188 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 



used for the naves, or hubs, of wheels, and 

 for hatters' blocks, and some parts of mill- work. 

 " The tupelo is almost precisely the same 

 with the black gum, except that it is smaller 

 and more comxmon, especially in Nev/- Jersey 

 and Pennsylvania. It is sometimes called sour 

 gum, and sometimes peperidge. The trunk 

 is all of the same size from the base to the 

 branches, and the bark of the full grown trees 

 is remarkable, from being broken up into 

 figures of six sides, that are often quite regular 

 in shape. The leaves, the flowers, and the 

 fruit are exactly like those of the black gum ; 

 the taste of the fruit is slightly bitter, yet the 

 birds eat it greedily, particularly the red- 

 breasts. The wood is not very hard, but, like 

 the black gum, it has a remarkable peculiarity 

 in the fibres of which it is composed ; in most 

 other kinds of wood these fibres are straight, 

 and lie side by side, so that they split and 

 come apart without much difficulty; but in 

 the tupelo and the black gum they lie cross- 

 ing each other, and are so twisted, or rather 

 braided, together, that it is almost im- 

 possible to split them asunder. This pecu- 

 harity makes the wood very excellent for cer- 

 tain purposes : where it has to resist great 



