CHAP. CV. COIlYLA v CEJE. QUE'rCUS. 1789 



said to be the best. The bark of either species affords a substance which has 

 been substituted for quinine ; and, according to Cullen and others, a decoc- 

 tion of oak bark has been used for diseases of the throat, &c. The bark which 

 contains the greatest quantity of tannin is obtained from those parts of the 

 branches or trunks which are of from 20 to 30 years' growth ; and hence the 

 bark of an oak coppice of 20 or 30 years' growth is worth more to the tanner, 

 than the same weight of bark taken from the trunk and branches of old trees. 

 Every part of the tree, however, abounds in astringent matter ; and even the 

 leaves and sawdust will tan leather, linen cloth, netting, or cordage, which 

 is to be much exposed to the weather. An infusion of the bark, with cop- 

 peras, dyes woollen of a purplish blue. The Highlanders, according to Light- 

 foot, dye their yarn of a brown colour with oak bark ; and the same thing is 

 practised in Sweden, and other countries, where, like the bark of the birch 

 and some other trees, it is made to perform the office of tanning and dyeing . 

 at the same time. The acorns of both species are alike sought after for feed- 

 ing swine ; but, according to the French authors, they are produced in the 

 greatest quantities by the sessile-fruited oak, and of the largest size from the 

 pedunculated species. According to Evelyn, a peck of acorns a day, with a 

 little bran, will make a hog increase a pound weight per day for two months 

 together. Cato recommends acorns to be given to oxen, mixed with beans and 

 lupines. In British parks, acorns form an important part of the winter food of 

 deer ; and, were the tree substituted for the elm, the ash, and a number of others 

 which are planted in hedgerows, there would be a general supply throughout 

 the country for pigs, and also for game ; since it is certain that they are eaten 

 both by pheasants and partridges in England, and by turkeys in America. 

 Acorns are given raw or boiled to poultry ; and it is said to be easy to accus- 

 tom horses, cattle, and sheep to eat them. Acorns, roasted and treated like 

 coffee, are said to afford a liquor which closely resembles that beverage ; and 

 when sprouted acorns are treated like malt, they afford a liquor from which a 

 very strong spirit may be distilled. According to Bosc, this is practised in 

 various parts of the north of Europe. The leaves of both species, gathered 

 green, and dried, are said to furnish an excellent winter forage for sheep, goats, 

 deer, &c. The leaves, after they have dropped from the tree, are swept up, 

 and used in gardening as a substitute for tanner's bark, in producing heat by 

 fermentation in hot-houses, pits, &c. 



The Use of the Oak in Landscape has been pointed out by Gilpin with his 

 usual force and effect. " It is a happiness," he says, " to the lovers of the 

 picturesque, that this noble plant is as useful as it is beautiful. From the 

 utility of the oak they derive this advantage, that it is every where found. 

 Many kinds of wood are harder, as box and ebony ; many kinds are tougher, 

 as yew and ash ; but it is supposed that no species of wood, at least no species 

 of timber, is possessed of both these qualities together in so great a degree as 

 the British oak. Almost all arts and manufactures are indebted to it; but 

 in ship-building, and bearing burdens, its elasticity and strength are applied 

 to most advantage. I mention these mechanical uses only because some of its 

 chief beauties are connected with them. Thus, it is not the erect stately tree 

 that is always the most useful in ship-building ; but more often the crooked 

 one, forming short turns and elbows, which the shipwrights and carpenters 

 commonly call knee-timber. This, too, is generally the most picturesque. 

 Nor is it the straight tall stem, the fibres of which run in parallel lines, that 

 is the most useful in bearing burdens ; but that which has its sinews twisted 

 and spirally combined. This, too, is the most picturesque. Trees, under 

 these circumstances, generally take the most pleasing forms. We seldom see 

 the oak, like other trees, take a twisted form from the winds. It generally pre- 

 serves its balance ; which is one of the grand picturesque beauties of every 

 tree. The oak, like other trees, shrinks from the sea air [see p. 195. fig. 1.] : 

 but this indicates no weakness ; for the sea air, like a pestilential disease, 

 attacks the strongest constitutions. A second characteristic of the oak is the 



