146 AMENTACE^ 



According to Pliny, the celebrated books which Numa Pompilius composed 

 seven hundred years before Christ, and which were buried with him, were 

 M'ritten on the bark of the Birch-tree. The inhabitants of northern countries 

 make shoes of this bark, and weave strips into baskets for household pur- 

 poses ; and it is the resinous matter contained in this portion of the tree, 

 chiefly, which renders the Birch so fragrant, though the resin exuding from 

 the buds, young twigs, and leaves j)robably contributes also to the odour. 

 If a strip of bark be lighted, it burns with a clear blue flame, and gives a 

 light equal to that of two ordinary candles, diffusing at the same time a most 

 delicious perfume. The inhabitants of the Highlands, who call this substance 

 meillag, were formerly accustomed to use it instead of candles ; and on the 

 Alps torches are frequently made of the resinous Birch-boughs. 



The Birch is indeed a blessing to those countries in which trees are 

 scarce ; and the forests at the north of Europe, extending as they do through 

 the length and breadth of the land, form a providential supply of necessaries 

 and comforts to the dwellers in those cold regions. Large tracts of Birches, 

 pines, and firs have all their value, and in dreary Iceland the Birch grows 

 to the utmost limits of vegetation, supplying to the people a most valuable 

 store of benefits. Their winter hearth is cheered by its fuel, the twigs are 

 used for ropes and cordage, and the bark serves them for boats, or, cut into 

 square pieces, is in many northern countries used instead of tiles for the 

 houses. The bark is uninjured by exposure to weather, and so durable that 

 it even outlives the woocl within. Maupertius, when travelling through 

 Lapland, passed through extensive forests of this tree, and he says that the 

 fallen Birches and firs lying among the moss often rendered the road almost 

 impassable. On examining these trunks he found that time had reduced 

 the woocl to dust vrithout occasioning the smallest change in the bark. 

 "We were," he says, "surprised to find that, with the least stroke, we could 

 crush and ])reak them, although of some size" Such a sight would readily 

 suggest to the people of the North the use of this bark on the roofs of houses ; 

 and in Sweden the bark is covered with a layer of earth, on which grass 

 and other plants are grown. It is also used in tanning, and the pleasant 

 fragrance of the Kussia-leather bindings to books is derived from the oil of the 

 Birch. Large thick pieces of bark easily separate from the wood, and form 

 hollow cylinders, which, after being partly flattened, are worn by the Lap- 

 landers on their shoulders to protect them from rain. 



Leyden, in his pretty version of the Finland Mother's song, records another 

 use of a portion of this tree in the North : — 



" Sweet bird of the meadow, oli ! soft be thy rest, 

 Thy mother will wake thee at morn from thy nest ; 

 She has made a soft nest, little Redbreast, for thee. 

 Of the leaves of the Birch, and the bark of the tree. 

 Then soothe thee, sweet bird of my bosom, once more ; 

 'Tis Sleep, little infant, that stands at thy door." 



The Russians believe that the Birch is never struck by lightning. They 

 are very fond of the tree; and though immense tracts of their land are 

 covered with its wild growth, yet they surround their dwellings with its 

 graceful boughs ; and in the neighbourhood of Moscow, where it grows on 

 the estates of the nobles, it is the prevailing tree of the landscape. 



