1 68 The Soverane Herbe 



quently unable to distinguish the natural from the 

 artificial. In absorption and colouring properties the 

 imitation is equal to the real article at one-half the 

 price. It is estimated that about half a million real 

 meerschaum pipes are turned out yearly, and twice 

 that number of artificial meerschaum. 



Meerschaum pipes are the pets of luxurious and 

 poetic smokers. For genuine, hard smoking there is 

 nothing to beat a good briar. Granted a good briar 

 is rare, but when obtained what can beat it ? Unlike 

 the meerschaum, one need not handle and smoke it 

 gingerly, in fear of breakage ; finger-heat does not 

 spoil its colouring, so swaddling clothes are super- 

 fluous. Of course, the briar will not yield the rich 

 shades of the foam of the sea, but the pleasure of the 

 smoker as he sees the darkening wood is not less than 

 that of the meerschaum devotee. The meerschaum 

 is the pipe for the study and house ; it cannot be 

 smoked out of doors. But the briar is equal to every 

 occasion. At home, or in the open, in the wind or 

 sun, on land or sea, the briar is ever ready. Sturdy, 

 needing no case, practical and philosophical, it is 

 emphatically the pipe of the Briton. 



It is not surprising that the wooden pipe is of 

 recent invention, for the wood must possess many 

 qualities. The wood must be hard and practically 

 incombustible, yet light. It must be sapless and 

 inodorous, or when heated the fragrance of the 

 tobacco would be lost. And while not essential, it is a 

 desideratum that the fibre should be gnarled, mottled, 

 or grained, and susceptible of a high polish. 



No native British timber possesses these necessary 



