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Sycamore. 
In an anonymous but meritorious volume, entitled “Verses 
by a Poor Man,” there is a pretty poem about trees, and the 
emblem of curiosity is thus introduced : 
“I love the shady sycamore, 
With its leaves so large and ronnd, 
That lie, in dull November hours, 
Thick spotted on the ground.” 
“ The shady sycamore,” with its large and spreading branches 
bedecked with their always-green foliage, affords a pleasant 
retreat from the sun, so that it is commonly planted, by the 
inhabitants of Egypt and Palestine, along the roadside, and 
in the immediate vicinity of towns and villages, where it may 
often be seen stretching its arms over the houses, screening 
the fainting inhabitants from the glowing heat of summer. 
The wood of this tree, notwithstanding its coarse-grained 
and spongy appearance, is said to be very durable—an opinion 
probably derived from the fact that the coffins in which the 
ancient Egyptian mummies are discovered are made of syca¬ 
more. Bruce affirms that some of this wood, which he buried 
in his garden, perished in four years : it has, therefore, been 
conjectured, and with much likelihood, that the preservation 
of the mummy-chests arises either from a particular prepara¬ 
tion, or else from the dryness of the climate and the sandy 
soil of Egypt. 
This tree requires much attention in order to render its fruit 
edible, and this fruit whilst growing undergoes divers opera¬ 
tions, for, if left to itself, it would become exceedingly bitter. 
