are by accident broken, they fhould be cut 
off clofe to the Item, that the wound may healover. There 
is, fomething very Angular in the grow th of this tree,w hich 
is that the whole fhoot is completed in lefs than three 
weeks after the buds are opened, in which time 1 have 
meafured Ihoors a foot and half long, with their leaves ful¬ 
ly expanded : and no fooner are the flowers fallen, than 
the buds for the fucceeding year are formed, which con¬ 
tinue fwelling till autumn, at which time the folding co- 
JE S O 
vers are fpread over with a thick tenacious juice, ferving- 
to defend the tender buds from the froft and rain in win* 
ter; but, upon the firfl return of warmth in the fpring, this 
melts and runs off, leaving the hud at liberty to extend. 
This juice is never fofar hardened as to injure the tender 
buds, which are always formed at the extremity of the 
former year’s {hoot; a plain diredtion not to fhorten them, 
for, by io doing, the future (hoots are entirely cut off. 
There are varieties of this tree in the nurferies, both 
with gold and filver ftriped leaves. Thefe are i.ncreafed 
by layers, and by budding or ingrafting them upon flocks 
of the common fort. 
The third fpecies may alfo be propagated by the nuts,, 
which mu ft be procured from the countries where the 
trees naturally grow. They fhould be fown in pots early 
in the fpring ; and the pots muft be plunged into a mode¬ 
rate hot-bed to forward their growth : toward the end of. 
May, the pots fhould be plunged into the ground in 3. 
fouth-eaft border, and in dry weather the plants fhould be 
duly watered, that they may acquire ftrength by the au¬ 
tumn, when it will be very proper to fereen the plants 
from early frofts which often pinch the top buds, and oc- 
cafion their decay in the winter ; for, while the plants are 
young, they are impatient of frofts, but, when they have 
obtained ftrength, it feldom hurts them: the fpring fol¬ 
lowing, the plants fhould be carefully fleparated and plant¬ 
ed at the diftance of a foot from each other, in a fheltered 
fituation; and the following winter, when it proves cold, 
it will be proper to cover the plants with fome light co¬ 
vering. After the fecond winter they will require no far¬ 
ther flickering. Others think it fufficient to fow the nuts 
on a warm border, in a rich, loofe, fweet, mould; to re¬ 
move them the fucceeding fpring to a fituation and foil of 
the fame quality, where they may remain three years, 
when they will have acquired ftrength enough for any fi¬ 
tuation not too much expofed. The common method 
pradlifed by nurferymen, who propagate this tree for fale, 
is to graft or bud it upon flocks of the common horfe 
chefnut; but, as the flock greatly outgrows the bud or 
graft, the trees make a bad appearance, nor do they laft 
long. 
HISOP, the Phrygian, lived in the time of Solon, about 
the 50th Olympiad, under the reign of Crcefus the laft 
king of Lydia. As to genius and abilities, he was great¬ 
ly indebted to nature ; but in other refpedts not fo fortu¬ 
nate, being born a Have and extremely deformed. St- 
Jeroin, fpeaking of him, fays, “ he was unfortunate in 
his birth, condition in life, and death;” hinting thereby at 
his deformity, fervile (late, and tragical end. His great 
genius, however, enabled him to fupport his misfortunes; 
and, in order to alleviate the hardfhips of fervitude, he 
compofed thofe entertaining and inftrudlive Fables which 
have acquired him fo much reputation. He is generally 
fuppofed to have been the inventor of that kind of wri¬ 
ting ; but this is contefted by feveral, particularly Quintili¬ 
an, whoifleems to think that Hefiod was the firft author of 
fables. z£fop, however, certainly improved this art to a 
very great degree; and hence it is that he has been account¬ 
ed the author of this fort of productions: 
Hifopus auCtor quam materiam reperit, 
Hanc ego pollivi verfibus fenariis. 
Phced. Prol. ad lib. i. 
If any thoughts in thefe iambics ftiine, 
Th’ invention’s HLfop’s, and the verfe is mine. 
The firft mafter whom HSfop ferved, was one Carafius 
Demarchus, an inhabitant of Athens; and there, in all 
probability he acquired his purity in the Greek tongCie. 
After him he had feveral matters ; and at length came un¬ 
der a philofopher named Idroon or fadmon, wdio enfran- 
chifled him. After he had recovered his liberty, he foon 
acquired a great reputation amongft the Greeks; fo that, 
according to Meziriac, the report of his wifldom having 
reached Crcefus, he fent to enquire after him, and enga¬ 
ged him ;n hisTervice., He travelled through Greece, ac¬ 
cording 
