288 ARDORF.Tl'IM AND FIlUTrCETUM. PART III. 



often 2(t. or Sit. wule, arc cxcliisivoly iiscJ for the |)ancl.s of carriiiijes. 

 When iK-rfectly tlry, they take llie paint well, and admit of a brilliant polish. 

 The vicinity of Boston does not produce this tree, and the eoachniakers there 

 proc-nre it Ironi New York and IMiiladclphia : it is also sent for the same nsc 

 to Charleston, S. C, where the tnlip trees are few in nnmhcr, and inferior in 

 size. The seats of the Windsor chairs which are fabricated at New York, 

 Philadelphia, and Baltimore, antl in many other towns, arc always of this wood: 

 a large (piantity of it is consumed in this way, and also in the manufacture of 

 trunks which are covered with skins, and of bedsteads which arc stained in • 

 imitation of mahogany. The circular l)oard and wings of winnowinginachines 

 arc niailc of this wood, as it is easily wrought in the lathe, and is very light ; 

 it is also nuicli used for wooden bowls, and for the heads of hair brooms, or 

 .sweepin::-i)rushcs. The farmers use it for the eating and drinking troughs of 

 cattle : these troughs are formed of a single piece ; and, exposed to the wea- 

 ther, they last as long as those made of chestnut and butternut (C'arya). In 

 Kentucky, the wood" of the tulip tree is sometimes employed for the rails of 

 rural fences. It is found useful, also, in the construction of wooden bridges, 

 as it unites lightness with strength antl durability. The Indians who iniiabited 

 the middle states, and those who still remain in the western country, pre- 

 fer this tree for their canoes ; which, consisting of a single trunk, are very 

 light and strong, and sometimes carry twenty persons. The wood of the tulip 

 tree affords excellent charcoal, which, in America, is employed by the smiths 

 in the districts that furnish no fossil coal. In the lumber yards of New 

 York, Philadelphia, and lialtimore, a great quantity of this wood is found, in 

 forms convenient for the uses above enumerated. In America it is very cheap ; 

 l)cing sold at half the price of black walnut, wild cherry, and curled maple. 

 In all the country watered by the river Monongahela, between 39'' and 40^^ 

 of latitude, the tulip tree is so" abundant, that large rafts, composed wholly of 

 its logs, are made to float down the stream. Michaux remarks that, when a 

 pophir is felled, the chips of tiie heart-wood that arc left upon the ground, 

 particularly those which are half buried in the leaves, surter, at the end of 

 three or four weeks, a rcmarkalile change; the lower part becomes of a dark 

 blue, and they exhale a fetid annnoniacal oiiour ; though the live part of 

 the bark of the trunk, the branches, and still more of the roots, has an agree- 

 able smell, and a very bitter ta<te ; ami, even under the satne circumstances as 

 the heart wood, it neither acquires the blue colour, nor the disagreeable smell. 



Medico/ Properties. In Virginia, some of the inhabitants of the country 

 steep the bark of the roots of this tree.with an equal portion of dogwood bark, in 

 brandy, during eight days ; and this tincture is considered a cure for intermittent 

 fevers. Poplar bark, reduced to powder, and given in substance to horses, 

 a|)pears to be a pretty certain remedy for worms. The American Museum for 

 December, 179i, contains details of the valuable properties ascribed to this 

 bark, by Dr. Young of Philadelphia; from which it ajjpears that it is nearly 

 e(|ual to (iuin(iuiua,"being a powerful tonic and antiseptic: the aromatic i)rinci- 

 jjle appears to reside in a resinous part of its substance, wiiich stimulates the 

 intestinal canal, and which operates as a gentle cathartic. In many instances, 

 the stomach cannot support it, unless each ilose is accompanied by a few drops 

 of laudanum. In Paris, a spirituous Tupior is made from the fresh bark of 

 poplar roots, with the addition of a sufl'icient quantity of sugar to render it 

 agreeable to the taste. {Michaux.) 



The Uses of the Tulip Tree in Europe are limited almost entirely to those 

 of ornament ; for, though there are numerous trees which wouKl produce ex- 

 cellent timber if cut down, we have never heard of any having been felled for 

 this purpose, or, indeed, for any other. Every possessor of a tulip tree, in 

 I'urope, values it far higher fi)r its beauty in a living state, than for its pro- 

 ducts, or the artificial ap|)lications of them. On the Continent, where trees 

 ripen seeds, they may be considered as affording some profit from thiit source. 



Soil and Siludlion. In its native country, according to Michaux, the tulip 

 tree ilelights only in deep, loamy, and extremely fertile soils, such as are found 



