48 FAMILIAR TREES 



percentage of starch and so little oil or fat that 

 they might fairly be classified among farinaceous 

 bread-stuffs. The tough, leathery " pericarp," or 

 outer skin of the fruit, resembles the " testa," 

 or outer skin of the seed, in the Horse-chestnut, 

 but differs from it in terminating in a point, where 

 the remains of perianth and stigmas can often be 

 detected. Eemoving the woolly coats of the seed, 

 we find the edible cotyledons, or seed-leaves which 

 are considerably crumpled. 



The timber of the Chestnut resembles Oak, 

 being brown, moderately hard, fine-grained, and 

 rather porous; but, being of slower growth, its 

 rings are narrower ; the " medullary rays " are not 

 traceable, nor is there any distinction between the 

 heart-wood and the sap-wood. Our photo-micro- 

 graph shows the marked contrast in each annual 

 ring between the large vessels of the spring wood 

 and the smaller ones formed later. It was for- 

 merly supposed that the roof of Westminster Hall 

 and other old woodwork in London was of this 

 timber, a fact which would have been an argu- 

 ment for the antiquity of the growth of the Chest- 

 nut in England ; but upon examination these 

 buildings have proved to be of Oak. Beyond the 

 use of its saplings as Hop-poles, Chestnut timber 

 is applied to no special purpose; but, growing as 

 it will even in poor, sandy soil, or under the shade 

 of Fir-trees, it is a good deal planted as cover for 

 game. 



