117. _The HORSE-CHESNUT_ (Æsculus hippocastanum, Fig. 66) _is a very
common tree in parks and pleasure grounds, bearing leaves each composed
of seven large lobes; and having large and elegant clusters of
light-coloured flowers._
_Each flower consists of five petals of white colour, irregularly spotted
with red and yellow; and roundish, but undulated or waved at the edges.
The fruit, which is of bitter and unpleasant taste, is enclosed in a
roundish capsule or seed vessel, beset with spines, and divided into
three cells._
There is no tree of British growth more admired, or more deserving of
admiration on account of its brilliant appearance at a very early season of
the year than the chesnut. Its beautiful flowers, in upright conical
spikes, terminate the branches on all sides, in such manner that sometimes
almost the whole tree appears as if it were covered by them.
The _fruit_ of the horse-chesnut has been found of considerable use in the
fattening of cattle, the tallow of which it is said to render peculiarly
firm. For this purpose, however, as well as for the feeding of sheep, it
has been considered advantageous to macerate the nuts in lime water, or in
caustic alkali, to deprive them of their bitterness; and, afterwards, to
wash them in water, and boil them into a paste. Goats and deer are partial
to these nuts; but they are said to be unwholesome for swine. In Turkey
they are ground and mixed with provender for horses; and, if they could be
wholly divested of their bitterness and acrimony, it is supposed they might
be converted into bread. A patent was granted, in the year 1796, to Lord W.
Murray for his discovery of a method of extracting starch from
horse-chesnuts; and a paste or size has been made from them, which is
preferred by book-binders, shoe-makers, and paper-hangers, to that made
from wheaten flower. They contain a soapy quality, and are used, in some
parts of France and Switzerland, for cleaning woollens, and for the washing
and bleaching of linen; and, if ground and made into cakes or balls, it is
supposed they might answer the purpose of soap, both in washing and
fulling. If a small portion of horse-chesnut, in a state of powder, be
snuffed up the nostrils, it excites sneezing; and even an infusion or
decoction of it has been said to produce a similar effect. These have
consequently been administered in some complaints of the head and eyes, and
have been productive of considerable benefit. The prickly _husks_ may be
advantageously employed in the tanning of leather.
The _wood_ of the horse-chesnut tree is white, soft, and of little value.
It however serves occasionally for water-pipes, for mill-timber, and
turners' ware. And if it be dipped into scalding oil, and well pitched, it
becomes extremely durable. In some parts of the Continent the _bark_ of
this tree is used in the cure of intermittent and other fevers; and some
writers have been of opinion that it might, with advantage, be substituted
in several complaints for Peruvian bark.
This tree was first brought into Europe, from the northern parts of Asia,
about the year 1550; and its growth is so rapid, that trees, raised from
nuts, have, in twelve or fourteen years, attained nearly their full
dimensions. It is further remarkable, in the growth of the horse-chesnut
tree, that the whole of the spring shoots are said to be completed in
little more than three weeks from the first opening of the buds.
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