242 VOICES FROM THE WOODLANDS. 



where the soil is moist. Every part of this valuable tree 

 answers some important purpose, or is associated with 

 an interesting fact in natural history. The bark, being 

 light, like cork, serves to support the nets of fishermen ; 

 the inner bark is used by the Kamtschadales as a ma- 

 terial for bread ; and the roots, which readily dissolve into 

 a gelatinous substance, and becomes speedily coated over 

 with a tubular crustaceous spar, was formerly employed 

 to promote the joining of fractured bones. The boards 

 afford durable and neat-looking floors for rooms, though 

 liable, from the softness of their nature, readily to take 

 impressions. Brooms are made from the twigs, and paper 

 is manufactured from the cottony down of the seeds. In 

 Flanders an incredible number of clogs are made from 

 poplar-wood. Horses, cows, and sheep browze readily 

 upon this valuable tree, and numerous insects resort for 

 protection to its bark, or raise their small citadels upon 

 the leaves. The red substances resembling berries upon the 

 leaf-stalks, large as a cherry, gibbous on one side, gaping 



