HORSE, a miner's term, applied to any intruded material which is the apparent cause of a sudden interruption in the continuity of a mineral that is being quarried. With vein-miners a detached mass of rock or spar which fills the vein receives this name, while colliers apply the term to the shale which occupies a natural but sudden thinning out of the coal-bed, as well as to such interruptions as scent to have been the channels of small streams, and which were subsequently filled up by the clay that formed the roof of the coal.
A'seutits, a genus of trees of the natural order sapindacece, having large opposite digitate leaves, flowers with five spreading unequal petals, and a leathery 3-valved capsule covered with soft spines. The seeds, which are not more than three in each fruit, are large, and somewhat resemble chestnuts; but the habit of the trees, their leaves, and their flowers, are very unlike those of chestnuts, with which they have no botanical affinity.—The COMMON HORSE-CSIESTNUT (1E. hippocastanum) is a much esteemed ornamental tree, very frequently planted in Britain, and in all parts of Europe of which the climate is suitable, on account of its rich foliage and its erect racemes of beautiful reddish-white flowers, which are produced at the extremities of the branches and contrast admirably with the dark green of the leaves. At SL Petersburg the horse chestnut is a greenhouse tree. It is supposed to be a native of Persia or some part of the cast; but, strangely enough, its native country is still somewhat uncertain. It was introduced into western Europe, from Constantinople, in the end of the 16th century'. It attains a great size, sometimes rising to the height of 100 ft., and extending its branches very widely, whilst they often droop almost to. the ground. The leaves have long stalks, and seven obovate-weaged-shaped leaflets. The wood is soft, not very strong, nor very durable in the open air; but is used for many ordinary purposes, and by carv ers, turners, etc. The bark is bitter and astringent, containing a bitter principle called tesculine; it has been used in tanning and dyeing; that taken from branches not very old has been extensively used on the continent of Europe as a substitute for Peruvian bark. The rind of the seeds contains a coloring matter which has been used in dyeing;
the husks also have been used in dyeing. The seeds are unpleasantly bitter, and con tain so much of the saponaceous substance prevalent in this natural order that when reduced to powder they may be used fer washing. They contain, however, a large quantity of starch, which, when extracted and freed from bitterness by means of an alkaline solution, is pleasant and nutritious. It is prepared on a large scale and at a cheap rate in France. Horse-chestnuts have long, been employed in various countries as food for oxen, sheep, swine, and horses, all of which are fond of them and grow fat upon them. In Britain, however, they are still very generally-allowed to rot beneath the trees. It is said that when the ho•se-chestnut was first introduced into Britain, it did not perfectly ripen its seed, which it now does even-in the northern parts of the island.—The other species of mscu i lus are natives of North America. The foliage is very similar to that of time common horse-chestnut. Both time leaves and fruit, however, of the BUCKEYE or AMERICAN HonsE-CuEsvNUT ohiotensis) arc very orth America possesses also a number of species of a nearly allied germs, pariet, with very aimilar foliage,,Stnaller flowerS, and smooth fruit. The seeds of P.,.niacrostachya or P. &lulls, the EDIBLk BUCKEYE, are eaten, either boiled or roasted. This species is a shrub with Long and beautiful racemes of fragrant white flowers, which have long projecting stamens. It is a native of the southern states, and seldom ripens, its fruit in England. P. indka, is a lofty tree, growing at elevations of 8,000 to 10,000 ft. in the Himalaya, and producing seeds very similar to those of the horse-chestnut, which, although bitter, are eaten in tunes of scarcity.