THE SERVICE. Ill 



with the dark pines and waving birch, which cast a 

 solemn gloom over the hills of the north. In sum- 

 mer, the light green tint of its foliage happily con- 

 trasts with the deeper green of the surrounding trees; 

 and, in autumn, its glowing berries sparkle amidst the 

 dark brown cones of the larch and the spruce. 



Service Pyrus domeitica. 



The True Service (Pyrus domestica) is a native 

 of the south of Europe. It is generally cultivated 

 here as a shrub, but in time, though a very long time, 

 it becomes a tree of considerable size. The wood is 

 compact and strong, and often made into weavers' 

 shuttles, and the wooden parts of other small tools 

 and implements. Notwithstanding the goodness of its 

 timber, the service tree could never be profitably culti- 

 vated in this country, in consequence of the slowness 

 of its growth. 



The fruits of the service remain on the tree during 

 a part of the winter: they have cathartic properties; 

 but the people of Kamchatka use them as food when 

 they have been mellowed by frost. In some parts of 

 the North an ardent spirit is produced from them by 

 distillation. 



