124 



SYLVA BRITANNICA. 



THE MAPLE. 



Acerque coloribus impar. 



The maple, stain'd with various hues." 



Ovid. 



The small or common Maple is very inferior in 

 size to the Sycamore, or greater Maple ; but the 

 timber is much more valuable ; and is held in the 

 highest estimation by turners and cabinet-makers, 

 on account of the exquisite beauty of veining which 

 it frequently presents. The wood of the Maple is 

 also much prized for musical instruments, on account 

 of its lightness ; and the tree itself yields a sap which 

 upon evaporation will leave sugar as perfect in qua- 

 lity as that of the cane, though inferior in point of 

 quantity. The ancients held the Maple in the great- 

 est esteem ; and tables inlaid with curious portions 

 of it, or formed entirely of its wood when finely 

 variegated, fetched prices which, even to the manu- 

 facturers of the buhl furniture of modern times, would 



