MAY. 141 



may by patience be separated, and can be written on as 

 easily as writing-paper. The outer laminae are of a delicate 

 cream colour, but as they approach the inner bark they be- 

 come redder. These layers^ when separated and divided 

 into narrow strips^ make an exceedingly soft and elastic bed, 

 equal, if not superior^ to a feather-bed ; but great patience is 

 requisite to prepare so large a quantity. The inner bark is 

 about half an inch thick, of a crumbly, somewhat farinaceous 

 nature : it is of a rather pleasant smell and taste, and of a 

 bright orange colour, which it readily transfers to water. I 

 have read that in times of scarcity, the rude inhabitants of 

 northern Europe make a kind of apology for bread by pound- 

 ing the inner bark of the birch. The buds have a similar 

 smell, which is strong, but agreeable. For some time after 

 the leaves are disclosed, they are covered with a fine silvery 

 down, as you may observe : probably this down acts as a 

 preservative against the effects of cold, both while within 

 their perules, and afterwards while young and tender, for it 

 soon disappears. The wood of the birch, when young, is 

 yellowish white ; when mature, the heart-wood, or all ex- 

 cept the sap-wood (alburnum), is of a dullish red, which 

 deepens by exposure ; and is, when polished in furniture, &c. 

 of considerable beauty. In very old trees, the heart is nearly 

 black, or rather of a deep bistre brown, and very brittle. 

 The laminae of the outer bark are used to form the very in- 

 genious birch canoe of the Indians, being sewn together with 

 deer sinews, and payed with resin. There is another tree of 

 this genus, the Paper, or White Birch (Betula Populi- 

 folia ?J, which is said to be occasionally found in our woods : 

 for instance, near the banks of the Masuippi river, on the 

 west side. 1 have never met with it here, but have seen it 

 in great numbers near the head of Lake Memphramagog, in 

 Vermont. I have been told that the Indians sometimes 

 travel through the country, making inquiries for this tree, for 



