186 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 



have fallen to the ground. The bark is 

 smooth and spotted with white ; the wood is 

 strong, and fine, and elastic, but too small to 

 be of any use, except for making hoops. 

 There is another kind of hornbeam, called iron- 

 wood ; this kind is much larger than the other, 

 being sometimes, though not often, found 

 thirty, and even forty feet high, and never 

 less than eighteen or twenty. The leaves 

 are larger and broader than those of the horn- 

 beam, and the bunches that contain the seeds 

 or nuts are red, and grow in clusters like hops. 

 The wood is exceedingly hard, compact, and 

 heavy, and perfectly white, but hardly ever 

 large enough to be much used : it is generally 

 made into mallets, and the small parts of mill 



machinery, in which great strength and tough- 

 ness are required. 



" You remember the sweet gum that I told 



you of some time ago. Now I have another 



gum to describe to you ; at least it is called 



black gum, and sometimes sour gum, but it is 



not at all like the other gum-tree, and, indeed, 



I cannot imagine why it has got the name, for 



it produces no resinous fluid. It properly 



belongs to a class that has several varieties, 



and the proper name of whicli is the tupelo." 



