CHAP. CIII.

sai.ica'ce^:. jPo'pulus.

1647

dant in Russia, and particularly so in the woods about Moscow; and it is,perhaps, worthy of notice, that, in the year 1813, the year following the firewhich burned down the greater part of that city, seedling plants of the trem-bling poplar sprang up every where among the ruins. The seeds had, doubtless,been wafted thither by the winds in the earlier part of the year 1812. Hence,had that city been deserted at that time, it would, in a very, few years, havebeen one immense forest, the soil being every where rich. In Smith’s Pro-dromus of Sibthorp's Flora Grceca , the moist meadows of Bceotia, MountAthos, and the neighbourhood of Constantinople, are given as localitieswhere this tree is found. Among modern botanists, it appears to have beenfirst recorded by Dodonaeus, who adopts Pliny’s name of Populus libyca. Itis mentioned by Gerard, Cook, Evelyn, Villars, and other authors, who allnotice its property of not bearing lopping, which it has in common with P.filba, trepida, and grae'ca.

Properties and Uses. In a natural state, the bark of the trembling poplarforms the principal food of beavers, where the animal abounds; and deer, goats,and other quadrupeds of these kinds, are fonder of the spray and buds, thanthey are of those of any other tree. The young shoots and leaves, producedin the form of suckers from the roots, are greedily eaten by cattle and sheep.According to Withering, the roots, from their nearness to the surface, im-poverish the land, and prevent anything else from growing on it luxuriantly;and the leaves, the same author observes, destroy the grass. Artificially con-sidered, the uses of the trembling poplar, like that of all trees having a widegeographical range, are various. The wood of the trembling poplar weighs,when green, 54 lb. 6 oz.; half-dry, 40 lb. 8 oz.; and quite dry, 34 lb. 1 oz. : itconsequently loses two fifths of its weight by drying. It shrinks by thisoperation one sixth [tart of its bulk, and cracks and splits in an extreme de-gree. The wood is white and tender: and it is employed by turners ; bycoopers, for herring casks, milk-pails, &c.; by sculptors and engravers; and byjoiners and cabinet-makers; and for various minor uses, such as clogs, butcher’strays, pack-saddles, &c. In France, sabots are made of the wood, and alsothe bars and pins which serve to keep in their places the bottoms of casks ;under-pinnings for flooring, laths, and rounds of ladders, and wooden vesselsof different kinds If the tree is cut when the trunk is filled with sap, andemployed green, the wood soon heats, and is quickly destroyed by fungi, underthe appearance of mouldiness. The bark is employed in tanning, in commonwith that of P. alba and of P. nigra. It may also be employed in buildings,in situations where it will be kept perfectly dry; but, when it is intended forthat purpose, it ought to be cut down in the middle of winter, disbarked im-mediately, and deprived of its moisture by steaming and drying, or othermeans. As fuel, the wood is of feeble quality; and. though its flame isbright and clear, it gives but little heat, and the fires made of it are of shortduration, the embers soon dying out. On account of the rapidity withwhich it gives out its heat, it is preferred for heating ovens and stoves.Its charcoal is light and soft, and it is employed in the fabrication ofgunpowder. The value of the wood as fuel is to that of the beech as 970is to 1540; and its charcoal is to that of the same tree as 988 is to 1600.A thousand pounds’ weight of the ashes of the wood produces 61 lb. 4 oz.of potash; the tree, among a list of 73 plants, occupying only the 71stplace. The leaves are employed, in France, Germany, and Sweden, as foodfor cattle, sheep, and goats, either in a green or dried state; and they arecut every two years for that purpose, during summer. Bose thinks this themost valuable purpose to which the tree can be applied. Cattle, sheep, andgoats, he says, are passionately fond of aspen leaves, when green; and likethem very well when dry. The powdered bark, given in doses of half a poundeach, expels the hots and worms from the stomachs of horses; and inRussia, Pallas informs us, the bark is used in domestic medicine, in scorbuticand other cases. In the Highlands of Scotland, and other places, the barkof young trees is made into torches. In landscape-gardening, the tree has a

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