41 



The Common Fig tree (Ficus Carica) is indigenous to Western Asia 

 and the shores of the Mediterranean. In Louisiana the tig tree 

 grows most luxuriantly, and produces fruit of the finest quality. 

 The sap wood is extremely light and tender and of a white color, and 

 is used for makiug whetting instruments, from its facility of receiv- 

 ing and retaining the emery and the oil, that are employed in sharp- 

 ening smiths' tools. The heartwood, which is yellow, loses a great 

 deal of its weight in drying, but by that process it acquires so much 

 strength and elasticity, that the screws of wine presses are made of 

 it. The charcoal has the valuable property of consuming very 

 slowly. The leaves and bark abound in a milky acrid juice, which 

 has been applied to the skin to raise blisters and destroy warts. 

 Medicinally the fruit is considered nutritive and demulcent, and 

 when roasted or boiled, it is sometimes used as a cataplasm applied 

 to gum-boils. The fig tree is said to have the singular faculty of 

 rendering raw meat tender, when hung beneath its shade. 



The Cork-winged Elm (Ulmus Alata) is frequently met with in East 

 Baton Rouge and elsewhere in this State. The wood is fine grained, 

 more compact and heavy than that of the American elm. The heart 

 wood is of a dull chocolate color, and always bears a great propor- 

 tion to the sapwood. It is used for the naves of coach wheels, but 

 it is not particularly appropriated to any other use. 



The White Oak (Quercus Alba) attains under favorable circum- 

 stances a magnificent size. It is highly valued for its timber; its 

 wood being extremely tough, durable, and elastic, is extensively em- 

 ployed in ship building. It is also split into thin strips for making 

 cotton baskets and the bottoms of chairs. The bark has a rough, 

 bitterish, astringent taste. Its medicinal properties depend on the 

 tannin it contains. 



The Black Oak (Quercus Tinctoria) is one of the finest trees of the 

 oak family. Its bark is more bitter than that of any other species 

 of this class, but it is less irequently used for tanning purposes on 

 account of the red color it imparts to the leather. It contains a 

 coloring principle called quercitrine, which is capable of being 

 extracted by boiJing water, and is used to die wool and silk of a 

 brownish yellow color. Medicinally considered oak bark is astrin- 

 gent and tonic. Its decoction is used as a bath when the stomach is 

 so much disordered as to refuse to receive medicines. It is also em- 

 ployed as a poultice in gangrene and mortification. 



