1886.] MISCELLANEOUS. 721 



CURRENT PRICES IN LONDON MARKET. 



TiMBEK AND Hewn Wood. — Daiitzic and Memel fir, per load, 30s. 

 to 80s. ; ]>itch pine timber, 50s. to 65s.; Canada red pine, 45s. to 

 75s.; Canada yellow pine, large, 55s. to 100s., small, 45s. to 70s.; 

 Quebec oak, 100s. to 140s.; Baltic oak, 45s. to 100s.; Indian 

 teak, 200s. to 3 10s. ; wainscot logs (1<S feet cubes), GOs. to 75s. 



Deals ; Sawn and Pkepaked Wood. — Norway, Petersburg stnd., 

 .£4 to £7, 15s; Swedish, £10 to £16 ; common, £5 to £8, 10s. ; 

 Russian, £6 to £17; Finland, £5, 10s. to £8, 10s.; Canada, 1st 

 pine, £17 to £30, do. 2nd, £12 to £17, 10s., do. :3rd, £6, 10s. to 

 £10, 15s.; American spruce, £6, 10s. to £10, 10s.; pitch pine 

 planks, £9, 10s. to £12, 10s. ; Dantzic deck, 40 feet 3 inches, 

 15s. to 24s. 



JVllSCELLANEOUS. 



The reason why all leaves have not the same shade is because 

 the structure of the membranes varies in the several plants, as does 

 the degree of oxygenation or acidification which has been produced 

 on their constituent substances, and this variety is no less remark- 

 able than constant in different species. The poet Cowper has ably 

 drawn these characteristics in one of his poems, as follows : — 



" No tree in all the grove but has its charms, 

 Though each its peculiar hue ; paler some, 

 And of a warmish grey ; the willow such, 

 And poplar, that with silver lines his leaf, 

 And ash, far stretching his umbrageous aim : 

 Of deeper green the elm, and deeper still, 

 Lord of the woods, the long-surviving oak, 

 Some glossy-leav'd, and shining in the sun, 

 The maple, and the beech of oily nuts 

 Prolific, and the lime at dewy eve 

 Dift'using odours ; not unnoted pass 

 The sycamore, capricious in attire, 

 Now green, now tawny, and ere autumn yet 

 Have changed the woods, in scarlet honours bright." 



Manufacture of Paper from Wood. — The idea of utilizing 

 wood for the manufacture of pq,per was first suggested to Eeaumur 

 in 1719, from his noticing that the fabric of wasps' nests was 

 formed out of wood reduced to a pulp. This industry has of late 

 years acquired great importance, and is rapidly increasing, as tlie 

 supply of rags, on which paper-makers i'ormerly depended for their 

 stock, is inadequate to the demand for the manufactured material. 

 Were it not for this factor in paper-making, paper would now be 



