THE BOX. 



167 



largest natural Box-woods in Europe, is almost 

 entirely inhabited by turners, who make snuff- 

 boxes, rosary beads, forks, spoons, buttons, and 

 numerous other articles. The wood of some roots 

 is more beautifully marked, or veined, than that 

 of others, and the articles manufactured vary in 

 price accordingly. The wood of the trunk is 

 rarely found of sufficient size for blocks in France ; 

 and when it is, it is so dear, that the entire trunk 

 of a tree is seldom sold at once, but a few feet 

 are disposed of at a time, which are cut off the 

 living tree as they are wanted. Boxes, &c., formed 

 of the trunk are easily distinguished from those 

 made of the root, the former always displaying 

 a beautiful and very regular star, which is never 

 the case with the latter."* 



Box is the hardest and heaviest of all European 

 woods, the only one among them that will sink in 

 water, or that is sold by weight. By far the most 

 important use to which Box-w^ood is applied is as 

 a material for wood-engraving, an art which has 

 now attained such perfection, and is in such great 

 request for the illustration of books, that it may 

 not be uninteresting if I here introduce a short 

 sketch of its history. 



A method of multiplying copies of a pattern 

 by means of a stamp was known to the ancient 

 Babylonians, as may be proved by an examination 

 of some bricks brought from the site of the city 

 of Babylon, and preserved in the British Museum. 

 These bear in them characters evidently produced 

 by pressure from a wooden block while the clay was 

 in a soft state. At a later period, the Chinese and 



* Loudon. 



