y shown, the berries, when ripe, may be
eaten freely without fear. Chemically they contain tartaric acid when
unripe, and both malic and citric acids when ripe. They also furnish
sorbin, and parasorbic acid. The unripe fruit and the bark are
extremely astringent, being useful in decoction, or infusion, to
check diarrhoea; and externally in poultices or lotions, to constringe
such relaxed parts as the throat, and lower bowel.

The title Rowan tree has affixed itself to the Mountain Ash, as
derived from the Norse, _Runa_ (a charm), because it is supposed to
have the power of averting the evil eye.

"Rowan tree and red thread
Hold the witches a' in dread."

"Ruma" was really a magician, or whisperer, from _ru_, to murmur,
and in olden times runes, or mystical secrets, were carved
exclusively on the Mountain Ash tree in Scandinavia and the British
Isles.

Crosses made of the twigs, and tied with red thread were sewn by
Highlandmen into their clothes. Dame Sludge fastened a piece of
the wood into Flibbertigibbet's collar as a protection against
Wayland Smith's sorceries.--(Kenilworth). Other folk-names of the
tree are Quicken tree, Quick Beam, Wiggen, and Witcher.

The Mountain Ash is botanically a connecting link between the dog
rose of our hedges and the apple tree of our orchards. Its flowers
exactly resemble apple blossoms, and its thickly-clustered red
berries are only small crabs dwarfed by the love of the tree for
mountain [352] heights and bleak windy situations. In the harsh cold
regions of the north it is only a stunted shrub with leaves split up
into many small leaflets, so as to suffer less by any breadth of
resistance to the sharp driving blasts of icy winds.

Confusion has been often made between this tree and the Service
tree (_Sorbus_, or _Pyrus domestica_), which is quite distinct, being
more correctly called Servise tree, from _Cerevisia_, fermented
beer. Formerly this Servise, or Checker-tree, was employed for
making an intoxicating drink. Virgil says:--

"Et pocula lae
Fermento atque acidis imitantur vitea _sorbis_."

"With acid juices from the Service Ash,
And humming ale, they make their Lemon Squash."

The fruit of the Service tree (or Witten Pear-tree) resembles a small
pear, and is considered in France very useful for dysentery because
of its tannin; but this _Pyrus domestica_ is a rare tree in England.
Sometimes mistaken for it is the wild Service tree (the _