xxxi.] LARCHES. 261 



there are, doubtless, many Larch trees of straight growth 

 in Italy, since it is stated on good authority that the 

 greater number of the houses in Venice are built upon 

 piles of this timber, particularly those of which the 

 supports are alternately exposed to wet and dry ; many 

 of these piles, after being in place for ages, are said not 

 to have the least appearance of decay. 



This wood evidently stood in high favour in early 

 times. Julius Caesar who called it l( Lignum igni im- 

 penetrabile," because he could not burn it with the same 

 facility as other timber used it for every purpose when- 

 ever he could obtain it. Tiberius Caesar brought it over 

 long distances from the forests of Rhaetia for the repara- 

 tion of several bridges, and Pliny relates that a Larch 

 tree, measuring 120 feet long and 2 feet in thickness, 

 from end to end, was intended to be used in one of 

 these. It was, however, preserved for a long time as a 

 curiosity, and ultimately employed in the building of a 

 large amphitheatre. 



The Polish Larch tree is generally of straight growth, 

 and of dimensions rather exceeding the Italian variety. 

 It is also coarser in the grain, more knotty, and has 

 a larger amount of alburnum, or sap-wood. 



The Russian Larch tree attains dimensions superior 

 to either of the foregoing descriptions. A cargo of this 

 timber, very long and straight, was imported into this 

 country a few years since from the district of the Petchora, 

 a river flowing from the Ural Mountains into the Arctic 

 Ocean. 



This parcel passed into the hands of the Government 

 for the service of Woolwich Dockyard, where a portion 

 of it was employed experimentally in ship-building, for 



