3-r.—cy. 
h 
I 
Thus though abroad, perchance, I might appear 
Harsh and austere 
To those who on my leisure would intrude, 
Reserved and rude; 
Gentle at home amid my friends I’d be, 
Like the high leaves upon the holly tree. 
LOVE to view these things with curious eves, 
And moralize; 
And in this wisdom of the holly tree 
Can emblems see 
Wherewith, perchance, to make a pleasant rhyme, 
One which may profit in the after-time. 
And should my youth, as youth is apt, I know, 
Some harshness show, 
All vain asperities I, day by day, 
Would wear away, 
Till the smooth temper of my age should be 
Like the high leaves upon the holly tree. 
T ITALIC boldly and wisely in that light thou hast; 
There is a hand above will help thee on. 
—Robert Southey. 
[ 59 
— Bailey. 
’V? 
(TIjlllfolHI1II. Natural Order: Atjuifolictcccs — Holly Fciviily . 
Uli LEX, signifying originally in Latin a species of oak, came 
finally to be appropriated as the botanical name of the Holly; 
j§:and aquitolium, from the Latin words acus, a needle, and 
folium , a leaf, has been added to designate its marked char¬ 
acteristic of sharp-pointed leaves. We have in the United 
States several species, some of which are shrubs from six to 
twelve feet in height, others attaining the size of trees. The leaves 
(JS: aie gl ° SSy and ever g reen > the lower ones being armed with thorns. 
In autumn ’ bright red berries deck their branches. There are over a 
hundred varieties now cultivated in Europe, where they are all hardy, 
and most of them of fine appearance. In this country in northern 
latitudes they nearly all require protection from the severity of the frost, 
?y a covering ot some kind. The wood of the Ilex opaca is fine grained 
and compact, and is useful in wood turning: some of the others possess 
properties useful in medical science. 
