18SG.J MISCELLANEOUS. G53 



Durability of Black Walnut, Sassafras, and Catalpa. — Dr. 

 Daniel Beny writes some interesting memoranda to the St. Louis 

 Planter, to illustrate the power of these woods to resist decay. In 

 tlie Wabash bottoms lives a man whose business for years has been 

 the manufacture of shingles. As the standing timber of these 

 varieties became scarce in his neighbourhood, he hit on the novel 

 expedient of hunting for it under ground, much in the same way as 

 cedar logs are hunted for in the marshes of the Jersey coast. He 

 got an iron rod and went about probing every long mound of humus 

 and sand that looked like the grave of some ancient monarch of the 

 forest. Strange as it may appear, he fmds only the three kinds of 

 timber— catalpa, black walnut, and sassafras — in these mounds in 

 the order named. He has become an adept in the business. He 

 says these are the only kinds of timber that will last long enough 

 to enable tlie moss and other growth to cover and hide them as he 

 finds them, Dr, Berry's Iiouse is covered with catalpa shingles, 

 part of which were made from a log that, he says he has no doubt, 

 lay on the ground a hundred years. 



The Three Yew Trees of Craigxethan, — Quite near to the 

 Castle of Craignethan, immortalized by Sir Walter Scott, there stand 

 three yew trees of very great age, which attract the attention of all 

 who visit the castle. Very few who look at these venerable trees 

 know the story connected with them. Some time in the Middle 

 Ages the governor of the castle was Captain Lang, v/ho was a brave 

 and valiant man. On a certain day the castle was besieged by the 

 enemy. The waters of the ISTethan on that bloody day are said to 

 have run blood, and the war-horse waded to the saddle girths in 

 bloody gore. Captain Lang, who was sore wounded by an arrow 

 in the breast, was borne out of the battle to a spot before the 

 mansion-house door, to wait if possible the issue of the battle. The 

 battle waged midst groans of the dying ; at last there was heard the 

 cry of " They run ! " " Who run ? " the captain called. On being 

 told the enemy, he said, '■' God be praised, I have done my duty," 

 He gave orders that he was to be buried on the spot where he lay, 

 and tln^ee yew trees to be planted on his grave in memory of that 

 battle. On the barbed arrow being drawn from the wound the 

 captain expired. The lands of Chapelknowe, near the castle, " were 

 granted to the family of Captain Lang in recognition of his services," 

 and they remained in possession of his descendants until within 

 the last fifty years. 



Petrified Wood. — The petrified wood which is so abundant in 

 the United States Territories of Arizona, Wyoming, and the Eocky 

 Mountain regions, is rapidly becoming utilized by the practical 

 American, In San Francisco there is now a factory for cutting and 



