. A description and history of vegetable substances, used in the arts, and in domestic economy . stbreeze that can stir. It is very generally diffused,and the timber of it, though it does not attain quitethe same size, is applied to the same purposes. The leaves of almost all the poplars are of a pale orsilver colour on the under sides, and the twigs areflexible, which gives them an agreeable variegation ofcolour when agitated by the wind. The susceptibilityof motion is one of the accidental beauties of trees ;and the motion of the poplar is peculiarly graceful,for it waves in one simple sweep
. A description and history of vegetable substances, used in the arts, and in domestic economy . stbreeze that can stir. It is very generally diffused,and the timber of it, though it does not attain quitethe same size, is applied to the same purposes. The leaves of almost all the poplars are of a pale orsilver colour on the under sides, and the twigs areflexible, which gives them an agreeable variegation ofcolour when agitated by the wind. The susceptibilityof motion is one of the accidental beauties of trees ;and the motion of the poplar is peculiarly graceful,for it waves in one simple sweep from the top to thebottom, and the least breath of wind stirs it, whenother trees are at rest. The Lombardy poplar grows rapidly, and shoots ina compact spire to a great height. It is not so hardyas the others; but when planted in a favourable soil,it will grow at the rate of four or five feet in heightannually. The timl>er of the Lombardy poplar is even worsethan that of the other poplars; but for temporarypurposes the rapidity of its growth is some compen- M 3 126 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES,. Lomhardy Poplar—Populus dilatata. sation. It is, perhaps, the hghtest of timber, and,therefore, well calculated for packinsj-cases; andthough soft, it will bear some strain without break-ing;. The vessels in which the people of Lombardycarry and squeeze their si;rapes are all made of thispoplar; and they also frequently train their vinesto the tree. In England it is chiefly used as anornamental tree. The Lombardy poplar is, so far ashas been observed, the only spiry tree that is deci-duous, or sheds its leaves: the tree which it mostnearly resembles in its form, though not in its foliage,is the cypress. Willow, &c. Of the willow, called Salix, from the Latin wordwhich signifies to spring up, and so denominatedon acco\mt of the great rapidity of its growth, thereare many species,—of which not fewer than onehundred and forty-one have been enumerated by SirJames Smith. Some of these, howe
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