230 



that's it; 



coming more distinct, sharp, and 

 pointed, as they grow older ; they 

 are of a yellowish green, smooth, 

 shining, and remain on the tree 

 for five or six years. The male 

 catkins are yellowish and nume- 

 rous. The female catkins are 

 numerous, and of a roundish 

 oblong form. The cones, or nuts, 

 3, are from one inch to one and 

 a half in diameter, sessile, and 

 generally produced in pairs, on 

 the sides or at the extremities of 

 the branches. 



The wood of the cypress was much used by 

 the ancients for all purposes which required 

 durability ; whatever they thought worthy of 

 being handed down to the most remote posterity 

 was preserved in the wood of that tree, or of 

 the cedar. But it is now chiefly regarded as 

 ornamental. Like other trees of narrow 

 conical forms, such as the Lombardy poplar, or 

 even the spruce yew, and the larch, the 

 cypress is not calculated to produce a grand 

 effect when planted in masses; but in rows, 

 singly, or in the midst of a group of trees of 

 other shapes, for the purpose of breaking the 

 outline formed by round-headed low trees or 

 shrubs, the cypress is particularly suitable.* 



Of all timber, that of the cypress is supposed 

 to be the most durable, superior even to that of 

 the cedar itself. The doors of St. Peter's 

 Church, at Rome, which had been formed of 

 this material in the time of Constantine, showed 

 no sign of decay when, after the lapse of eleven 

 hundred years, Pope Eugenius IV. took them 

 down to replace them with gates of brass. In 

 order to preserve the remains of their heroes, 

 the Athenians buried them in coffins of cypress ; 

 and the chests or coffins in which the Egyptian 

 mummies are found are usually of the same 

 material. Cypress is a handsome timber; 

 though hard, it is elastic, and therefore is 

 suitable for musical instruments. For furni- 

 ture it would be equal even to mahogany ; for 

 though not so beautiful in its colour, it is 

 stronger, resists the worm equally, and its 

 odour repels insects. For building there is no 

 timber superior to it, as it lasts almost as long 

 as stone. The cypress is reported to live to a 

 very great age ; and though the precise period 

 has not been ascertained, the fact of its being 

 planted over the graves of the dead, and carried 

 in funeral processions as an emblem of immor- 

 tality, is a proof that its duration must be very 

 consider able, t 



The spruce fir, 1, is generally 

 esteemed a more beautiful and 

 elegant tree than the Scotch fir. 



* Loudon's Trees and Shrubs. 

 \ lwhiud'a Vegetable Ki-^d .to. 



But, in reality, the picturesque- 

 ness of these trees is greatly 

 enhanced by contrast. The Scotch 

 fir raises its tall stem high into 

 the air, and at its summit throws 

 out broad branches of foliage. 



616. 



The spruce fir, on the contrary, 

 feathers the ground with its 

 foliage, and repeats the feathery 

 strata, tier upon tier, in regular 

 order, from the bottom of the 

 tree to the top. 



617. 



The Norway spruce fir has 

 scattered quadrangular leaves, 2, 

 with cylindrical cones, 3, hang- 

 ing from the extremities of the 



