TREES OF AMERICA. 213 



peas, but harder. The flowers are said to 

 have some good medicinal properties. The 

 bark is remarkably thick, and so fibrous or 

 stringy that it can be made into ropes like 

 hemp. In some parts of Europe, well-ropes 

 are made of it. The wood is white and soft, 

 and works very easily: it is mostly used by 

 carvers in wood. Cabinet-makers prefer it 

 for making drawers, and such things ; they 

 generally call it bass-wood. Common wooden 

 chairs are made of it, too, as are the little wooden 

 toys that are made for children, such as images 

 of cows, and horses, and monkeys ; you have 

 seen them, I dare say. 



" The white lime differs from the bass-wood 

 in size, being only about half as large, and in 

 its bark, which is silver gray and quite smooth : 

 the leaves, too, are much larger, and of a 

 darker green on the upper side •; on the under 

 side they are almost white : the flowers are 

 larger, too, and have a very pleasant smell : 

 in other respects, this kind of lime is exactly 

 like the other. 



" The third kind is called the downy lime, 

 from the under side of the leaves beins: cov- 

 ered with a very thick coat of fine soft down 

 or furze. They are almost round, and pointed 



