128 FAMILIAR TREES 



It is still employed, both here and on the Conti- 

 nent, for a variety of purposes besides wood-engraving, 

 for which art, however, the finest quality of Boxwood 

 is mainly reserved. It is used in inlaying, for 

 mathematical instruments, especially foot-rules, for 

 weaving-shuttles, and other turned articles. Some 

 of these, however, are made at St. Claude, not from 

 the stem but from the root, the wood of which is 

 often beautifully veined. 



The art of wood-engraving is older than that of 

 printing, the old block-books, such as the " Biblia 

 Pauperum " of the first half of the fifteenth century, 

 being engraved on a series of large blocks. It w r as, 

 however, only from the time of Bewick that wood- 

 enoraving became general as a means of book-illus- 

 tration ; and the introduction of the many photo- 

 graphic and electro typic processes now in vogue has 

 afforded a partial solution of the difficulty as to the 

 supply of Boxwood in the future. Some Boxwood 

 can, undoubtedly, be procured from India and the 

 Cape ; and of the various substitutes suggested, 

 whilst our own Hawthorn seems the best, Pear, 

 the American Dogwood (Cor'nus flor'ida), the Texas, 

 Ebony {Diospy'ros texa'na), and the West Indian 

 Trumpet-flower or Jamaica Box (Teco'ma penta- 

 phyl'la), all promise to prove useful. 



