HOLLY. 159 



consequence, it requires to be well dried and seasoned 

 before being used. It takes a durable colour, black, 

 or almost any other; and. hence, it is much used by 

 cabinet-makers in forming what are technically called 

 strings and borders, in ornamental works. When pro- 

 perly stained black, its colour and lustre are not much 

 inferior to those of ebony. For various purposes of the 

 turner, and for the manufacture of what is called 

 Tunb ridge ware, it is also much used; and, next to 

 box and pear-tree, it is the best wood for engraving 

 upon, as it is close and stands the tool well. The 

 slowness of its growth, however, renders it an ex- 

 pensive timber. The bark of the holly contains a 

 great deal of -viscid matter; and, when macerated in 

 water, fermented, and then separated from the fibres, 

 it forms bird-lime. 



3. Box. The wood of the box is of consider- 

 able size, though we generally meet with a small 

 species in this country, in the state of a shrub, 

 forming borders, where the largest stem is not 

 thicker than a packthread, or, when not in this 

 state, still as a little shrub often tastelessly cut into 

 fantastic shapes. Only two species of box are men- 

 tioned by botanists; but there are several varieties, 

 and one of them, the Dwarf Box (Buxus suffru- 

 ticosa) ought, perhaps, to be considered as a dis- 

 tinct species from the Common Box (Buxus semper- 

 virens], and not merely a variety, as no art has been 

 able to rear the former to the size of the latter. 

 The seeds of the one were never observed by Miller 

 to produce plants of the other, as is the case with 

 most varieties of species in the vegetable kingdom, 

 more especially of trees and shrubs. 



When allowed to arrive at its full growth, the box 

 attains the height of twelve or fifteen feet, and the 

 trunk varies in diameter from three to six inches, 

 which it sometimes, though rarely, exceeds. 



