fact is, that the name ebony is applied to trees of various genera, producing wood of different colours, and only agreeing in the common qualities of great compactness, weight, and durability. Ebony was much more in use and esteem formerly than it is now. When good, it is very valuable for the purposes to which it is applied, not being liable to shrink or warp. It does not, however, hold glue so well as mahogany; and it is apt to be imitated by less valuable woods stained black.

In his Journal, Bishop Heber describes the Ebony tree of Ceylon as a magnificent forest tree, with a tall, black, slender stem, spotted with white. A great deal of the furniture in Ceylon is made of ebony. At Fonthill Abbey there were some splendid ebony chairs, carved in the most elaborate manner, and of prodigious weight, which were said to have belonged to Cardinal Wolsey; and there were formerly some similar chairs in the Round Tower of Windsor Castle.

5. LIGNUMVITE.-The Lignumvita of commerce (Guaiacum Officinale) is a dark-looking evergreen, and grows to a great size in the West India Islands, of which it is a native. It bears blue flowers, which are succeeded by roundish capsules. In its native climate the Lignumvitæ is a very hardy tree, and retains its greenness in the dryest weather. It strikes its roots deep into the ground, and thus defies the hurricane as well as the drought. The bark is hard, smooth, and brittle; and the wood is of a yellowish, or, rather, olive colour, with the grain crossing in a sort of irregular lozenge-work. Lignumvitæ is the weightiest timber with which we are acquainted, and it is the most difficult to work. It can hardly be split, but breaks into pieces like a stone or crystallized metal. It is full of resinous juice, which prevents oil or water from working into it; and it is, therefore, proof against decay. Its weight and hardness make it the very best timber for stampers and mallets of all sorts; and its resinous matter fits it the best for the sheaves or pulleys of blocks, and for friction rollers and castors. A sheave of lignumvitæ cuts a wooden pin less, and is less cut by a metal one, than a sheave of any other timber; while its own sap makes it work as smoothly as other timber even when smeared with grease, black-lead, or any other antiattrition application. Lignumvitæ is much used in our dock-yards for sheaves; and its application may be seen upon a grand scale, in the beautiful blockmachinery at Portsmouth.

When full grown, the largest lignumvitæ trees are from forty to fifty feet in height, and from fourteen to eighteen inches in diameter. Like the other resinous trees, it contains sapwood, which is of lighter colour than the heart; but, though not so hard, the light part is a weighty and strong timber, and not liable to separate from the other.

The resin of the lignumvitæ, Gum Guaiacum of

the shops, may be obtained by bleeding the live tree, and also by boiling the chips and sawdust of the wood. It is aromatic, slightly bitter, and prescribed in chronic rheumatisms, and other diseases. The capsules and also the bark are aperient, and used in medicine, the former being the more powerful.

The lignumvita has been reared by artificial heat in this country; but, as it grows slowly even in the West Indies, its growth here must of course be still slower, and therefore it does not admit of being cultivated, except in botanical collections, or as a curiosity.

6. BLACK-THORN.-The Black-thorn, or Sloe, though armed with spines, or prickles, like the other thorns, is yet a very different genus of tree. It is a plum, though one in a state of nature, and not much regarded as fruit. It is the Prunus spinosa of botanists. It is hardy, and a native of many parts of this country; though seldom cultivated, as it makes but an unsightly hedge, and does not rise to be valuable as a tree. The leaves have sometimes been used for tea; and it is alleged that the "rough-flavoured teas" of cheap dealers are more indebted for their roughness to the sloe, than to any ingredient from China or elsewhere. It is also understood that the berries of the sloe enter pretty largely into the composition of much of the wine that is miscalled Port. The wood, which is very tough and hard, answers well for walking-sticks, pegs, and other small purposes.

7. CRAB TREE.-The common Crab Tree (Pyrus malus) is found native in many parts of this country, where it rises to the height of a considerable tree. When the soil is very rich, the fruit attains the size of a small apple, and is used in feeding hogs. The timber is hard and compact, answers remarkably well for turning, and for the working parts of machinery, while the shoots make excellent walking-sticks. Near the bottoms of the eastern slopes of the Welch mountains, there are many crab trees, both singly

and in the hedge-rows, that produce a great deal of fruit. The sour juice of the crab, previous to the introduction of the modern methods of obtaining vegetable acids, was in considerable request under the name of verjuice.

TIMBER OF TREES CULTIVATED PRINCIPALLY ON

ACCOUNT OF THEIR FRUIT.

The varieties of trees of this description are almost innumerable; and so much has been done by cultivation, grafting, inoculating, and mixing of sorts, that the knowledge of these sorts has become almost a science in itself. The original varieties and even species are lost and confounded;; and man contests with nature in the production of the varied fruits that appear in our markets, not only as respects the sorts, but as regards the times at which they are brought to market.

Considered merely as timber-trees, they are much more simple. They may be divided into two classes,stone-fruits, or those that have a hard kernel enclosed in a soft pulp; and fruits that have seeds or pips, and the pulp of a firmer consistency. With the exception of the peach, the nectarine, and the almond, which form the genus Amygdalus, the whole of the stone-fruits are contained in the genus Prunus, and the seeded fruits in the genus Pyrus or Mespilus. None of the genus Amygdalus are reared as timber-trees in any part of this country: it will, therefore, suffice to confine the few observations that are to be made to the others.

The wood of these two genera is close and compact, and takes a good polish; that of the wild sorts being better than that of the cultivated, and the deterioration being in proportion to the highness of the cultivation. In this they follow the general law, that selfplanted trees yield the best timber; and, in addition to

this, their powers of vegetation are exhausted by the quantity of fruit that they are, as it were, forced to bear.

Cherries, in a wild state, are very plentifully diffused, being met with in most temperate countries, and even in those that may be considered as cold. The wood of the cherry is very close, and, in some sorts, of a beautiful colour, and well adapted for handles of tools. It takes a fine polish, and is not liable to split. Some of the bird cherries are beautifully veined, and have an agreeable perfume, on which account they are much used by cabinet-makers in the interior parts of the continent. None of the cherries grow to be very large trees; but they may frequently be met with from a foot to eighteen inches in diameter at the root.

Apricots grow wild in China, Japan, and upon many of the mountains of central Asia: the timber has some resemblance to that of the cherry; but it is white, and not so hard. The apricot is not a native of England, and is not cultivated as a timber tree.

The Wild Plum is a native of the warmer parts of Europe, though it be doubtful whether of England or not. It is sometimes found in hedges and other situations where it is not likely to have been planted, but it may have been produced from some of the cultivated sorts. The plum-tree grows to a considerable size; the wood is close and strong; and the bark may be used in dyeing yellow.

The Pear grows to a considerable size: the wood is light, smooth, and compact; and answers well for carving, for picture-frames, the handles of tools, and wooden spoons and dishes.

The wood of the Apple is harder and weightier than that of the pear: it bears a resemblance to that of the crab, although it be not so tough and hard. In the working parts of machinery, it is very durable.

The timber of the fruit-trees is not well adapted for works that are to be under water. The sap being so