422 PICEA. 



condition of most of these trees, it may be roughly estimated that 

 the life of the Cedar in this country is not likely to be prolonged 

 beyond four hundred years ; the probability is even very great that 

 the age generally will not much exceed three hundred years. This 

 estimate falls far short of the supposed age of the patriarchal trees on 

 Mount Lebanon; but in England the Cedar is an exotic, living 

 under conditions as regards climate, altitude and environment 

 very different from those under which it has braved the storms of 

 centuries on the mountains of Syria and Cilicia.* 



The economic value of the Cedar of Lebanon in modern times, 

 otherwise than for ornamental planting, is inconsiderable ; the timber 

 of trees felled in Britain is inferior ; " the wood is light, soft, brittle, 

 apt to warp, and by no means durable." f There are, however, 

 grounds for believing that the Cedars growing under very different 

 circumstances of climate in proximity to the snows of Lebanon and 

 Taurus yield timber of the finest quality. In the expedition to Mount 

 Lebanon, undertaken by Sir J. D. Hooker, Captain Washington, R.N., 

 and other gentlemen in the autumn of 1860, "a section of the 

 lower limb of one of the older trees (which lay dead on the ground) 

 was procured, which gave a totally different idea of the hardness of 

 Cedar-wood from what English specimens do." 



The secretions of the Cedar of Lebanon are not abundant, but they 

 appear to possess very remarkable properties, some of which were 

 known in very ancient times ; the Egyptians are said to have used its 

 whitish resin in embalming their dead; they also rubbed it over the 

 leaves of papyrus and other objects to preserve them from the attacks of 

 insects. The most recent notice of these properties appears in 

 Mr. Smee's entertaining book, " My Garden," p. 429 : " The wood of 

 the Cedar contains a volatile essential oil, which has the curious 

 property of unsettling printer's ink and making it run. Some years 

 ago a Bank of England note was offered to the cashier with its 

 printing disturbed. Inquiry was set on foot, and it was traced to 

 several individuals who satisfactorily explained its custody and possession. 

 It was then brought to me, when I suggested that the detectives 

 should inquire whether it had been kept in a Cedar box; it was 

 then discovered that the last possessor had kept it in a new Cedar 

 box which she had recently bought, and thus the mystery was solved." 



PICEA. 



Link, Abhandl. Akad. Berlin, 179 (1827). Bentham and Hooker, Gen. Plant. III. 439 (1881). 

 Eichler in Engler and Prantl, Nat. Pfl. Fam. 77 (1887). Masters in Jouvn. Linn. Soc. 

 XXX. 28 (1893). 



The Spruce Firs by an overwhelming weight of authority are now 

 brought under Picea. The genus as at present circumscribed is a 



* Among the many fine Cedars scattered over the country mention may also be made 

 of those on the Royal domain at Windsor, at Langley Park near Slough, one of the 

 finest in the country ; others at Dropmore, Lin ton Park, Bayfordbury, Elvaston Castle, 

 Blenheim Palace, Cobham Park. In Scotland at Dalkeith Palace, Murthly Castle, 

 Methven Castle. In Ireland at Powerscourt. Woodstock, Adare Manor, AVhitefield Lodge, 

 Phoenix Park ; the Royal Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, etc. 



t London, Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum, IV. 2417. 



