2|60 Analomkal Description of the Fir Tree. 



that will appear on tlie surface of water impregnated with resin 

 or pitch; and llius the native juices are rendered solid and hard. 



Hence the lower or butt ends of fir trees, the growth of this 

 country, are frequently found as hard and full of resin, as if they 

 had been saturated with it in a boiling caldron; while the trunk 

 and the branches have no more than is absolutely necessary to 

 constitute the' woody filjres, which become very dry and brittle. 

 When such trees are cut down for purposes of carpentry, they 

 are found verv difficult to work. 



In the first instance the sawyers experience difficulty in cutting 

 them. They are not only hard, but they clog the saw, filling up 

 the teeth, while a resinous matter adheres to the sides of even 

 the best saws. When, after considerable trouble and expense, 

 they are cut into planks, the same efl'ect is found on the carpen- 

 ters' tools ; the edge, however fine, being very soon clogged up ; 

 so that if the work be small, it is scarcely possible to make fine 

 tools work at all, without a very large portion of hog's lard, or 

 some other grease. 



This causes tiie difficulty of working firs of British growth ; 

 and is wholly occasioned by the oily part of the juice being driven 

 oflf : for if the workmen apply oil of turpentine to their tools, it 

 is found the best for their purpose, though most expensive ; and 

 this is the very matter of which the timber is deprived by a higli 

 temperature. 



It is well known, that in a warm climate the fir tree thrive* 

 best on the top'S of hills. When Maundrell visited Mount Le- 

 Ijanon, on the yth of May 1696, of the trees so much spoken of 

 in holy writ, he could find only sisteen of any considerable size. 

 But there were many young ones growing from amidst the snow 

 on the very top of the hill. 



It is likewise found, that in colder climates many species of 

 fir grow in abundance in the valleys and low lands, where the 

 Scotch fir grows to a very large tree. In consequence of the 

 temperature being low, the equilibrium of its juices is kept up, 

 and they ascend together in the tree, aftording to every branch 

 and fibre its proper nutriment. 



The concentric rings of the oak, the ash, &:c., are principally 

 marked by the number of large holes, or longitudinal vessels, by 

 which they are formed. On the contrary, those of the fir tree 

 are most perspicuous from the more hard, solid, bvown part of 

 the rings, which contain a far greater proportion of turpentine 

 than the other parts of the tree. The sap of this tree appears 

 to lie in motion throughout the winter, bv which winter motion 

 this dark part of the circle is formed. Not that there is really 

 so much addition to the diameter of the tree in that season, for 

 the original frame (if the term may be allowed) of the woody 



fibre* 



