V 



CUPULIFER^. 359 



CUPULIFEK.I:. 



BETULA UTILIS, Don, 



"Fig.—I^gel Monogr, 58, t. 6,/. 13-19; t. 13, /. 7-14; Jacq. 

 Voy. Bof., t. 158. Himalayan Bircli [Eng.), Bouleau a papier 

 {Fr.y 



PJab. — Temperate Himalaya, Afghanistan, 



BETULA ALNOIDES, Ham. 



^ig^.~Bra7id. For. FL, t. 56; Regel Monogr. 61, /. 6, 

 /. 32-34;^. 13,/. 29. 



Hab. — Temperate and subtropical Himalaya. The bark. 



F^macw/ar.— Bbujpatar (7/^^. Bazaars). 



History, Uses, &C. — These trees require a brief notice, 

 as tbe bark, in Sanskrit Bhurjapatra, is mucb used all over the 

 country for writing medicinal charms on, and is to be found in 

 every druggist's shop. This bark is well-kn 

 upon which the ancient Sanskrit manuscripts of Northern India 

 are written. Dr, Biihler, in his account of a tour in Cashmere 

 in search of Sanskrit manuscripts, says : — ^' The Bhurja MSS. 

 are written on specially prepared thin sheets of the inner bark 



iwn 



Sarada 



lin 



the MSS, present, therefore, the appearance of European books, 

 not of Indian MSS., which owe their form to an imitation of the 

 Talapatras. The Himalayas seems to contain an inexhaustible 

 supply of birch-bark, which in Cashmere and other hill coun- 

 tries is used both instead of paper by the shop-keepers in the 

 bazaars, and for lining the roofs of houses in order to make them 

 water-tight. It is also exported to India, where in many places 

 it is likewise used for wrapping up parcels, and plays an import- 

 ant part in the manufacture of the flexible pipe-stems used by 

 huka-smokers. To give an idea of the quantities which are 

 brought into Srinagar, I may mention that on one single day 



