THE CYPRESS TREE | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Aug 5, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 30.

THE CYPRESS TREE.

A cypress tree in Somma, Lombardy, is said to have been standing since the time of Julius Cæsar. Napoleon, in making a road over the Simplon, deviated from a straight line that he might not be obliged to cut it down. Cypress wood is very enduring, and for this reason no doubt, it was used for mummy cases and statues. Pliny tells us a statue of Jupiter carved from cypress wood remained standing for six hundred years. In Turkish cemeteries it is a rule to plant a tree of this variety at every interment. The cypress is an emblem of mourning, and Scott thus writes: > "When villagers my shroud bestrew > With pansies, rosemary and rue, > Then, lady, weave a wreath for me, > And weave it of the cypress tree." —Vick's Magazine.