WOLF'S-BANE. 



in the culture of the plants, they wil 

 afford two or three gatherings, but th 

 best cultivators seldom take more than two 

 which are sometimes mixed together in th 

 manufacturing of them. It is necessary tha 

 the alter cropping*, when they are taken, ar 

 constantly kept separate from the others, a 

 they woul.l injure the whole if blended together 

 ami considerably dimmish the value of the pro 

 s.u'.l that the best method, when 

 a ihinl cropping is either wholly or partial!) 

 made, i* u> keep it separate, forming it into an 

 r kind of woad. 



i>rodtrt is mostly from about a ton to 

 Ion and a half of green leaves. The price 

 vanr* considerably; but for woad of the prim 

 quality it is often from 25/. to 30/. the ton, and 

 1 1 of an inferior quality 6/. or 71., am 

 sometimes much more. 



To prfptin it for the dyer, it is bruised by ma 

 chine ry to press out the watery part; it is after 

 ward* formed into balls and fermented, re 

 ground, and fermented in vats, where it is 

 evaporated into cakes in the manner of indigo 

 The haulm is burned for manure or spread 

 over the straw-yard, to be fermented along with 

 iraw-dung. 



Tht iw of woad in dyeing is as a basis for 

 IB4 black and other colours. 



* $tfd t leave some of the plants unde- 

 >f their leaves the second year, and 

 when it is ripe in July or August, treat it like 

 i nip - i. 

 Tkt only </iM<uri to which the woad is liable 

 the mildew and rust; when young it is 

 attacked by the fly, and obliged to be re- 

 sown, and this even on winter-ploughed grass 



than once. (London.) 



Uol.r.s.BANE (Aconitum). A genus of 



ornamental, tall, free-flowering, very hardy 



< eeding well under the shade of 



Uees; increased by division or by seeds. All 



the species are to be dreaded, being of a poi- 



aonou.s (juality, highly narcotic, and acid. The 



aconite has. however, become of great service 



is a narcotic in many very troublesome disor- 



One species, the common wolf's-bane 



ik's-hood (A. napellug), is a native of 



Greece, but now grows wild in this country in 



watery places. It is perennial in habit. Root 



; stem erect, simple, leafy, 



MM with minute, close hairs, and terminat- 



ing in a solitary, simple, upright, spike-like 



irge, dark-blue, helmeted flowers, 



without scent. The nectaries are full of honey, 



and form the spur of the flower. Leaves deeply 



-cleft, cut, with linear segments, furrowed 



above, and of a deep green, but pale beneath. 



oee AroniT*. 



WOOD. The fibrous or ligneous substance 



ich the branches, trunks, and roots of 



?s are principally composed. In vascular 



trunks, the hardest wood is always in the 



centre. See BARK, LIBBR, Lwirijr, TUCBBB, 



WOODBINE. See HONEYSUCKLE. 



OOD-RC8H (LuLwm, from the Gramen 



:/, or glow-worm grass of Bauhin). These 



ts are nearly related to Junnu, from which 



hey are at once distinguished by their flat 



leaves. They possess little beauty, and are of 



1 166 ' 



WOOL. 



the easiest culture. There are seven indige- 

 nous species, all of which are described in 

 Smith's Eng. Flor. vol. ii. p. 177. 



WOODSIA (named in honour of Joseph 

 Woods, F. L. S., an excellent practical British 

 botanist, who first illustrated our native species 

 of Rosa}. A genus of small ferns, of which 

 two species only have hitherto been discover- 

 ed : the oblong Woodsia ( W. ilvensisy, and the 

 rounded-leaved Woodsia ( W.hyperborea). These 

 ferns grow best in peat and loam mixed, and 

 are increased by division, or by seed. Their 

 noots are fibrous; fronds tufted, erect, stalked, 

 pinnate, pinnatifid, clothed with simple hairs, 

 or narrow-pointed scales. (Smith's Eng. Flor. 

 vol. iv. p. 322.) 



WOOD, PRESERVATION OF. To prevent 

 decay in wood exposed to the destructive 

 agents existing in air, earth, and water, va- 

 rious devices have been resorted to with more 

 or less success. Independently of other inter- 

 ests connected with internal transportation, 

 and the commercial and naval marine, those 

 of agriculture are subjected to enormous costs 

 to supply the waste of timber. It- has been 

 stated by a high authority, (J. S. Skinner,) 

 "that the setting and repair of fences of the 

 U. S. actually cost the country as much as the 

 building of the towns and cities." In Eu- 

 rope, where the want of timber is most se- 

 verely felt, various plans have been resorted 

 Lo, among which are Kyanizing, or saturat- 

 ing wood with a dilute solution of corrosive 

 sublimate, Burnettizing, a similar process, in 

 which a solution of chloride of zinc is substi- 

 tuted for the mercurial preparation, &c. The 

 effort to accomplish the desired object through 

 he transfusion into the pores of wood various 

 saline solutions, either alone or commingled, 

 las, however, proved partially successful, and 

 sometimes has exerted an unfavourable effect 

 upon the fibre, rendering the wood brash. The 

 most successful method proposed at present 

 onsists of a simple and cheap process, through 

 which wood is charged and permeated by hot 

 leaginous vapors arising from the distillation, 

 f co;d-tar, one of the essential ingredients of 

 which is that special preserver of all vegetable 

 and animal matter, creosote or carbolic acid. 

 ?his not only preserves wood from ordinary 

 lecay, but from the destruction wrought by 

 worms and insects found on land, and abound- 

 ng in the sea. The commonest woods are 

 hus rendered not only imperishable, but often 

 reatly improved in texture, and better adapted 

 o all useful purposes. 



For preserving fence-posts, &c., charring 

 he part put under ground serves as a partial 

 reserver. In this case it is better to have 

 be coal scraped off, as it assists in detaining 

 loisture. The preserving agent here is prob- 

 bly not so much the charcoal coating as the 

 ction of heat in solidifying the albumen of 



e wood. 



WOOD- WASP. See SAW-FLY. 



WOOD-WAXEN. See GREENWKED. 



WOOL (Germ, wolle; Dutch, wol : Kus. 



mlna). The soft, hairy, or downy substance 



which forms the covering of sheep, and is 



ound in smaller proportion on many other 



nimals. It is an article which has continued 



