326 POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



The Myrrh sweet bleeding in the bitter wound, 



The warlike Beech, the Ash for nothing ill, 



The fruitful Olive, and the Plantain round, 



The carver Holm, the Maple seldom inward sound." 



In attempting to give the history of woods used in the 

 construction of buildings,, ships, and furniture, many diffi- 

 culties arise, owing to the profound ignorance which pre- 

 vails amongst all classes respecting the origin of the greater 

 number of the woods of commerce. The varieties brought 

 to this country are so numerous that their names alone 

 would form an extensive catalogue ; but even in that form 

 we have no really reliable work of reference except the Illus- 

 trated Catalogue of the Great Exhibition, in which we find 

 the admirably classified lists of Mr. W. W. Saunders and 

 Messrs. Fauntleroy and Sons ; the former is the most valu- 

 able ever yet formed. Besides these we have a small but 

 very useful treatise by Mr. Charles Holtzapffel, with botani- 

 cal notes by Dr. Royle ; these are the only practical papers 

 we can refer to upon a subject of such vast importance, and 

 the limits of a single chapter will only admit of a small 

 selection being made. Those selected are arranged accord- 

 ing to country in five divisions, European, Asiatic, African, 

 American, and Australian, and will comprise those only 



