CHAP. Cv. CORYLA‘CEZ. QUE’RCUS. 1789 
said to be the best. The bark of either species affords a substance which has 
been substituted for quinine; and, according to Cullen and others, a decoc- 
tion of oak bark has been used for diseases of the throat, &c. The bark which 
contains the greatest quantity of tannin is obtained from those parts of the 
branches or trunks which are of from 20 to 30 years’ growth; and hence the 
bark of an oak coppice of 20 or 30 years’ growth is worth more to the tanner, 
than the same weight of bark taken from the trunk and branches of old trees. 
Every part of the tree, however, abounds in astringent matter ; and even the 
leaves and sawdust will tan leather, linen cloth, netting, or cordage, which 
is to be much exposed to the weather. An infusion of the bark, with cop- 
peras, dyes woollen of a purplish blue. The Highlanders, according to Light- 
foot, dye their yarn of a brown colour with oak bark ; and the same thing is 
practised in Sweden, and other countries, where, like the bark of the birch 
and some other trees, it is made to perform the office of tanning and dyeing 
at the same time. The acorns of both species are alike sought after for feed- 
ing swine; but, according to the French authors, they are produced in the 
greatest quantities by the sessile-fruited oak, and of the largest size from the 
edunculated species. According to Evelyn, a peck of acorns a day, with a 
ittle bran, will make a hog increase a pound weight per day for two months 
together. Cato recommends acorns to be given to oxen, mixed with beans and 
lupines. In British parks, acorns form an important part of the winter food of 
deer ; and, were the tree substituted for the elm, the ash, and a number of others 
which are planted in hedgerows, there would be a general supply throughout 
the country for pigs, and also for game ; since it is certain that they are eaten 
both by pheasants and partridges in England, and by turkeys in America. 
Acorns are given raw or boiled to poultry; and it is said to be easy to accus- 
tom horses, cattle, and sheep to eat them. Acorns, roasted and treated like 
coffee, are said to afford a liquor which closely resembles that beverage; and 
when sprouted acorns are treated like malt, they afford a liquor from which a 
very strong spirit may be distilled. According to Bosc, this is practised in 
various parts of the north of Europe. The leaves of both species, gathered 
green, and dried, are said to furnish an excellent winter forage for sheep, goats, 
deer, &c. The leaves, after they have dropped from the tree, are swept up, 
and used in gardening as a substitute for tanner’s bark, in producing heat by 
fermentation in hot-houses, pits, &c. 
The Use of the Oak in Landscape has been pointed out by Gilpin with his 
usual force and effect. “ It is a happiness,” he says, “to the lovers of the 
picturesque, that this noble plant is as useful as it is beautiful. From the 
utility of the oak they derive this advantage, that it is every where found. 
Many kinds of wood are harder, as box and ebony; many kinds are tougher, 
as yew and ash; but it is supposed that no species of wood, at least no species 
of timber, is possessed of both these qualities together in so great a degree as 
the British oak. Almost all arts and manufactures are indebted to it; but 
in ship-building, and bearing burdens, its elasticity and strength are applied 
to most advantage. I mention these mechanical uses only because some of its 
chief beauties are connected with them. Thus, it is not the erect stately tree 
that is always the most useful in ship-building ; but more often the crooked 
one, forming short turns and elbows, which the shipwrights and carpenters 
commonly call knee-timber. This, too, is generally the most picturesque. 
Nor is it the straight tall stem, the fibres of which run in parallel lines, that 
is the most useful in bearing burdens; but that which has its sinews twisted 
and spirally combined. This, too, is the most picturesque. Trees, under 
these circumstances, generally take the most pleasing forms. We seldom see 
the oak, like other trees, take a twisted form from the winds. It generally pre- 
serves its balance; which is one of the grand picturesque beauties of ever 
tree. The oak, like other trees, shrinks from the sea air [see p. 195. fig. 1): 
but this indicates no weakness; for the sea air, like a pestilential disease,» 
attacks the strongest constitutions. A second characteristic of the oak is the 
