236 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



The bark is used in tanning hides. The wood is much employed by 

 the carpenters in building. 



I observed, says Mr. Hawkins, on Cyllene, Taygetus, and the 

 mountains of Thasos, a sort of fir, which, although called Trtvxo? by 

 the inhabitants, and much resembling the Ttimog of the lower regions, 

 differed from it in these particulars ; the foliage was much darker, 

 and the growth of the tree much more regular and straight. The 

 very elevated regions on which it grew leads me to suspect it must 

 be different from the common irlvKog. 



2. " Pinus Pinea, KovKowupta, trlrvg of the ancients. This tree and the 

 P. Maritima afford timber for the construction of ships, the ribs, 

 keel, and beams being made of the Kermes oak, and the Ilex. These 

 two firs grow generally, and certainly best in sandy soils ; the Pinus 

 Maritima, or true wsuxog of the neo-Greeks, abounds in Attica, where 

 the soil is either rocky or loamy ; but never here attains the same 

 bulk, as it does in the forests of Elis, where trees may be seen fit for 

 the largest ships of war, and where the soil is every where sandy. The 

 timber of these two sorts of fir is much harder and tougher than 

 that of our northern firs, and consequently more lasting. The seeds 

 of the stone pine are collected still with great industry in Elis, and 

 form an object of exportation to Zante and Cephallonia, and other 

 places." From Mr. Hawkins. 



3. Quercus iEgilops, Aptfc, Kouirdxi. The prickly cups of the fruit 

 of this tree are of importance in the tanning of leather, as an 

 astringent, and for the purposes of dyeing. They must be gathered 



Notes by the Editor. 



2. The virus and ireuxrj are both mentioned by Plutarch, Symp. lib. v. 3. 2. as proper 

 for ship building. The Pinus Pinea is still used for that purpose at Sinope and in other 

 parts of the Turkish empire. The tree is common in the maritime districts of Asia 

 Minor and Syria. u The -irhus" says Coray, " is now called xoxxwvxpia, from the fruit 

 xoxxuvxpwv, anciently called (TTpo'/3iAov ;" xoxxwvr) also was an ancient name. The kernels 

 of the stone pine are brought to table in Turkey; they are very common in the kitchens 

 of Aleppo." — Russell. 



3. The luylho><\> of Theophrastus, Hist. iii. 0. Sprengel. ** The small Velani," says 

 Tournefort, Lett. viii. " are the young fruit gathered off the tree, more valued than those 

 full ripe, that fall of themselves." 



