BOX. 



435 



of the pulp, which process extends till the fol- 

 lowing autumn, are then sown in beds. In gen- 

 eral they do not vegetate till the second year 

 after they have been gathered. There are six 

 or eight varieties of the common holly, chiefly 

 marked by the size and form of the leaves; 

 there are also about sixteen distinct species. 



Box. 'NatuTSil iamily euphorbiacece ; moncecia, 

 tetrandria, of Linnaeus. The wood of the box is of 

 considerable size, though we generally meet with 

 small species in this country, in the state of a 

 shrub, forming borders, where the largest stem 

 is not thicker than a packthread ; or, when not 

 in this state, still as a little shrub often taste- 

 lessly cut into fantastic shapes. Only two spe- 

 cies of box are mentioned by botanists; but there 

 are several varieties, and one of them, the dwarf 

 box (luxus suffruticosa), ought, perhaps, to be 

 considered as a distinct species from the common 

 box (buxus sempervirens), and not merely a 

 variety, as no art has been able to rear the former 

 to the size of the latter. The seeds of the one 

 were never observed by Miller to produce plants 

 of the other, as is the case with most varieties of 

 species in the vegetable kingdom, more espe- 

 cially of trees and shrubs. 



When allowed to arrive at its full growth, the 

 box attains the height of twelve or fifteen feet, 

 and the trunk varies in diameter from three to 

 six inches, which it sometimes, though rarely, 

 exceeds. 



It is a native of all the middle and southern 

 parts of Europe ; and it is found in greater abun- 

 dance and of a larger size in the countries on the 

 west of Asia, to the south of the mountains of 

 Caucasus. In many parts of France it is also 

 plentiful, though generally in the character of a 

 shrub. In early times it flourished upon many 

 of the barren hills of England. Evelyn found 

 it upon some of the higher hills in Surrey, dis- 

 playing its myrtle-shaped leaves and its bright 

 green in the depth of winter; and till very 

 recently, it gave to Boxhill, in that county, the 

 charms of a delightful and perennial verdure. 

 The trees have now been destroyed, and the 

 name, as at other places called after the box, has 

 become the only monument of its former beauty. 



Yet no tree so well merits cultivation, though 

 its growth be slow. It is an unique among tim- 

 ber, and combines qualities which are not found 

 existing together in any other. It is as close 

 and heavy as ebony ; not very much softer than 

 Ugnummtoe; it cuts better than any other wood; 

 and when an edge is made of the ends of the 

 fibres, it stands better than lead or tin, nay almost 

 as weU as brass. Like holly, the box is very 

 retentive of its sap, and warps when not pro- 

 perly dried, though, when sufiiciently seasoned, 

 it stands well. Hence, for the wooden part of 

 the finer tods, for every thing that requires 

 strength, beauty, and polish in timber, there is 



nothing equal to it. There is one purpose for 

 which box, and box alone, is properly adapted, 

 and that is the forming of wood-cuts, for scien- 

 tific or other illustrations in books. These 

 reduce the price considerably in the first engrav- 

 ing, and also in the printing ; while the wood- 

 cut in box admits of as high and sharp a finish 

 as any metal, and takes the ink much better. 

 It is remarkably durable too ; for if the cut be 

 not exposed to alternate moisture or heat, so as 

 to warp or crush it, the number of thousands 

 that it will print is almost incredible. England 

 is the country where this economical mode of 

 illustration is performed in the greatest perfec- 

 tion ; and just when a constant demand for box 

 was thus created, the trees available for the pur- 

 pose had vanished from the island. 



Permanent figures and ornaments are often 

 impressed upon box, by a much more cheap and 

 simple process than that of carving. For this 

 purpose the wood is softened by the application 

 of heat and moisture ; and the die being strongly 

 pressed upon it when in that state, the impres- 

 sion comes off, and is retained with considerable 

 sharpness. Snuff^-boxes of this description are 

 extensively made in France, Switzerland, and 

 Germany, and the material used is principally 

 the root of the box. 



Animals have an aversion to the leaves and 

 seeds of the box; and the honey from the flowers 

 was supposed by the ancients to have a poison- 

 ous quality. 



CHAP. XLIV. 



THE CONirER^, OR PINE TRIBE THE PINE, KR, 



LARCH, CYPRESS, &C. 



This very important tribe of trees is compre- 

 hended under a very weU marked natural family, 

 the conifercB, belonging chiefly to the class monos- 

 cia, polyandria, of Linnaeus. They are all ever- 

 greens, with the exception of the larch and gingo. 

 The leaves are stiff and coriaceous, generally 

 linear, and collected in bundles of fi-om two to 

 five, accompanied at the base by a small sheath. 

 The flowers are unisexual, and generally disposed 

 in cones or catkins. The male flowers consist 

 essentially each of a stamen, either naked or 

 accompanied by a scale in the axiUa; not unfre- 

 quently several stamina are united together by 

 their filaments. The female flowers vary much; 

 the general form is that of a cone or scaly catkin. 

 The cotyledons of the seed vary from two, three, 

 four, and even as many as ten. 



The greater number of the species are tall and 

 lofty trees, and they all yield an essential oil, 

 well known as turpentine, and resin, or gum. 

 The seeds contain a bland oil, and those of some 



