124 SYLVA BR1TANNICA. 



THE MAPLE. 



- Acerque coloribus impar. 



The maple, stain'd with various hues." 



OVID. 



THE small or common Maple is very inferior in 

 size to the Sycamore, or greater Maple; but the 

 timber is much more valuable ; and is held in the 

 highest estimation by turners and cabinet-makers, 

 on account of the exquisite beauty of veining which 

 it frequently presents. The wood of the Maple is 

 also much prized for musical instruments, on account 

 of its lightness ; and the tree itself yields a sap which 

 upon evaporation will leave sugar as perfect in quali- 

 ty as that of the cane, though inferior in point of 

 quantity. The ancients held the Maple in the great- 

 est esteem ; and tables inlaid with curious portions 

 of it, or formed entirely of its wood when finely 

 variegated, fetched prices which, even to the manu- 

 facturers of the buhl furniture of modern times, would 



