(eS 
CHEWING-BALL. 
ties, particularly the fern-leaved, the shining- 
leaved, and the variegated-leaved, are highly or- 
namental.. The American differs little from the 
English ; and ranks much higher for utility than 
for ornament. It flourishes on gravelly soils on 
the sides of mountains, in Georgia, in the Caro- 
linas, and in other parts of North America, up 
to the 44th parallel of northern latitude. Its 
nuts are smaller and sweeter than those of the 
| Spanish chestnut of Kurope; and are sold, in 
great plenty, in the markets of Baltimore, Phil- 
adelphia, and New York. The timber also is 
equal in quality to that of the European tree. 
The dwarf or chinquapin chestnut, Castanea 
pumila, is a native of North America, and was 
introduced to Britain at the close of the 17th 
century. It is a mere shrub of from 9 to 14 feet 
in height; and is remarkable for the beauty of 
its foliage and the smallness of its fruit. Its 
_ stem is covered with a brown-coloured bark, and 
divides into several branches near the top; its 
leaves are oval-spear-shaped and acutely serrated, 
and are somewhat hoary below; its flowers have 
a greenish-yellow colour, and grow in the form 
_ of slender knotted catkins ; and its nuts are 
_ small, but seldom ripen in England. This spe- 
| cles is propagated from foreign seeds, and thrives 
| best in a moist soil and shady situation The 
Chinese species, Castanea chinensis, is a deciduous 
timber-tree of about the same height as the com- 
mon Spanish species.—The Indian species, Cas- 
tanea Indica, was introduced to Britain from In- 
dia in 1827, and is a tender evergreen tree, of 
about 40 feet in height—WMemoirs of the Caledo- 
nian Horticultural Society —Loudon’s Works.— 
Strutt’s Sylva Britannica —Gilpin’s Forest Scenery. 
—Rogers’ Fruit Cultivator.—Watson’s Forester’s 
Manual.— Hunier’s Georgical Essays.—Marshall 
on Planting—Miller’s Dictionary.— Knowledge 
Society’s Ornamental Planting. — 5 
CHEVIOT SHEEP. See Suzrp. 
CHEWING-BALL. An antiquated medicinal 
appliance for restoring the appetite of an infirm 
or sickly horse. 
It was a compound of tonic and 
aromatic substances wrapped in a piece of linen 
cloth, and fastened to the horse’s mouth or to the 
bit of his bridle, that he might prolongedly chew 
it in the stable or upon the road. 
CHEWING THE OUD. See Rumrnartion. 
CHICKASAW PLUM. See Cumrry. 
CHICKENS. See Pouurry. 
CHICKLING-VETCH,—botanically Lathyrus 
Sativus. A hardy, annual, climbing, herbaceous, 
leguminous, agricultural plant, of the sweet-pea 
genus. It is a native of the south of Europe, 
and was introduced to Britain in 1640. It has 
been the topic of great diversity and violent col- 
lision of opinion; and is regarded by some per- 
Sons as a noxious and even poisonous weed, and 
by others as a valuable, nutritious, agricultural 
plant. Duvernoy denounced it as causing rigidity 
of the limbs, delirium, and other appalling effects, 
and George, Duke of Wurtemberg, in 1671, as well 
etinum. 
CHICKWEED. 
as several of his successors, forbade it to be culti- 
vated. But the farmers of some parts of the con- 
tinent, and particularly those of some of the pro- 
vinces of France, still extensively raise it, not only 
as green fodder for horses and cattle, but also for 
using its seeds in their own soups, and for grind- 
ing them in mixture with grain to be given as 
food to hogs and poultry, and baked into bread 
for man. The plant climbs and seeks support in 
the manner of garden pease and sweet pease ; its 
stem usually attains a height of between 3 and 4 
feet; its leaves are small and gramineous; its 
flowers are numerous, solitary, about half the 
size of those of the garden pea, and either blue, 
white, or intermediate colour according to the 
variety ; its pods are about an inch and a half in ~ 
length, and three-quarters of an inch in breadth, 
flattened, and furnished with two wing-like ap- 
pendages along the back; and its seeds are irre- 
gularly shaped, flattened, brownish in colour, 
and somewhat agreeable in taste—The everlast- | 
ing pea, Lathyrus latifoliws, and some other spe- 
cies of Lathyrus, have sometimes been called 
chickling-vetches. 
CHICK-PEA,—botanically Cicer. A hardy, 
annual, herbaceous, agricultural plant, of the | 
vetch division of the leguminous family. It con- 
stitutes a genus of itself, and takes for its specific 
name, popularly ram’s head, and botanically ar7- 
It grows wild in the south of Europe, 
the north of Africa, and the west of Asia, and 
was introduced to Britain about the middle of | 
the 16th century. Several stems grow from each 
seed, and are hairy, and about 18 inches high; 
its leaves are long, pinnate, and greyish; its leaf- 
lets are small, roundish, and serrated,and amount, | 
in each leaf, to 7, 8, or 9 pairs and a terminating | 
odd one; its flowers are small, and stand on long 
footstalks, and are white, red, or purple, accord- 
ing to the variety; its pods are short, hairy, and 
| two-seeded ; and its seeds are about the size of 
common pease, but have a little protuberance on 
one side. 
England. 
CHICKWEED. A numerous and diversified | 
group of low herbaceous plants, partly economical, 
but chiefly weedy. Chickweed is one of the most | 
loosely and extensively applied of all the names of 
popular botany ; and, though generally understood | 
to refer par excellence to the abundant and con- 
stantly-flowering annual weed, Stellaria media, it 
is currently used to designate so many species 
and even genera as to be almost meaningless and 
bewildering. Most of the species of stellaria are 
indifferently called chickweed and stitchwort ; 
all the species of alsine are commonly called 
chickweed ; the cucubalus plant and some of the 
species of silene are sometimes called chickweed ; | 
all the species of cerastium are usually called 
mouse-ear chickweed; the two species of trien- | 
talis are sometimes called winter-green chick- 
This plant is much cultivated in Spain, | 
and is held in high esteem as a leguminous escu- | 
lent; but it is too tender for field cultivation in | 
795 || 
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