CHAP. XCIX. EVVHORBIA^CE^. 5u'xUS, 1335 



Both Virgil and Ovid allude to the use of tiiis wood for musical instruments, and 

 employ the word box as if synonymous with that of flute. In more modern 

 times, in Britain, it is mentioned by Turner, Gerard, Parkinson, and other 

 writers on gardening and rural affairs ; and, previously to the eighteenth cen- 

 tury, was in great repute for gardens in the geometric style, from the facility with 

 which it could be made to assume whatever form the gardener wished : it was 

 also highly valuable when there were but few evergreens grown in England, 

 from its hardy habit, and the liveliness of its hue. The wood of the tree has 

 been in use for turnery from the earliest ages, and for wood engraving since 

 the fifteenth century. 



Properties and Uses. The wood of the box is remarkably heavy; weighin<T, 

 when newly cut, 80 lb. 7 oz. per cubic foot, and, when perfectly dry, 68 lb. 

 12 oz. and 7 gr. It is the only European wood that will sink in water: it is 

 yellow, very hard, and susceptible of a fine polish. The wood was formerly 

 much used in England in cabinet-making and inlaying, as it still is in France ; 

 and, also, in both countries, for nmsical and mathematical instruments, combs, 

 and various articles of turnery. The principal use of the boxwood, however, 

 at present, is for wood engraving ; and for this purpose it is an important 

 article of commerce. 



For Turnery, the boxwood used by the cabinet-makers and turners in 

 France is chiefly that of the root. The town of St. Claude, near which is 

 one of the largest natural box woods in Europe, is almost entirely inhabited 

 by turners, who make snuff'-boxes, rosary beads, forks, spoons, buttons, and 

 numerous other articles. The wood of some roots is more beautifully mar- 

 bled, or veined, than that of others ; and the articles manufactured vary in 

 price accordingly. The wood of the trunk is rarely found of sufficient size 

 for blocks in France ; and when it is, it is so dear, that the entire trunk of a 

 tree is seldom sold at once, but a few feet are disposed of at a time, which 

 are cut off the living tree as they are wanted. There are in the Forest 

 of Ligny, generally, many stumps which have been treated in this manner. 

 Boxes, &c., formed of the trunk, are easily distinguished from those made 

 of the root, by the wood of the trunk always displaying a beautiful and very 

 regular star, which is never the case with that of the root. Boxwood 

 is very apt to split in drying; and, to prevent this, the French turners 

 put the wood designed for their finest works into a dark cellar as soon as it 

 is cut, where they keep it from three to five years, according to circumstances. 

 At the expiration of the given time, they strike off" the sap-wood with a hatchet, 

 and place the heart-wood again in the cellar till it is wanted for the lathe. 

 For the most deUcate articles, the wood is soaked for 24 hours in fresh verv 

 clear water, and then boiled for some time. When taken out of the boiling 

 water, it is wiped perfectly dry, and buried, till wanted for use, in sand or 

 bran, so as to be completely excluded from the light, and air. Articles made 

 of wood thus prepared, resemble, in appearance, what is called Tunbridge ware. 

 The spray of the box, though it burns very slowly, is much esteemed in France, 

 as fuel for lime-kilns, brick-kilns, ovens, &c., where a great and lasting heat 

 ■ is required. {^Nouv. Cours., &c.) 



Wood Engraving. The wood used for this purpose is chiefly imported 

 from Turkey or Odessa; and sells, in London, for from 11. to 14/. a ton, 

 duty included; the average annual consumption in Britain being about 

 382 tons. In the year 18.32, M'Culloch tells us (in his Dictionary of Com- 

 merce), the duty on imported boxwood was 1867/. 17*. 4f/. In France, 

 the native trees are seldom of sufficient size for wood engraving ; and wood 

 to the amount of 10,000 francs is annually imported from Spain. The box 

 trees which were cut down on Box Hill in 1815 produced upwards of 10,000/. 

 The art of cutting on wood was invented before the art of printing; and it is 

 supposed to have been first practised between the years 1400 and J 430. The 

 first objects to which it was applied were very different in their character ; 

 viz. books of devotion and playing cards. The mere outlines of the figures 

 were rudely cut in the wood with knives in the direction of the grain, and the 



