234. The COMMON ARUM, CUCKOO PINT, or LORDS AND LADIES (Arum maculatum), is a well-known plant, which grows in shady hedge bottoms; and has, about the month of May, a club-shaped spike, frequently of purple colour at the top, issuing from a green sheath with which it is enveloped.
The acridity of every part of this common plant, whilst in a recent state, is such that, if tasted, there is left upon the tongue an intolerably disagreeable burning and pricking sensation, which continues for a long time afterwards; and which no one, who has once tasted it, will be inclined to experience a second time. If bruised and applied to the skin, a blister will shortly afterwards be raised.
It was from this property that the roots, which are whitish, and each about the size of a nutmeg, were formerly used internally in medicine, as a powerful stimulant, and externally for blisters. In some parts of France they are employed in bleaching, from an opinion that, by their corrosive quality, they render the linen white. Their acrimony is wholly dissipated by drying; and, in a dried state, they afford an almost tasteless farinaceous powder, which may even be made into bread. The powdered roots of the common arum are converted, by the French, into an harmless cosmetic, which is sold at a high price under the name of Cyprus powder.
In consequence of a premium which was offered by the Society for Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, for discovering a method of preparing starch from materials not used as food for man, an experiment was made, by Mrs. Jane Gibbs, of Portland, in Dorsetshire, upon the roots of the common arum. A peck of the roots was found to produce about four pounds' weight of starch; and she prepared, in the whole, about two hundred weight. The process was to clean the roots, and pound them in a mortar with water: the pulp thus formed was strained, and after being allowed to settle, the water was poured off, and the starch remained at the bottom.
Whilst speaking of the arum, it may be stated that the flowers of some of the foreign species (Arum crinitum and A. dracunculus) have so strong a smell, like carrion, that even flesh-flies are attracted to deposit their eggs in them: and that the structure of the flowers is such that, when the insects attempt to retreat, they are prevented by the reversed hairs which are there found, and are destroyed. Some of the species are considered wholesome food; one (Arum esculentum) is much cultivated for this purpose in the West Indies and South America. The leaves of this plant, when boiled, are much esteemed as potherbs, and the roots are eaten either baked or boiled.
235. The SWEET CHESNUT (Fagus castanea, Fig. 65) is a stately tree, which grows wild in some of the southern and western parts of England, and is distinguished by having spear-shaped and pointed leaves, with tapering serratures at the edge.
The flowers appear in long hanging spikes or clusters, about the month of May; and the fruit, which is ripe in September, is enveloped in a husk defended by a great number of complicated prickles.
Notwithstanding the known durability of the oak, there does not appear any well-authenticated instance of the age of an oak being equal to that of the celebrated chesnut-tree, at Tortworth, in Gloucestershire, which was known as a boundary mark in the reign of King John. This tree is supposed to have then been more than 500 years old, making its age at this time to exceed 1100 years. The diameter of its trunk is fifteen feet, and it still continues to bear fruit.
Few of our forest trees are more beautiful than the chesnut. It is true that the generality of painters prefer the oak for its picturesque form; but in the landscapes of Salvator Rosa, and other celebrated masters, chesnut-trees are very conspicuous.
The timber of this tree was formerly much in use. The beams and rafters of many of our most ancient churches are formed of it; and its appearance so nearly resembles that of the oak, that it requires the eye of a good judge to distinguish them from each other. For the heads and staves of casks, the wood of the chesnut is considered peculiarly excellent; and pipes, made of it for the conveyance of water under ground, are said to be more durable than those either of elm or oak. For furniture it may be stained so as somewhat to resemble mahogany. Hop-poles, and poles for espaliers and dead fences, made of young chesnut-trees, are preferred to most others.