‘ 26:3 
Ils being consecrated to Pluto and Proserpine in those 
days of dark superstition, causes no surprise: perhaps 
our Shakspeare thought of this, when he makes the Eail 
of Suffolk, whilst invoking curses on his enemies, wish 
“ Their sweetest shade a grove of cypress trees.” 
Consistently with their notions of its character, the 
ancient Romans, on the death of any high-born indi¬ 
vidual, were wont to place a branch of cypress before 
the door of the house where the corpse lay previous to 
interment; boughs were also strewn on the bier and 
borne by the mourners to the grave. These usages are 
not altogether obsolete even in our day, for in many 
Eastern countries may yet be seen 
The mournful cypress rising round 
Tapering from llic burial ground.” 
The Turks, especially, plant this tree with other aro¬ 
matics in their cemeteries, not only from respect to the 
dead, but to benefit die living, as the balsamic odour is 
supposed to purify the air. Hasselquist speaks of seeing 
cypresses of remarkable size and beauty adorning their 
burial grounds. It is said the ancients chose this tree 
when they' celebrated- their funeral obsequies, front a 
s 4 
