Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/790

in size from below upwards and surrounding a naked stalk that bears at its summit a head of anthers. Each anther has a flat five-lobed top, something like a shield ; from its under surface five, six, or more pollen cases hang down, and these open lengthwise to liberate the globose pollen-grains. Each flower thus consists of a number of monadelphous stamens ; but, according to the older view of its structure, each stamen constitutes of itself a single flower, the whole mass being considered as an amentaceous inflorescence or catkin of numerous monandrous flowers. The female flowers are also placed each separately in the axil of a leaf, and consist of a number of overlapping scales, as in the male. These scales surround a cup which is at first shallow, green, and thin, but which subsequently becomes fleshy and red, while it increases so much in length as almost entirely to conceal the single straight seed. It is clear that the structure of the female flower differs from that of most conifers ; but the structure of the wood and other characters forbid its being separated from them except as a subdi

vision (Taxacex).

Yew. (1) Shoot with male flowers ; (2) leaf and in section, magnified ; (3) fruit ; (4) male flowers ; (5) stamens ; (6), (7) female flower in different stages ; (8) section of female flowers, magnified.

The poisonous properties, referred to by classical writers such as Caesar, Virgil, and Livy, reside chiefly if not en tirely in the foliage. This, if eaten by horses or cattle, especially when it has been cut and thrown in heaps so as to undergo a process of fermentation, is very injurious. The leaves have also been used for various medicinal pur poses, but are seldom employed now. The succulent por tion of the yew berry is quite harmless ; but it is probable that some noxious principle is contained in the seed. As, however, it is hard and disagreeable to the taste, the danger from this source is not great. As a timber tree it is used for cabinet-work, axle-trees, bows, and the like, where strength and durability are required.

The yew occurs wild over a very large area of the northern hemisphere. In north-eastern America and in Japan trees are found of a character so similar that by some botanists they are all ranged under one species. The varieties grown in the United Kingdom are very numerous, one of the most striking being that known as the Irish yew, a shrub with the pyramidal or columnar habit of a cypress, in which the leaves spread from all sides of the branches, not being twisted, as they usually are, out of their original position. In the ordinary yew the main branches spread more or less horizontally, and the leaves are so ar ranged as to be conveniently exposed to the influence of the light ; but in the variety in question the branches are mostly vertical, and the leaves assume a direction in accordance with the ascending direction of the branches.

The yew is a favourite evergreen tree, either for planting sepa rately or for hedges, for which its dense foliage renders it well suited. The wood is very hard, close-grained, and of a deep red brown colour internally. Its younger branches, owing to their toughness, were formerly used for bows. The planting of the yew in churchyards was at one time supposed to have been done with a view to the supply of yew staves. But, while importation from abroad was fostered, there seems to have been no statute enforcing the cultiva tion of the yew in Great Britain ; on the other hand, a statute of Edward I. (cited in Gard. Chron., 6th March 1880) states that the trees were often planted in churchyards to defend the church from high winds. Be this as it may, yews of huge size and great antiquity still exist in various parts of the country in the vicinity, of churches. Some of these are of historic interest ; but it is hardly prudent to cite either the measurements or the allegations as to age, the cir cumstances under which the estimates were framed being different in each case. Accurate comparative measurements made on a uni form plan would be very serviceable. The Crowhurst yew, men tioned by Evelyn as 30 feet in circumference, was still in existence in 1876 (Gard. Chron., 22d July 1876). The large yew at Anker- wyke near Staines, with a trunk 27 1 feet in circumference, might well have been in existence in 1215, when Magna Charta was signed. Considerable interest also attaches to the fine yew in Buckland churchyard near Dover, which in 1880 was removed to a distance of 60 yards. The trunk had been split so that it had a direction nearly parallel with the soil. This huge tree was moved with a ball of soil round its roots, 16 feet 5 inches by 15 feet 8 inches, by 3 feet 6

YEZD. See Yazd, p. 733 above.

YEZO. See Japan.

YOH-CHOW FU, a prefectural city in the Chinese province of Hoo-nan (“south of the lakes”), stands on high ground on the east side of the outlet of Tung-ting Lake, in 29° 18′ N. lat. and 113° 2′ E. long. The district in which Yoh-chow Fu stands is the ancient habitat of the aboriginal San Miao tribes, who were subsequently deported into north-western China, and who, judging from some of the non-Chinese festival customs of the people, would appear to have left traditions behind them. The present city, which was built in 1371, is about 3 miles in circumference and is entered by four gates. The walls are high and well built, but were not strong enough to keep out the Taiping rebels in 1853. Situated between Tung-ting Lake and the Yang-tze-kiang, Yoh-chow Fu forms a depôt for the native products of the province which are destined for export, and for foreign goods on their way inland. In 1885 foreign goods to the value of 28,228 taels were sent from Hankow to Yoh-chow Fu, the principal items being grey shirting, oil, and lead. The city is 4250 Chinese miles from Peking, and contains a population of about 60,000.

YOKOHAMA, situated in 35° 26′ 53″ N. lat. and 139° 38′ 39″ E. long. (see map in vol. xxiii. p. 433), is the most important of the five ports in Japan open by treaty to foreign commerce and residence, both on account of its