CHAP. XCIX. EUPHORBIACE. BUv’xuSs. 1335 
Both Virgil and Ovid allude to the use of this wood for musical instruments, and 
employ the word box as if synonymous with that of flute. In more modern 
times, in Britain, it is mentioned by Turner, Gerard, Parkinson, and other 
writers on gardening and rural affairs ; and, previously to the eighteenth cen- 
tury, was in great repute for gardensin the geometric style, from the facility with 
which it could be made to assume whatever form the gardener wished : it was 
also highly valuable when there were but few evergreens grown in England, 
from its hardy habit, and the liveliness of its hue. The wood of the tree has 
been in use for turnery from the earliest ages, and for wood engraying since 
the fifteenth century. 
Properties and Uses. The wood of the box is remarkably heavy ; weighing, 
when newly cut, 80 lb. 70z. per cubic foot, and, when perfectly dry, 68 lb. 
12 oz. and 7 gr. It is the only European wood that will sink in water: it is 
yellow, very hard, and susceptible of a fine polish. The wood was formerly 
much used in England in cabinet-making and inlaying, as it still is in France ; 
and, also, in both countries, for musical and mathematical instruments, combs, 
and various articles of turnery. The principal use of the boxwood, however, 
at present, is for wood engraving; and for this purpose it is an important 
article of commerce. 
For Turnery, the boxwood used by the cabinet-makers and turners in 
France is chiefly that of the root. The town of St. Claude, near which is 
one of the largest natural box woods in Europe, is almost entirely inhabited 
by turners, who make snuff-boxes, rosary beads, forks, spoons, buttons, and 
numerous other articles. The wood of some roots is more beautifully mar- 
bled, or veined, than that of others; and the articles manufactured vary in 
price accordingly. The wood of the trunk is rarely found of sufficient size 
for blocks in France; and when it is, it is so dear, that the entire trunk of a 
tree is seldom sold at once, but a few feet are disposed of at a time, which 
are cut off the living tree as they are wanted. There are in the Forest 
of Ligny, generally, many stumps which have been treated in this manner. 
Boxes, &c., formed of the trunk, are easily distinguished from those made 
of the root, by the wood of the trunk always displaying a beautiful and very 
regular star, which is never the case with that of the root. Boxwood 
is very apt to split in drying; and, to prevent this, the French turners 
put the wood designed for their finest works into a dark cellar as soon as it 
Is cut, where they keep it from three to five years, according to circumstances. 
At the expiration of the given time, they strike off the sap-wood with a hatchet, 
and place the heart-wood again in the cellar till it is wanted for the lathe. 
For the most delicate articles, the wood is soaked for 24 hours in fresh very 
clear water, and then boiled for some time. When taken out of the boiling 
water, it is wiped perfectly dry, and buried, till wanted for use, in sand or 
bran, so as to be completely excluded from the light, and air. Articles made 
of wood thus prepared, resemble, in appearance, what is called Tunbridge ware. 
The spray of the box, though it burns very slowly, is much esteemed in France, 
as fuel for lime-kilns, brick-kilns, ovens, &c., where a great and lasting heat 
is required. (Nouv. Cours., &c.) 
Wood Engraving. The wood used for this purpose is chiefly imported 
from Turkey or Odessa; and sells, in London, for from 7/. to 14/. a ton, 
duty included; the average annual consumption in Britain being about 
582 tons. In the year 1832, M‘Culloch tells us (in his Dictionary of Com- 
merce), the duty on imported boxwood was 1867/. 17s. 4d. In France, 
the native trees are seldom of sufficient size for wood engraving ; and wood 
to the amount of 10,000 francs is annually imported from Spain. The box 
trees which were cut down on Box Hill in 1815 produced upwards of 10,000/. 
The art of cutting on wood was invented before the art of printing; and it is 
supposed to have been first practised between the years 1400 and 1430. The 
first objects to which it was applied were very different in their character ; 
viz. books of devotion and playing cards. The mere outlines of the figures 
were rudely cut in the wood with knives in the direction of the grain, and the 
