AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



27 



robe the tree in white, like a full blown apple tree, and 

 render it one of the fairest ornaments of the American 

 forest. 



The seeds, of a vivid, glossy red, and of an oval shape, 

 are always united; they remain upon the trees till the 

 first frosts, when, notwithstanding their bitterness, they 

 are devoured by the Robin, (Turdus Migratorius,) 

 which about this period arrives from the northern re- 

 gions. 



The wood is hard, compact, heavy, and fine grained; 

 and is susceptible of a brilliant polish . The sap is perfectly 

 white, and the heart is of chocolate colour. This tree is 

 not large enough for works which require pieces of consi- 

 derable volume; it is used for the handles of light tools, 

 such as mallets, small vices, &c. In the country, some 

 farmers select it for harrow teeth, for the frames of horses' 

 collars, and also for lining the runners of sledges; but to 

 whatever purpose it is applied, being liable to split, it 

 should never be wrought till it is perfectly seasoned. The 

 shoots, when three or four years old, are found proper for 

 the light hoops of small, portable casks; but the consump- 

 tion in this way is inconsiderable. In the middle slates 

 the cogs of mill wheels are made of Dog- wood, and its di- 

 vergent branches are taken for the yokes which are put 

 upon the necks of swine, to prevent their breaking into 

 cultivated enclosures. Such are the profitable uses of this 

 tree; it affords also excellent fuel, but it is too small to be 

 brought into the markets of the cities. 



The liber, or interior bark of the Dog-wood, is extreme- 

 ly bitter, and proves an excellent remedy in intermitting 



fevers. It has been known and successfully used by the 

 country people, as a specific in these maladies, for more 

 than fifty years. Its medicinal properties were made the 

 subject of a thesis sustained in the College of Physic at 

 Philadelphia, in 1803; in which was presented an analysis 

 of the bark of the Dog-wood, and the blue berried Dog- 

 wood, compared with the Peruvian bark. By the experi- 

 ment made on the occasion, the Dog-wood bark was shown 

 to have a close analogy to the Peruvian bark, and to be 

 capable, in many cases, of supplying its place with suc- 

 cess. The author of this excellent piece cites a Physician 

 of Pennsylvania, who, during twenty years, had constant- 

 ly employed it, and who estimated 35 grains of it to be 

 equivalent to 30 grains of the Peruvian bark. The only 

 inconvenience accompanying its use was, that if taken 

 within a year after being stript from the tree, it sometimes 

 occasioned acute pains of the bowels; but this evil was 

 remedied by adding to it five grains of Virginia snake 

 root, {aristolocliia serpentcma.) 



The same author gives a receipt for making an excel- 

 lent ink, in which this bark is substituted for gall nuts: — 

 Put half an ounce of Dog-wood bark — 2 scruples of sul- 

 phate of iron — and 2 scruples of gum arabic, into 16 

 ounces of rain water; during the infusion shake it repeat- 

 edly. 



The Dog-wood merits the attention of Europeans, for 

 the value of its wood, and especially for the brilliancy of 

 its flowers, — by which it is better adapted than almost any 

 other North American tree, to the embellishment of 

 forests, parks, and extensive gardens. — Michaux. 



THE BEAVER— {Concluded from page 9.) 



AUTHENTIC HISTORY— Continued. 



" The beaver is an animal which cannot keep under 

 water long at a time; so that when their houses are broke 

 open, and all their places of retreat discovered, they have 

 but one choice left, as it may be called, either to be taken 

 in their houses or their vaults: in general they prefer the 

 latter; for where there is one beaver caught in the house, 

 many thousands are taken in their vaults in the banks. 

 Sometimes they are caught in nets, and in the summer 

 very frequently in traps. In winter they are very fat 

 and delicious; but the trouble of rearing their young, the 

 thinness of their hair, and their constantly roving from 

 place to place, with the trouble they have in providing 

 against the approach of winter, generally keep them very 

 poor during the summer season, at which time their flesh 



FICTITIOUS HISTORY— Continued. 



" Each tribe has its peculiar territory. If any foreigner 

 be taken in the act of marauding, he is delivered over to 

 the chief, who, on the first offence, chastises him with a 

 view to correction; but, for the second, deprives him of 

 his tail, which is considered as the greatest disgrace to 

 which a Beaver can be exposed ; for the tail is the carriage 

 on which he conveys stones, mortar, provisions, &c. and 

 it is also the trowel (the figure of which it represents ex- 

 actly) which he uses in building. This violation of inter- 

 national rights, however, is considered among them as so 

 great an outrage, that the whole tribe of the mutilated 

 culprit take up arms in his cause, and proceed immedi- 

 ately to obtain vengeance. 



" In this conflict, the victors, availing themselves of the 



