OAK TIMBER. 



39 



best timber that is known. Other timber may 

 be harder ; some more difficult to bend ; and 

 other sorts less liable to be broken across ; but 

 none contains all the three qualities in such 

 equal proportions as the oak. As its growth 

 is extremely slow^ so the period is long^ in- 

 deed, which reduces the wood itself to decay. 

 It bears the changing seasons better, and re- 

 mains longer undecayed in the ground, than 

 any other. But the bark of the oak is an 

 article now of almost as much importance as 

 the timber. When steeped, by a proper pro- 

 cess, in pits, with the hides of animals, it has 

 a chemical property, which changes those raw 

 and unpleasant skins into the smooth, durable 

 commodity called leather; and, though there 

 are some few other trees whose barks have 

 the same power, in a slight degree, oak bark 

 alone is really serviceable to that end. When 



