MONOECIA TETRANDRIA. 575 



The outer bark is white: the leaves heart-fliap'd, 

 except that they have no indenture at the bafe : 

 the twigs flender and pendent in the old trees. 

 but erect in the young ones. The male catkins 

 appear in autumn, and continue through the 

 winter j they are long and pendulous. The fe- 

 male ones are Ihort and oval, and appear in the 

 Spring. 

 Various are the oeconomical ufes of this tree. The 

 highlanders ufe the bark to tan their leather, and 

 to make ropes. The outer rind, which they call 

 Meilleag, they fometimes burn inftead of can- 

 dles. With the fragments of it, dexteroufly braid- 

 ed or interwoven, the Laplanders make them- 

 felves fhoes and ba/kets. Large thick expanded 

 pieces, with a hole in the middle to fit the neck, 

 they ufe inftead of a furtout to keep oif the 

 rain. The Americans make entire canoes of it ; 

 and the Ruffians, Voles and Swedes, in lieu of 

 tiles, cover their houfes with it. 

 The inner bark, before the invention of paper, 

 was ufed by the ancients to write upon. The 

 wood was formerly ufed by the Highlanders to 

 make their arrows, but is now converted to 

 better purpofes, being ufed by the wheelwright 

 for ploughs, carts, and moft of the ruftic im- 

 plements j by the turner for trenchers, bowls, 

 ladles, &c. the knotty excrefcencies affording a 

 beautiful vein'd wood, and by the cooper for 

 hoops; To whtch may be added, that it affords 



excellent 



