9 8 



TIMBER AND TIMBER TREES. [CHAP. 



moderate degree of hardness and strength, but with 

 nothing in its appearance to recommend it to favourable 

 notice. The private ship-builders therefore declined to 

 use it, and as upon trial it was found unsuitable for the 

 royal dockyards, none has of late been imported. 



TABLE XXXVI. DUTCH OR RHENISH OAK. 

 Transverse Experiments. 



REMARKS. Each piece broke with a moderate length of fracture. 



Oak timber has also been imported from Spain in 

 considerable quantities, for ship-building and other 

 purposes. The logs were generally small, or, at the 

 best, of only medium dimensions, curved or crooked at 

 the butt end, and tapering rather quickly towards the 

 top. The wood of the Spanish Oak is of a dark brown 

 colour, plain and even in its grain, porous, softer than 

 most other Oaks, and liable to excessive shrinkage in 

 seasoning. 



