TREES OF AMERICA. 89 



"And is the bark good for nothing, too? 

 I should like to find the beautiful magnolias 

 made use of for something." 



" They may have very excellent uses, and 

 perhaps you may be happy enough to dis- 

 cover some of them when you grow older ; 

 all I mean to say is, that no valuable proper- 

 ties have been found in them as yet. I be- 

 lieve that the bark is not good for any thing, 

 but I have been told that in some parts of New- 

 Jersey the people steep the cones of the white 

 bay in whiskey, and drink the infusion as a 

 preventive against fall fevers ; they call it bay 

 bitters. But I doubt whether it really an- 

 swers the purpose or not." 



" Now, Uncle Philip, will you please to tell 

 me about the cones, and the little balls hang- 

 ing down from the side ?" 



O 



" As I told you before, the little balls are 

 the seeds : the cone is the fruit of the tree, 

 and consists of a great number of little cells ; 

 and when the cone is ripe these cells open 

 and let out the seeds, which hang for several 

 days by a white thread, or filament : the seeds 

 are something like cherries, being stones 

 covered with a red pulp ; but they are not 



good to eat. The cones of the large and 



H 2 



