282 



NOTICES OF AUTHORS. 



with ash and ehn of the same description), the lat- 

 ter will uniformly turn out the heavier of the two." 



It is certainly the case, that luxmiant growth 

 increases the size of the sap-vessels and cells, but 

 with this increase of size, there is often a propor- 

 tional increase of thickness of the sides of these ves- 

 sels and cells, and a greater than proportional filling 

 up of dense matter, as the alburnum is better ri- 

 pened in autumn, or as the mature wood, espe- 

 cially of hard wood in dry situations, ripens more 

 slowly in the course of years. There is also in many 

 kinds more of close tissue and cellular part, in pro- 

 portion to large sap-vessels, when the tree is grow- 

 ing vigorously than when it is stunted. (See the 

 facts in our notice of Withers, p. 199.) Thence 

 culture does not necessarily render the timber soft- 

 er^ less solid, and more liable to suffer by the ac- 

 tion of the elements. We are really angry with 

 those smooth-tongued rogues who " fool us to the 

 top of our bent." Every artificer who has worked 

 slow grown ash of considerable age, that is, when 

 most of the timber has been deposited after the tree 

 has been seeding strongly, assures us that the tim- 

 ber is very inferior, in all respects, to that of quick- 

 er growth. 



