The English walnut is a tall, large, handsome tree which undoubtedly came from India. The name walnut is from Walish or Welsch nut; Juglans from Jovis glans, meaning the nut of Jove, and regia, meaning royal, hence the royal nut of Jove. The Greeks dedicated the tree to their chief deity Zeus, who corresponds to the chief deity of the Romans, namely, Jove or Jupiter. At a Greek wedding the nuts were scattered among the guests that Zeus might bless the marriage. The tree was described by numerous ancient writers, among others by Dioscorides, Plinius, Varro, Columella, and Palladius. Medicinal and other virtues were ascribed to the fruit and leaves and even to the shade of this remarkable tree. Arabian physicians used the hull of the unripe fruit and the leaves medicinally, Karl der Grosse (Charlemagne) recommended the cultivation of this plant in Germany about 812. It was introduced into the Mediterranean countries at an early period and extensively cultivated. From these countries it rapidly spread to northern Europe, and about 1562 it found its way into the British Isles, where it is extensively cultivated. It is cultivated somewhat in the United States. All the other members of the Juglandaceæ are common throughout the United States, either growing wild or under cultivation. The wood of the butternut or white walnut and that of the black walnut is extensively used in cabinet making, furniture making and interior finish, particularly the wood of the black walnut. The earlier craze for black walnut furniture threatened to exterminate the plant, but fortunately (for the walnut tree) the fashion is waning. The wood is heavy, dark brown in color, of medium hardness, easily worked and readily polished, though it does not take the glossy polish of the harder woods, as ebony. Hickory wood is very hard, tough and durable, but it is not suitable for cabinet making, etc., because it warps too much. It is an excellent wood for making handles for tools of all descriptions, oxen yokes, hoops, walking sticks, whiffletrees, wagon stocks, etc. Its tensile strength is enormous, being said to be equal to that of wrought iron.