THE CONIFEROUS TIMBERS OF CANADA, ETC. 39 
The excellent cross-section of one of these trees 
which, exhibited at the Natural History Museum at 
South Kensington, is so well known to frequenters, 
impresses one vividly with the idea of the age of these 
mighty trees. It shows that the tree from which it 
was obtained was cut down in 1892, its age at that 
time being 1,335 years. Notes on historical matters 
are made on this cross-section at the various periods 
of the tree’s growth, and it may be observed that it 
came into existence about the commencement of the 
“Middle Ages, was in the prime of life at the time of the 
accession of Alfred the Great, and continued through 
all the events and progress of civilization almost up 
to the end of the reign of Queen Victoria, when the 
woodman’s axe brought the giant to an untimely end. 
Sugar Pine.—An important Californian timber which 
is put to many uses, is obtained from a tree bearing 
this name. It is chiefly employed in the Western 
States however, comparatively little finding its way 
thence into other countries. It is most abundant on 
the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, growing at an 
altitude of from 2,000 ft. to 7,000 ft. The trees attain 
to a height of between 80 ft. and 250 ft., with a girth of 
2 ft. to 8 ft., and it is said that no other pine is so valu- 
able for its wood or will show such a yield per acre. The 
demands on the forests for home consumption have 
been great; and the wood has steadily appreciated in 
value. It is light, soft, close-grained, and fairly strong, 
works easily and is fragrant insmell. Like Weymouth 
and other pine the wood, when converted, sweats and 
stains if packed together when green. It is said to 
have been discovered by D. Douglas, a noted botanical 
explorer, who named the species Pinus Lambertiana 
after his friend Lambert, a founder of the Linnean 
Society. 
4—(14604) 
