t&trries form an excellent article of ciiet, in acute or inflammatory dis- orders : where they should be used both in substance, and in decoc- tions, which are equally cooling and antiseptic. CHERVIL, or Chcerophyllum, h, a genus of plants comprising se- ven species, two oi which only are indigenous, namely, 1. The sylvestte, or wild cher- vil, or smooth cow- parsley, or cow- weed chervil, which thrives in hedges, orchards, and pastures. It has a woolly striated stem, ( n 6fc umbels, and white flowers, which blow in the month of May. The umbels of this plant' afford an indifferent yellow dye ; the leaves and stems a beautiful green. Its presence indicates a fruitful soil, but it ought to be eradicated from all pastures early in the spring, as cows, rabbits, and asses, are the only animals that will eat it. Linnjeus informs us, that the roots, when eaten as parsnips, have been found poisonous ; yet, accord- ing to Mr. Curtis, they were in some parts of Britain, during tunes tjf scarcity, eaten as a pot-herb. 2. The iemulentum, rough cow- parsley, or rough chervil, growing in hedges, and bearing flowers in the months of July and August. — It possesses no peculiar properties. Chervil, the Great, or Shep- herd's Needle, the Scandix odor at a v, Cerefolium. See Sweet Cicely. Chervil, the Needle, or Ve- nus Comb, the Scandix PeSie?i. See Common Shepherd's Needle.. CHESNUT, or Castanea, L. is a .species of the Fagus or beech- tree, a genus of plants comprising three species. It flourishes on poor gravelly or sandy soils, and will thrive in any but moist
- r marshy situations. Those trees,
however, which we intended (at' fruit, should be raised in au ries from nuts, removed at least three times, and have the tap cut oil", in order to facilitate their growth. There is no plant cultivated in. England that is mo/e valuable than the chesnut ; as it grows to a con- siderable height, and its wood, if kept dry, is extremely dui This ornament to the country :*, at the same time, of great v for domestic purposes. It e> the oak in two respects, nam that it grows faster, and that the " sap-parts" of the timber are mate firm and less liable to corra] The shoots from, the stul numerous and luxuriant, it n an excellent underwood, and is of great service for hop-poles, as $k may be cut when about eighteen or twenty years old, and will continue productive for nearly thirty yeais. Being greatly superior to elm Uft door jambs, and several other pur- poses of house-carpentry, it is con- sidered as nearly equal to ti< itself ; but, oil account of in sessing a precarious brittle which renders it unsafe lor beams, it ought not to be employed ia any situation, where an unc weight is sometimes to be sup- ported. It has been much questioned, whether the chesnut is indigei or exotic. There is no doubt, it was industriously cultivated by our ancestors ; and this circum- sjance, together with the existence of the celebrated chesnut at Tort- worth, in Gloucestershire, has i urged, with great probability, as a proof of its being a native. That stupendous tree is 52 feet in circumference, and has, according to authentic records, stood there ever
