324 DICTIOKARY OF POPULAR NAMES PINE 



tion being no doubt due to the antiseptic nature of tlie peat and 

 the resin they contain ; they are used for various purposes, but 

 chiefly split up into laths, which are fixed in a slanting position 

 by the fireplace, and being lighted at the upper end, burn with 

 a steady flame, giving light to the room ; this use is especially 

 noticed by Sir Walter Scott in the story, Candles and Candle- 

 sticks, related in his novel, The Legend of Montrose, The next 

 important European Pines are the Cluster Pine (Pinus Finasier), 

 Sea Pine (P. maritima), and Stone Pine (P. Pinea), natives 

 chiefly of the South of Europe, in favourable situations becoming 

 large trees. On the sea-coast they are low and bushy, and aie 

 extensively planted on the west coast of Ireland, Normandy, and 

 other places, for fixing the sands. The seeds of the latter are 

 large and nutty, and where abundant are used as food. Corsican 

 Pine (P. Laricio), native of Corsica and Southern Europe, mostly 

 a fast-growing tall tree, in general appearance resembling the 

 Scotch Pine. It was introduced into Kew about 1815 by the 

 late celebrated botanist Pi,. A. Salisbury, who, on return from an 

 excursion in the South of Europe, brought a small plant of it in 

 his carriage ; it is now 70 to 80 feet high, the tallest tree in 

 Kew Gardens. Of the nine or ten species native of the United 

 States and Canada, two of the most important are the Pitch 

 Pine (P. mtstralis) and Frankincense Pine (P. Tccda), so named 

 from the quantity of resinous fluid they contain, w^hich is con- 

 verted into turpentine, tar, and pitch. They are both natives of 

 the Southern States. P. australis is extremely common, cover- 

 ing vast tracts, growing by roadsides, and occui">ying w^aste 

 cotton-fields ; it and the Scotch Pine yield the greatest quantity 

 of tar and turpentine of commerce. In California and North- 

 West America the species of Pinus are generally large trees, 

 such as P. Lamlertiana, P. maerocarpa, by some called Coidteri 

 and P. ponderosa, some attaining a height of from 100 to even 

 300 feet; their timber forms an important article of trade in 

 these countries, and steam saw-mills have been erected in the 

 forests for converting them into what is termed lumber, and 

 since the settlement of the white man in some localities whole 



