TETRANDRIA. TRIGYNIA. Buxus. 
253 
Box Tree. Woods and hedges. Box-hill, near Dorking, plentifully. Ray. 
Woods of them at Boxwel in Cotswold, Gloucestershire, and Boxley, 
Kent. R. Syn. In plenty on the Chalk Hills near Dunstable. Mr. 
Woodward. S. April.* 
Var. 2. Angustifolia. Leaves narrower. On Box-hill. R. Syn. 
* The wood is yellowish, very hard and smooth, and not apt to warp or split, therefore 
well adapted for the use of the turner. 
(“ Nor Box, nor Lime, without their use are made, 
Smooth-grain’d, and proper for the turner’s trade.” Virg. 
Combs, (in Japan rendered ornamental by a scarlet varnish, E.) mathematical instruments, 
knife-handles, tops, screws, and button-moulds are made of it. (For the wood engraver it 
is almost indispensable. The wood is sudorific and alterative. A decoction of it is said to 
be remarkably efficacious in promoting the growth of hair. E.) An empyreumatic oil, 
distilled from the shavings, is often used as a topical application for hemorrhoids, and 
seldom fails to procure ease. It will frequently relieve the tooth-ache, and has been given 
internally in epilepsies. The leaves, powdered, are cathartic, and destroy worms. (That 
the ancients were accustomed to employ box wood for the same purposes as do the mo¬ 
derns, may be collected from classical authority. <e Si buxos inflare juvat,” of Virgil, 
and the “ tibia buxi ” of Ovid, have an equally obvious meaning; while Martial proves that 
in his time combs were made of this material. From Pliny we learn that the Roman gar¬ 
dens were subdivided by clipped Box hedges. E.) In the south of Europe Box trees are 
cultivated in gardens, and kept in flower pots, with as much attention as we bestow upon 
myrtles. (In Britain Box is a most valuable evergreen for the shrubbery, and in favourable 
situations often assumes an elegant appearance. Dwarf Box affords a firm and enduring 
border for flower beds. The Box tree is often used, (with other evergreens,) for the in¬ 
ternal decoration of churches at Christmas, a custom which, among various interesting 
associations, may be considered in connection with Isaiah 60. 13. “ The glory of Leba¬ 
non shall come unto thee; the Fir tree, and the Pine, and the Box tree ; to beautify the 
place of my sanctuary Our forefathers were wont to replace the Christmas evergreens 
with sprigs of Box on Candlemas-day, and thence forward at particular seasons, with a 
succession of flowers. 
“ Down with the rosemary and bays, 
Down with the misseltoe ; 
Instead of holly, now upraise 
The greener Box for show. 
The holly hitherto did sway, 
Let Box now domineer. 
Until the dancing Easter-Day, 
Or Easter eve appear.” Herrick. 
Wordsworth relates that in the north of England it is customary at funerals to provide 
sprigs of Box, which are thrown by each of the attendant mourners into the grave of the 
deceased. It was formerly much more abundant in England than it is at present; and in 
the reign of Charles the First, the <{ rare, natural bowers, cabinets, and shady walkes in 
the Box copses,” according to Evelyn, were much admired. Isolated Box trees may 
be occasionally observed fifteen to twenty feet high, and as many inches in girth. Single 
plants of such dimensions may be seen in different parts of England, but on the Surry 
hills and other districts in which the Box tree prevails, they attain to a still larger size. 
Raised from seed they will be fit to cut down in about thirty years. It is the only Euro¬ 
pean wood that will sink in water; and is often sold by weight. One cutting of the 
wood has been sold for much more than the value of the fee-simple of the land on which 
it grew. It forms the best possible cover for game, and the intense bitter of its leaves 
secures it from the ravages of cattle. The loppings of Box trees prove rapidly poisonous 
to pigs, and probably to other animals. The punciures of the Box Chermes make the leaves 
curl atid grow hollow in the shape of a cap, which, by the union of those indexed leaves, 
produces at the extremities of the branches, knobs in which are secreted the larvee of that 
