THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



389 



Too orTHr 



fruit of ilio Viirious trees. The ninnbers 

 attached to tlic piiintiiigs correspond to 

 tliosc oil the trunks, so that comparative 

 study is made easy. 



There arc over four liundred specimens 

 of wood in this collection ; in fact, Avith ' 



the exception of about lialf a dozen rare 

 kinds, difficult to obtain, every variety 

 of tree known in North America is here repre- 

 sented. 



Even the superficial examination a casual vis- 

 itor of necessity gives is full of interest. There 

 are nearly fifty varieties of oak— who would have 

 thought BO many existed ? — and nearly as many 

 of pine. Rome of these specimens are magnifi- 

 cent. An elegant trunk of the sugar pine, about 

 " feet in diameter, and fragrant with balsam, 

 oomcs from California ; and from other sections, 

 fine varieties of the useful white, red, yellow and 

 black pine. 



The yew is common along the California coast, 

 but there is one species found only in a little spot 

 in Florida. 



A plank, %^ feet in diameter, of the redwood, 

 one of the California sequoia, enables one to get 

 a little idea of a tree that sometimes grows to the 

 height of 300 or 400 feet, and from 30 to 40 feet 

 in diameter ; and a section of the harh of the 

 California big tree, 13 inches thick, is wonder- 

 fully suggestive. 



"fHrV/oooPjALL 



One specimen of hemlock or Cr presents a 

 most singular appearance, the rough bark being 

 tliickly perforated by woodpeckers. This tree is 

 336 years old. 



An nnpretentions-looking larch, found on the 

 eastern slope of the Cascade Mountains, in Wash- 

 ington, measuring only 17^ inches in diameter, 

 is remarkable for its age of 5G2 years. It Avas the 

 only specimen found in a long time, and was 

 brought to the museum at great expense. 



The black ironwood is the hardest in the col- 

 lection. From the black locust, which possesses 

 a peculiar ringing quality, policemen's clubs are 

 made. The curious-knobbed "toothache-tree," 

 or prickly ash, the peculiar giant cactus, rich 

 ebony, cherry and mahogany woods, and hun- 

 dreds to which we cannot even allude, afford a 

 fruitful field for investigation. 



Not only is the study of such a collection of 

 practical utility to builders, cabinetmakers, etc., 

 but to growers of fruit, and those interested in 

 the culture of ornamental trees. To assist stn- 



