PLANTS USEFUL AND POISONOUS. 83 



cedar, for instance, remains for several months completely- 

 denuded, and the pom and roble lose their foliage immediately 

 before flowering. After the dry season has set in the vegetation 

 becomes everywhere more or less languid for the space of two 

 months, or two months and a half, thus showing a deficiency of 

 sap in vegetable organs : this period commonly embraces a part 

 of February, the months of March and April, with part of May, 

 but is more or less extended, according as the dry season itself 

 is more or less protracted. This is the proper time, in fact the 

 only season, in which trees can advantageously be felled for 

 industrial purposes. Any wood thrown down during the rainy 

 season, but especially during June, July, and August, when 

 there is a renewed vigour in the vegetation, becomes liable to 

 rot, or to the ravages of insects, viz., the termite or white ant, 

 and the beetle. 



There exists a popular opinion that the phases of the moon 

 exercise a marked influence on the durability, if not of the harder 

 timber, at least of the softer wood and thatch covering. Ac- 

 cording to that opinion, wood cut during the crescent of the moon 

 does not last so long, and becomes liable to. the attacks of insects 

 and the dry rot. Whenever, on the contrary, it is felled during 

 the wane, and especially from the last quarter to two or three 

 days before the new moon, it preserves all its best qualities in 

 durable perfection. 



This opinion respecting the influence of the moon at stated 

 periods on the quality of felled timbers has already been the 

 subject of much and varied discussion, but cannot hitherto be 

 considered as fully determined, particularly as regards our 

 climate, where so few, or no scientific experiments have yet been 

 made. It may, however, be mentioned, that this view of the 

 question of lunar control over vegetation is, in a great measure, 

 supported by the celebrated French astronomer Arago ; and I 

 must candidly acknowledge that I feel inclined to lean towards 

 the popular opinion, and to admit the reality of that influence 

 within certain limits. Where hard wood is concerned, it is only 

 by many years of observation, and renewed comparative experi- 

 ments, that it would be possible to arrive at any safe conclusions 

 on the subject ; but in the case of soft woods, as the bamboo, for 

 instance, or the timite and carat, that influence becomes per- 

 ceptible. Bamboo, cut in proper season, and under favourable 



