Many kinds of wood are harder, as box and 

 ebony 5 many kinds are tougher^ as yew and 

 afh : but it is fuppofed that no fpecies of wood, 

 at leaft no fpecies of timber, is poflefTed of 

 both thefe qualities together in fo great a 

 degree, as Britifh oak. Almoft all arts and 

 manufactures are indebted to it ; but in fhip- 

 building, and bearing burdens, its elailicity, 

 and ftrength are applied to moil advantage. 

 I mention thefe mechanic ufes only becaufe fome 

 of its chief beauties are connected with them. 

 Thus it is not the erect, ftately tree, that is 

 always the moft ufeful in fhip-building j but 

 more often the crooked one, forming fliort 

 turns, and elbows, which the fhipwrights and 

 carpenters commonly call knee-timber. This 

 too is generally the moft picturefque.- Nor is 

 it the ftrait, tall ftem, whofe fibres run in pa- 

 rallel lines, that is the moft ufeful in bearing 

 burdens : but that whofe finews are twifted, 

 and fpirally combined. This too is the moft 

 picturefque. Trees under thefe circumftances, 

 generally take the moft pleafing forms, 



Now the oak perhaps acquires thefe dif- 

 ferent modes of growth from the different 

 ftrata, through which it paffes. In deep rich 

 foils, where the root meets no obftruction, the 



ftem, 



