( 46 ) 



not find that refpeft ; as it's wood is of a fort* 

 fpungy nature j fappy, and alluring to the 

 worm. And yet I have heard, that it has 

 lately been found to anfwer as well, as elm, 

 in forming the keels, fteins, and ftern-pofts 

 of the largeft fhips. 



In point of pifturefque beauty I am not 

 inclined to rank the beech much higher, than 

 in point of utility. It's fkeleton, compared 

 with that of the trees we have juft examined, 

 is very deficient. It's trunks, we allow, are often 

 highly pifturefque* It is ftudded with bold 

 knobs and projections ; and has fometimes a 

 fort of irregular fluting about it, which is 

 very characteriftic. It has another peculiarity 

 alfo, which is fometimes pleafing ; that of a 

 number of ftems arifing from the root. The 

 bark too wears often a pleafant hue. It is 

 naturally of a dingy olive ; but it is always 

 overfpread, in patches, with a variety of 

 mofles, and lychens, which are commonly of 

 a lighter tint, in the upper parts > and of a 

 deep velvet-green towards the root, It's 

 fmoothnefs alfo contrails agreeably with thefe 

 rougher appendages. No bark tempts the 

 lover fo much to make it the depofitory of 



his 



