BOX. 161 



warps when not properly dried, though when suffi- 

 ciently seasoned it stands well. Hence, for the wooden 

 pait of the finer tools, for everything that requires 

 strength, beauty, and polish in timber, there is nothing 

 equal to it. There is one purpose for which box, and 

 box alone, is properly adapted, and that is the form- 

 ing of wood-cuts, for scientific or other illustra- 

 tions in books. These reduce the price considerably 

 in the first engraving, and also in the printing; 

 while the wood-cut in box admits of as high and 

 sharp a finish as any metal, and takes the ink much 

 better. It is remarkably durable too; for, if the cut 

 be not exposed to alternate moisture or heat, so as to 

 warp or crush it, the number of thousands that it 

 will print is almost incredible. England is the coun- 

 try where this economical mode of illustration is 

 performed in the greatest perfection; and just when 

 a constant demand for box was thus created, the trees 

 available for the purpose had vanished from the island. 



Permanent figures and ornaments are often im- 

 pressed upon boxj by a much more cheap and simple 

 process than that of carving. For this purpose the 

 wood is softened by the application of heat and mois- 

 ture; and the die being strongly pressed upon it 

 when in that state, the impression comes off, and is 

 retained with considerable sharpness. Snuff-boxes 

 of this description are extensively made in France, 

 Switzerland, and Germany, and the material used is 

 principally the root of the box. 



4. EBONY. As to which is the real ebony tree, 

 those who treat of and classify plants are not wholly 

 agreed, though it is usually referred either to one or 

 more species of the date plum, that grow in the 

 south-eastern parts *of Asia, and the adjoining 

 islands, or to that which is a native of Jamaica; 

 though the former (Diospyrus Ebenus} is, by the 

 best judges, considered as the true ebony. The 



VOL. II. 14* 



