FIR-TREE. 235 



had thrown them down to form a basis to 

 their roads in mosses and bogs. Mr. Whit- 

 aker says in his History of Manchester, " I 

 have now in my possession two pieces of tried 

 genuine fir, that were bedded with the remains 

 of a birch-tree, one yard and a half in the 

 mossy soil, and three yards under the crown 

 of the Roman gravel ; and it has also been 

 very recently dug up, by myself, under the 

 roots of the road over Failsworth Moss." 



This tree is not peculiar to Scotland or 

 England alone, as it is common in many 

 parts of Europe, and Mr. Duhamel mentions 

 his having received cones of this species of 

 fir-tree from St. Domingo. The wood of this 

 fir is the red or yellow deal, which is the most 

 durable of any of the kinds yet known. 



The Scotch fir is known from other species, 

 by the leaves which issue from a white trun- 

 cated little sheath, in pairs ; they are linear, 

 acuminate, quite entire, striated, convex on 

 one side, and flat on the other, from an inch 

 and a half to two inches in length, of a grey- 

 ish green. 



The cones are small, pyramidal, and end in 

 narrow points ; they are of a light colour, and 

 the seeds are small. The scales of the male 

 catkins roll back at top, and are feathered. 



In favourable soils and situations, this tree 



