

-^ ■,— 



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App.J 



BOTANY. 



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APPENDIX. 



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Extract of a Letter to Capt. W. A. B. Hamilton^ R.N., Secretary to the 

 Admiralty, on the collection of information respecting Foreign Timber 

 useful for Naval and oth.r purposes, from A. P, B. Creuze, Esq. 

 (Principal Surveyor at Lloyd's)? dated Lloyd's, 2, White Lion Court, 

 26th January, 1848- 



A GOOD accountof the timber-produce of the world, or at least of our own 

 possessions, is greatly wanted. Timber for masting and ship-buiidin 

 purposes is annually becoming more scarce. In proof of this r~ ertion, 

 compare the ease with which large topmasts could be got at tlie tir: . of my 

 early service in Her Majesty's Yards, say 25 to 35 years ago, with the 

 present difficulty; or, compare the pr— nt su])ply of trees, which will 

 onvert for main pieces of rudder, stern-posts, stems, floors, second 

 futtocks, &c. of large ships, with that of those years. I might multiply 

 instances, but these will suffice in illustration. 



The " Memorandum " should, I submit, call the attention of naval 

 officers, especially those of surveying ships^ to the timber of every 

 country which they visit They should be instructed that whenever 

 they meet with timber which they consider availabh-^ for the naval 

 service, or generally for ship-building purposes, they are to procure 

 information upon it; to the nature of which information the followin 

 heads may serve as some guide : 



The average contents per tree, obtained by measuring, say ten trees 

 which have apparently attained the perfection of their gro¥. ili, that is, 

 are of the average size, without evident decay in the trunk or main 

 limbs, and of which the foliage exhibits in every part equal freshness. 

 The method of measuring may be obtained from a book called * Hoppiis's 

 Mea.^.rcr/ 



The average distance from the ground to the lowest branch. 



The diameter of the trunk below and clear of the insertion of this 

 brancli, and the diameter above and clear of the swell of the roots, 



A rough sketch of the growth of the main stem, and of ten or twelve 

 feet in length of the principal limbs. The example selected for the 

 sketch should be the tree which will give the best idea of the gein^ I 

 growth of the tim^-er. 



A specimen of the flower and of the foliage. The first may be pre- 

 served by placing it, stem downwards, in a jar partially filled with dry 



sand (not from ialt water, unless, previously to^ being dried, it has been 



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