CHAP, CIV. BETULA‘CEX. BE/TULA. 1697 
not a sufficient footing for their roots, and became an easy prey to winds, 
In these piaces, Maupertuis found as many trees blown down as standing. He 
examined several of them, and was surprised to see that, in such as had lain 
long, the substance of the wood was entirely gone, but the bark remained a 
hollow trunk, without any signs of decay” (Gilpin’s Forest Scenery, vol. 1. 
p. 71.) In the mines of Dworetzkoi, in Siberia, a piece of birch wood was 
found changed entirely into stone ; while the epidermis of the bark, of a satiny 
whiteness, and shining, was exactly in its natural state, perfectly well pre- 
served, and without being coloured by the iron. It would be difficult, says 
the relater of this fact in the Nowveau Du Hamel, to find a more striking proof 
of the durability of this thin pellicle, so light and so delicate in appearance, and 
which the ancients used with so much propriety instead of paper, before the 
invention of that material. The buds and leaves, in early spring, abound in 
a resinous matter, an aromatic and agreeable fragrance from which may be 
perceived at a considerable distance from the tree; and the leaves, when 
bruised, whether in a recent or dried state, are also bitter and aroma- 
tic. The wood is employed by wheelwrights, in France, for the felloes 
of wheels; and, in the interior of Russia, in the construction of small rustic 
carriages : the felloes of the wheels are sometimes made of one entire stem 
of ayoung birch tree, bent by heat, and retained in its place by ties of the 
spray. On the Continent, chairs, and many kinds of furniture, are made of 
birch wood; and many articles of cooperage, turnery, &c. Sabots are also 
made of it; but they are not so good as those made of alder, and several other 
kinds of wood, admitting the water when they grow old. For cabinet-making, 
the birch is of little use till it has attained the age of sixty or eighty years; at 
which age it is little liable to warp, or to be attacked by worms. The tree oc- 
casionally produces knots of a reddish tinge, marbled, light, and solid, but not 
fibrous ; and of these, which are much sought after by turners, cups and bowls 
are made by the Laplanders with their knives. The young shoots and 
branches make hoops, brooms or besoms, and ties for faggots, baskets, wicker 
hurdles, and other purposes to which the hazel or the basket-willow is ap- 
plied ; and, when peeled, are used for making whisks for frothing up syllabubs, 
creams, and chocolate. Birch hoops are very durable, from the conservative 
influence of the bark. 
In Poland, Russia, Sweden, Norway, and Lapland, small bundles of the 
twigs, which have been gathered in summer, and dried with the leaves on, are 
used in the vapour-baths, by the bathers, for beating one another’s backs, ia 
order to promote perspiration. The inhabitants of the Alps make torches of 
the branches ; and the Highlanders, candles of the bark, twisted into a rope- 
like form. Sandals are also made of it, and thin pieces of the epidermis are 
placed between the soles of shoes, or in the crown of the hat, as a defence 
against humidity. The bark is used as coping to walls, and is placed over the 
masonry of vaults under ground, as lead is in England, to prevent the moisture 
from the soil from penetrating through it. It is even wrapped round sills and 
the lower parts of posts, and other pieces of wood inserted in the ground, or 
resting on it, to preserve them from decay. The charcoal of the birch is much 
in demand for making gunpowder, and for crayons. The leaves are bitter 
to the taste, and not willingly eaten by any animals, except rabbits and 
goats ; but, when they are young and fresh, they may be given to cattle and 
sheep ; and they are dried for this purpose throughout a great part of Sweden, 
Norway, and land. Medicinally, the leaves are said to be resolvent and 
detersive ; and it is added, that persons afflicted with rheumatism, sleeping 
on a bed stuffed with birch leaves, experience a perspiration which affords them 
great relief. A yellow colour is obtained from them, which is used for painting 
in distemper, and for dyeing wool. The buds and the catkins afford a kind of 
wax, analogous to that of bees. The ashes are rich in potash: 1000 |b, 
weight of wood, burnt green, will give 10 1b. 12 0z. of ashes, which will afford 
1 lb. 402. of potash. In this respect, the birch occupies the 55th place in a 
list of 73 trees. In the birch, as in all other trees, the potash is most abun- 
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