HACKMATACK. 



HAIR. 



zone of the two continents, and they are the first 

 to disappear in approaching a milder sky. The 

 American species is most abundant in the 

 States of Vermont, New Hampshire, and 

 Maihe ; but though the* soil is well adapted to 

 its growth and the winter is long and severe, 

 it does not form the* hundredth part of the re- 

 sinous growth, which consists principally of 

 the black spruce, the hemlock spruce, and the 

 red cedar. According to my father's observa- 

 tions in his journey to Hudson's Bay, it is only 

 beyond the St. Lawrence, particularly near 

 lake St. John and the great and the little lake 

 Mistassin, that it begins to abound and to form 

 masses of woods, some of which are several 

 miles in extent. I have been informed that it 

 is profusely multiplied in Newfoundland, in 

 nearly the same latitude. New Jersey, Penn- 

 sylvania, and the coldest and gloomiest ex- 

 posures in the mountainous tracts of Virginia, 

 are the limits of its appearance towards the 

 south: but it is rare in these states, and in 

 Lower Jersey, in the vicinity of New York, it 

 is seen only in the swamps of white cedar, 

 with which it is scantily mingled. The nu- 

 merous descendants of the Dutch in New 

 Jersey call it tamarack. 



I have remarked that in the States of Ver- 

 mont and Maine the larch grows only in low 

 and moist places, and never on uplands, as 

 about Hudson's Bay and in Newfoundland ; 

 hence we may conclude that the climate of the 

 northern extremity of the United States is too 

 mild for its constitution. 



The American larch, like that of Europe, 

 is a magnificent vegetable, with a straight, 

 slender trunk 80 or 100 feet in height, and 2 

 or 3 feet in diameter. Its numerous branches, 

 except near the summit, are horizontal or de- 

 clining. The bark is smooth and polished on 

 the trunk and longer limbs, and rugged on the 

 smaller branches. The leaves are flexible, 

 shorter than those of the European species, 

 and collected in bunches: they are shed in the 

 fall and renewed in the spring. The flowers, 

 like those of the pines, are separate upon the 

 same tree : the male aments, which appear 

 before the leaves, are small, oblong, and scaly, 

 with two yellow anthers under each scale ; the 

 female flowers are also disposed in aments, 

 and are composed of floral leaves covering 

 two ovaries, which in process of time become 

 small erect scaly cones 3 or 4 lines long. At 

 the base of each scale lie two minute winged 

 seeds. On some stocks the cones are violet- 

 coloured in the spring instead of green ; but 

 this is an accidental variation, for the trees are 

 in no other respect peculiar. 



The wood of the American larch is superior 

 to any species of pine or spruce, and unites 

 all the properties which distinguish the Eu 

 ropean species, being exceedingly strong and 

 singularly durable. In Canada it is considered 

 as among the most valuable timber, and has 

 no fault except its weight. In the State of 

 Maine it is more esteemed than any other re- 

 sinous wood for the knees of vessels, and is 

 always used for this purpose when proper 

 pieces can be procured. Turpentine is never 

 extracted from it in America, as is done from 

 the native species in Europe. 

 600 



The larch is justly appreciated in the United 

 States, but it is little employed, because it is 

 rare and may be replaced by several resinous 

 trees which are cheaper and more abundant. 



Sir A. B. Lambert, in his splendid work 

 upon the pines, describes two species of the 

 American larch, the first of which is evidently 

 the tree we have been considering; the second 

 he denominates Larix mirrocarpa, and charac- 

 terizes it by smaller fruit and drooping branches. 

 My father doubtless considered it as a variety, 

 and has omitted to mention it: as I have 

 never visited the northern parts of America, I 

 cannot decide the question. 



The cones of the European larch are twice 

 as large as those of the American species, but 

 the two trees are so analogous that a separate 

 description is unnecessary. (Jim. Sylva.) 



HAIR (Germ, haare). The characteristic 

 covering of the mammiferous class of animals. 

 It consists of slender, more or less elongated, 

 horny filaments, secreted by a matrix, consist- 

 ing of a conical gland or bulb, and a capsule, 

 which is situated in the meshwork of the corium 

 or true skin. The hairs pass out through ca- 

 nals in the corium, which are lined by a thin 

 layer of cuticle adherent to the base of the hair: 

 the straightness or curl of the hair depends on 

 the form of the canal through which it passes. 

 The hair is formed in an elongated sheath or 

 sack, to the bottom of which the bulb or soft 

 part of the hair is fixed. The structure of 

 hairs differs : thus, in the bris.de of the hog 

 there is an internal cellular part, and an ex- 

 ternal or cortical fibrous part; and this is also 

 the structure of the hair of the roe deer. The 

 hair of the bat is knotted, and that of the mouse 

 is mottled with black and white. Hair is usu- 

 ally distinguished into various kinds, according 

 to its size and appearance. The strongest and 

 stiffest of all is called bristle: of this kind is 

 the hair on the backs of hogs. When remark 

 ably fine, soft, and pliable, it is called wool, 

 and the finest of all is known by the name of 

 down. Spines, bristles, fur, and wool (see those 

 heads) are therefore all modifications of hair, 

 having the same chemical composition, mode 

 of formation, and general structure. 



In the spine of the porcupine, the bulb secretes 

 a fluted pith, and the capsule invests it with a 

 horny sheath, the transparency of which allows 

 the ridges of the central part to be seen. In 

 the spine-like whiskers of the walrus, as well 

 as the bristles of the hog, the twofold structure 

 of the hair is very conspicuous ; but in the 

 finer kind of hair, as of the human head and 

 beard, the central pith can only be demon- 

 strated in fine transverse sections, viewed with 

 a microscope. Some kinds of hair, as of the 

 human head, the mane and tail of the horse, 

 are perennial, and grow continuously by a 

 persisting activity of the formative capsule 

 and pulp : other kinds, as the ordinary hair of 

 the horse, cow, and deer, are annual, and the 

 coat is shed at particular seasons. In the deer 

 the horns are shed contemporaneously with 

 ' the deciduous hair. 



Many quadrupeds, especially those of cold 



] climates, have two kinds of hair: a long and 



coarse kind, forming their visible external 



i covering ; and a shorter, finer, and more 



