USES OF WOOD. 231 



it is used. It is capable of taking a high polish, 

 and is amenable to the arts of the stainer and 

 ' ebonizer.' 



Sycamore wood, by which we mean the wood of 

 the Great Maple (Acer pseudo-platanus), though 

 finely grained, capable of polishing, and sometimes 

 veined, is used for various purposes of no great 

 importance. It can be easily worked, and hence 

 joiners and cabinet-makers put it to a useful 

 employment. "Wooden spoons and other domestic 

 utensils used to be made of this material, and 

 gunstocks, cider-presses, and musical instruments 

 are still made of it. It is not very hard, and its 

 colour, white at first, becomes, as the tree matures, 

 yellowish and sometimes brown. One very use- 

 ful property it has is its non-liability to warp ; 

 and a proof of its durability, notwithstanding its 

 comparative softness, is the fact that the wooden 

 envelopes or coffins in which mummies were 

 placed in the Eastern catacombs were invariably 

 made of Sycamore wood. Lastly, it makes ex- 

 cellent fuel, and, when burning, gives out a great 

 deal of heat. 



The True Service Tree (Pyrus sorbus) is said 



