50 
TILIA AMERICANA. 
changed on the 30th, and appeared on the wing June 7th. The butterfly lives 
through the winter in places of shelter, and comes forth very early in the spring. 
This insect is found as far north as Virginia. 
Properties and Uses. The wood of the American lime-tree, when dry, weighs 
thirty-five pounds to a cubic foot. It is very white, when green, but becomes 
of a light-brown hue, when seasoned. It is soft, easily worked, and is often 
sawed into boards, which do not warp, like those formed of resinous trees. In 
the northern parts of the United States, and in the British provinces, where the 
tulip-tree does not abound, it is used for the panels of carriage bodies, and the 
seats of chairs. In Kentucky and the western states, the wood of the white lime 
is often substituted for that of the white pine. In various parts of the country, 
it is turned into domestic utensils of various kinds ; and is also carved into 
images for the heads of vessels, and other ornamental work. The young trees 
are sometimes cut, and employed as rails for rural fences ; but they are not dura- 
ble when thus exposed. The wood is almost useless as fuel, when green, being 
too full of sap, and of but little value when dry. The cellular integument of 
the bark is separated from the epidermis ; and, after being macerated in water, 
is formed into ropes, after the manner of making them in Europe, of the other 
species. The bark was also employed by the Lenni Lenape Indians for making 
lines and ropes, as well as for covering their habitations. The outer bark of the 
Tilia americana is rough and stringy, and the inner portion viscid and sweet. 
The twigs and buds are very glutinous when chewed, and afford considerable 
nutriment. In severe winters, when fodder is scarce, it is common for the farm- 
ers of the British American provinces, as well as those of Maine, New Hamp- 
shire, and Vermont, to drive their cattle into the woods in the morning, and fell 
a bass-wood, or other tree on which they eagerly browse during the day. 
