94 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



and as it lasts long when kept constantly wet, it is 

 well adapted for the sills and floors of locks, for the 

 keels of vessels, and for the planking in the parts 

 constantly kept under water. The small timber of 

 it makes excellent charcoal ; the mast or fruit is 

 eaten by hogs ; and the poor in Silesia extract 

 from it an oil, which they use as a substitute for 

 butter. The nut is sometimes burnt, for the purpose 

 of making an infusion, which somewhat resembles 

 coffee. 



Virgil chose the beech for its sha.de, for no tree 

 forms so complete a roof. But its bushy head is any 

 thing but beautiful ; and its branches have neither the 

 firmness of the oak, nor the elegance of tlie ash. The 

 hue of the bark is of an agreeable olive; and its trunk, 

 often studded wth bold knots, is generally pictu- 

 resque. Its autumnal hues are particularly beautiful. 



Elm. 



Of this tree there are about fifteen species. The 

 Common Elm (Ulmus campestris) is generally un- 

 derstood to be indigenous in the south part of the 

 island ; and, at any rate, it must have been in Eng- 

 land in the time of the Saxons, as many compound 

 names of places, of which the word " elm" forms a 

 part, are to be met with in " Domesday Book," 

 the drawing up of which was finished in 1086, 



Elm is a tough and strong timber ; but it is coarse 

 and open in the grain, more especially when it has 

 grown upon very rich land. That which grows in the 

 more fertile parts of England is far inferior to the pro- 

 duce of the midland counties of Scotland ; the latter 

 being much closer in the grain, harder, more handsome, 

 and taking a finer polish. Of the one, chairs and 

 other ai'ticles of furniture are made, while the other is 

 seldom used but for coarse purposes — casks, coffins, 

 wooden presses, &c. The Scotch seems to be the 



