24 SYLVA FLORIFERA. 



but not where massy pieces of timber are re- 

 quired, on account of its weight. It resists 

 the intemperature of the air more than any 

 wood kpown in that country, and therefore is 

 much used for outer gates, poles, &c. In 

 some of the old palaces at Venice there are 

 beams of larch as sound as when placed. 

 Mons. le President de la Tour d' Aigues says, in 

 1787, " I have in my castle of Tour d' Aigues 

 beams of twenty inches square, which are 

 sound, though upwards of two hundred years 

 old." 



We are assured that when used for hop- 

 poles, one set of these would outlast two or 

 three sets of ash ; and as it will bear so great 

 a weight, it is particularly adapted for the 

 supporting the roofs in mines, &c. 



There is not a branch or twig of the larch, 

 says Dr. Anderson, that may not be put to 

 some useful purpose. The larger branches 

 may be employed in fencing, and the smaller 

 brush for filling drains, and for fuel. In 

 drains it is more durable than any other 

 wood ; and though the timber will not rea- 

 dily burn, yet the brush is found to make a 

 fire almost equal to the billets of many other 

 trees. The Italians use it for picture-frames, 

 because no other wood gives gilding such 

 force, brightness, and, as it were, a sort of 



