SCOTCH FIR. 331 



when boiled, and these are a principal ingredient in spruce 

 beer. Tar is moreover extracted from our roots, in a 

 manner similar to that practised by the ancient Greeks ; 

 the juice being received in earthen trenches, and afterwards 

 freed from all impurities by drainage through wicker baskets. 

 Our resinous roots are divided into small splinters, and used 

 instead of candles; and this custom, which prevails in 

 the northern regions, is equally prevalent at Bedowas in 

 Turkey. Pishermen make ropes of the inner bark, and 

 our trunks and branches yield also turpentine and resin. 



" The firre that oftentimes doth rosin drop." 



Our tribe, therefore, affords materials for erecting both 

 houses and bridges, with every requisite for household 

 furniture; to those who live far north we are especially 

 valuable for constructing sledges, carts, and boats, besides 

 yielding fuel, and ashes for manure. Nor is man alone 

 profited by us. The bark in which our fruit is enwrapped 

 is the principal food of the Loxia curvirostra, or Cross-bill, 



