FIR TREE. 143 



entire vessels, unless in small craft. The chief con- 

 sumption of deal now is for the interior work of our 

 houses, and some articles of household furniture. It is 

 a smooth wood to polish, and is therefore thought good 

 for gilding : it takes black as wejl as the wood of the pear- 

 tree, and is approved for carving, the grain being easy 

 to work : it is thought to be more easily wrought, and 

 to take glue better than any other wood. It yields 

 pitch, tar, turpentine, and resin ; and from the buds and 

 tops spruce beer is made, which is considered an ex- 

 cellent remedy for the scurvy. Even the fresh cones 

 lx>iled in whey are considered efficacious in cases of 

 scurvy. 



The air impregnated with the exhalations of Fir-trees 

 is by some persons considered very wholesome, especially 

 for persons of delicate lungs. 



The Abbe Barthelemy says, in speaking of Arcadia, 

 " Ce pays produit presque tous les arbres connus. Les 

 habitans, qui en font une etude suivie, assignent a la 

 plupart des noms particuliers ; mais il est aise d'y di- 

 stinguer le pin, le sapin, le cypres, le thuja, Tandrachne, 

 le peuplier, une sorte de cedre dont le fruit he miirit que 

 dans le troisieme annee. .Ten omets beaucoup autres 

 qui sont egalement communs, ainsi que les arbres qui 

 font Tornement des jardins. Nous vimes, dans une vallee, 

 des sapins d'une grosseur et d'unehauteur extraordinaires : 

 on nous dit qu'ils devaient leur accroissement a leur 

 heureuse position ; ils ne sont exposes ni aux fureurs des 

 vents ni aux feux du soleil." 



Voyage d" Anach arsis, ch. 52. 



This country produces almost all known trees ; the inhabitants, 

 who make a constant study of them, assign particular names to 



