USES OF WOODY FIBRE. 



join in the general circulation. The dark colour of the heart of oak, as contrasted with 

 oak of very recent growth, is an illustration of this fact, as is also the deep colour which 

 is met with in ebony and rosewood. 



A third duty under this head is that of giving stability to the tree. It only requires 

 a moment's reflection to enable the mind to appreciate the vast power of resistance 

 which is placed in forest trees. The oaks of an English forest have stood a thousand 

 years, notwithstanding the hurricanes and storms to which they have been yearly sub- 

 jected ; and a familar illustration of the most violent storms, of which we hear and 

 read, is that of the tearing up by the roots of the large forest trees. How mighty must 

 be that power which can withstand influences so terrific as those which each person 

 must have occasionally witnessed ! This power is partly due to the mere mechanical 

 hold which the roots have of the soil ; but the tenacity of that hold is almost entirely 

 due to the woody tissue contained in the roots and stem. Again, it is no uncommon 

 occurrence in our old English parks to find branches of old trees which stretch from the 

 trunk to the distance of fifty feet, and which in circumference are as large as trees of 

 considerable growth. These do not stand perpendicularly from the ground, but pass 

 out of the stem at an angle which is in some instances nearly a right angle, and must 

 therefore be kept from falling directly in opposition to the effects of gravity. The strain 

 exerted by such a branch is enormous ; and yet the branch is maintained in its posi- 

 tion for hundreds of years by the simple cohesive strength and tenacity of a series 

 of woody fibres, each one-sixth smaller than a human hair, and too minute to be 

 appreciated by the naked eye. It is probable that no mechanical agency at present in 

 operation could cifect that_ which is thus so readily effected by nature with the most 

 simple agencies. 



2ndly. Such as benefit man. 



We do not refer to the almost infinite uses to which wood, in boards or masses, is 

 applied by man, and the vast multitudes of beautiful objects which his ingenuity has 

 enabled him to prepare out of the varieties of wood which nature has so bountifully 

 provided. 



Not less useful is the same woody fibre when reduced to very minute bundles or 

 threads. 



"When the fibres are obtained in tolerably large bundles, they are used in place of 

 bristles for street brooms, and especially when obtained from the cocoa-nut palm. 



The flax and hemp which are imported so largely into this country, consist of 

 woody fibre, obtained not from the wood of large trees, but from the stems of slender 

 plants. From this raw material, ropes, sacks, linen, lawn, and other textile fabrics, are 

 now made, as some of them have ever been by all nations. Uncivilized, or partially 

 civilized nations, have been accustomed to use the bark of various trees offering this 

 woody fibre in a very divided condition ; and from this have prepared ropes and other 

 articles of utility. It has long been known that cordage of a very strong kind was 

 used by the ancient Egyptians, anterior, in all probability, to the building of the Pyra- 

 mids ; and Mr. Layard has recently exhumed sculptures which show that the yet more 

 ancient Assyrians removed their gigantic winged bulls and other objects by cables of 

 great size and strength. 



The bark of the lace-tree (Lagetta lintearia) yields a net-work of woody fibre of 

 exquisite beauty, and of great utility, and is used by* the natives of that clime as a 

 ready prepared fabric. 



An indisputable proof of the antiquity attaching to the use of this fibre is afforded 



