234 SYLVAN WINTER. 



cut from a Yew log, the veneer be steeped for a few 

 montlis in the waters of a pond, it will, it is 

 stated by Yarennes de Feuilles, ' take a purple- 

 violet colour.' This, however, is not always the 

 case, at least with the solid logs of the wood, after 

 immersion in water. We have before us a speci- 

 men — forwarded to us from Ireland by Mr. Archi- 

 bald Henderson, of Clonad, TuUamore — of Yew 

 wood. It was taken from the trunk of a tree 

 dug out of the Killenmore bog, King's County, 

 in June, 1883. It is impossible to say how long 

 this trunk had lain in the bog, but probably for 

 hundreds of years ; yet it is as light in colour, and 

 as fresh in appearance as if just cut from a newly- 

 felled tree, and it possesses in a remarkable degree 

 the waviness to which we have referred. Not 

 only does Yew wood mature so slowly, but, after 

 cutting, it takes longer to dry than any other 

 known wood. Compensation, however, for this cir- 

 cumstance is found inthe fact that it loses very little 

 indeed in the process of drying, not more than 

 one forty- eighth part of its bulk. A cubic foot, 

 when dry, weighs sixty-one pounds and seven 

 ounces. The fineness of the grain of Yew wood 



