ii 6

A DISCOURSE

Macrob. Sa-turnal. iii.c, xi.

nameTaxthe Shadesthat bear noTrait.

Book.II. verse together and improve their Studies , betwixt the Xista and Sub -diales ambulationes (which were ‘Portico's open to the Air) theyplanted Groves and Walks of Platans, to refresh and shade the Pa-lastritæ ; as you have them described by Vitruvius, Lib. v. Chap. xi.and as Claudius Perrault has assisted the Text, with a Figure, orIchnographical Plot. These Trees the Romans first brought out of theLevant', and cultivated with so much Industry and Cost, for their state-ly and proud Heads only, that great Orators and Statesmen, Ciceroand Horten/iuSy would exchange now and then a Turn at the Bar ,that they might have the Pleasure to step to their Villas, and refrelhtheir Platans , which they would often irrigate with Wine instead ofWatery Crevit V uffuso let tor umbra mero: when Hortenjiustaught Trees to tipple Wine ; and so prized the very Shadow of it,that when afterwards they transplanted them into France , they exacted* solarium a * Solarium and Tribute of any of the Natives who should presumepZdfturfat but to put his Head under it. But whether for any Virtue extraordinarythe Pandefis in the Shade , or other propitious Influence ifluing from them, a worthypaid for Knight, who stayed at Ispahan in Persia , when that famous City wasinfected with a raging Pestilence , told riie, that since they have planteda greater Number of these noble Trees about it, the Plague has notcome nigh their Dwellings. Pliny affirms, there is no Tree whatsoeverwhich so well defends, us from the Heat of the Sun in Summer, nor thatadmits it more kindly in Winter. And for our Encouragement, I doupon Experience aflure you, that they will flourish and abide with us,without any more Trouble than frequent and plentiful watering, whichfrom their Youth they excessively delight in, and gratefully acknow-ledge by their Growth accordingly ; so as I ant perlwaded that, withvery ordinary Industry, they might be propagated to the incredible Or-nament of the Walks and Avenues to great Mens Houses. The Intro-duction of this true Plane among us is, perhaps, due to the great LordChancellor Bacon, who planted those (still flourishing ones) at Fe-rn lam ; as to mine, to that honourable Gentleman, the late Sir GeorgeCrook of Oxjordjhire, from whose Bounty I received an hopeful Plantnow growing in my Villa: Nor methinks should it be so great a Rarity ,(if it be true) that being brought from Sicily , it was planted as near usas the Morini.

z. There was lately at Basl in Switzerland , an antient goodlyPlatanetum, and now in France they are come again in Vogue: Iknow it was antiently accounted eh&p’jr ®'; but they may with us beraised of their Seeds with Care, in a moist Soil, as here I have knownthem. But the Reason of our little Success is, that we very rarelyhave them sent us ripe ; which should be gathered late in Autumn , andbrought us from some more Levantine Parts than Italy. They comealso of Layers abundantly, affecting a fresh and feeding Ground; for sothey plant them about their Rivulets and Fountains. The West In-dian Plane is not altogether so rare, but it rises to a goodly Tree , andbears a very ample and less jagged Leaf: That the Turks use theirPlat anus for the building ot Ships , I learn out of Ricciolus Hydrog-Lib. x. Chap. xxxvii. and out of Pliny, Canoos and Vessels for theSea have been excavated out of their prodigious Trunks.

4. The same Opinion have 1 of the noble Lotus Arbor (anotherLover of the Wat er) which in Italy yields both an admirable Shadeand Timber immortal, growing to a vast Tree, where they come

fpontaneousty j

Lotus.