New Je-rfey, * Raccow > 



~. 



.times alfo common in the greater knobs. This 

 (hews the origin of the knobs in general. The 

 tree is ftung by infedts, which lay their eggs 

 under the bark, and from the eggs worms are 

 afterwards hatched. They occafion an extravafa- 

 tion of the fap, which gradually condcnfes into 

 a knob. Only the trees with annual deciduous 

 leaves have thefe knobs, and among them chiefly 

 the oak, of which again the black and Spanijb 

 oak have the greateft abundance of knobs. The 

 afh trees, (Fraxinus excel/lor) and the red maple 

 (Acer rubrum) likewife have enough of them. 

 Formerly the Swedes, and more especially the 

 Finlanders, who are fettled here, made difhes, 

 bowls, &c. of the knobs which were on the 

 afh- trees. Thefe veffels, I am told, were very 

 pretty, and looked as if they were made of 

 curled wood. The oak-knobs cannot be em- 

 ployed in this manner, as they are commonly 

 worm-eaten and rotten within. At prefent the 

 Swedes no longer make ufe of fuch bowls and 

 difhes, but make ufe of earthen ware, or veffels 

 made of other wood. Some knobs are of an 

 uncommon fize, and make a tree have a mon- 

 ftrous appearance. Trees with knobs are very 

 common in the woods of this country*. 



THE 



* In Siberia, and in the province tfWiatka, in the govern- 

 ment of Cazan, in Rujfia, the inhabitants make ufe of the knobs, 

 which are pretty frequently found in birches, to make b"wls and 

 other domcitic uteniils thereof. They are turned, ma4e pretty 

 thin, and covered with a kind of varnifh, which gives th*m a 

 pretty appearance ; for the utenfil looks yellow, and is marbled 

 .quite in a pidurefque manner, with brown veins. The beft kind 

 of thefe vtTels are nado fo thin that they are feii^ioiaphano-us, 

 and when put into hot wa;er they grow quite pUan^, and may be 



formed 



