CEDAR OF LEBANON. LARCH. 187 



The black Spruce, Pi'nus ni'gra, is a native of 

 North America. The young shoots of this species 

 are used for making spruce-beer. 



The Pinus Ce'drus, Cedar of Lebanon, grows 

 on mountains in the Levant, especially on the ce- 

 lebrated Mount Lebanon, from which it takes its 

 name. The wood is not destroyed by insects, 

 which cannot endure its bitter taste ; and for this 

 reason the ancients used tablets of cedar to write 

 upon, and smeared their books and writings with 

 a juice drawn from the wood, to preserve them. 

 Solomon's temple and palace, it is supposed, were 

 built of this wood. 



The Larch-tree, Pi'nusLa'rix, is a native of the 

 Alps and Apennines, where it sometimes grows to 

 the height of nearly two hundred feet. The wood 

 is said to be more durable even than oak, and has 

 the valuable property of not warping or shrinking. 

 It was used, more than any other, by painters, 

 before the use of canvass became general, and seve- 

 ral of Raphael's pictures are painted on boards of 

 larch. The piles upon which the houses of Venice 

 were built, many hundred years ago, are of this 

 wood, and are still fresh and sound. The resinous 

 substance, erroneously called Venice-turpentine, is 

 extracted from the tree. 



The Norway Pine, Pi'nus A'bies, affords the 

 white deal, which is employed for a great many 

 useful purposes in England; it is from its sap 



