16 THE TREES AND SHRUBS [LECT. 



a variety of the Turkey Oak, the leaves of which 

 are deciduous. 



Cork was employed by the ancients for many 

 of the same purposes for which it is used at 

 present, as for the soles of sandals for females, 

 both to keep out wet and to make them ap- 

 pear taller. Also for swimming-jackets 111 and for 

 floats. 



But though it was sometimes employed for stop- 

 ping the holes of casks, its application to this ob- 

 ject does not appear to have been common, as pitch, 

 clay, gypsum, and even oil or honey, were used for 

 excluding air from their liquors. Indeed until glass 

 bottles were in use, corks would be rarely wanted 

 for the purposes to which they are mainly applied 

 at the present time. 



The jZfyiloj'js is stated to be the loftiest tree of 

 all, and to be attached to wild, uncultivated spots, 

 producing, according to Theophrastus, the hardest 

 and best timber of any. 



It is probably the species now known as ^^filojjs, 

 the finest and tallest of the Oaks that occur in 

 Greece, and the one which affords the acorns used 

 in dyeing, called Valonia. 



The Latifolia is only described by Pliny as being 

 next in height to the dfytiops, so that it seems 

 difficult to identify it. It is called TrXaTvfyvXXos 

 by Theophrastus : query Qucrcus Tourncfortii Pcrs., 

 which is generally regarded as a synonym of Q. 

 cerris, or the Turkey Oak. 



m Pint, in vita Camilli. 



