86 WoopD. 
applied! To say nothing of their beauty and the 
charming freshness of their shade, how multiplied 
are the conveniences which they afford by supplying 
us with that most useful article, Wood! 
Without trees for building purposes, and for the 
manufacture of those many utensils, which seem al- 
most coupled with our very existence, how changed 
would life be! Half the comfort of our houses is 
due to the wood which forms so large a part of the 
materials of which they are constructed ; and many of 
the charms of country firesides are owing to the uncon- 
scious and unsightly logs that lie blazing upon the 
hearthstone. 
But however dependent upon trees for the supply 
of our daily wants, and however they may excite our 
admiration when we look upon their noble forms, yet 
how few there are who sufficiently reflect upon the 
manifold blessings which are conferred upon us by 
their existence ! 
The forest trees of 
the temperate zone 
may be considered as 
forming the type of 
the second great na- 
tural order of plants, 
called “ Hxogenous,” 
from the fact that the 
new growth takes 
, place on the exterior 
Exogenous Wood, showing the surface of the stem, a 
growth of nine years. new layer of wood be- 
