82 



THE BIRCH. 



several feet from each other. Two vertical in- 

 cisions are then made on opposite sides of the 

 tree ; after v^hich a wooden wedge is introduced, 

 by which the bark is easily detached. These 

 plates are usually ten or twelve feet long, and two 

 feet nine inches broad. To form the canoe, they 

 are stitched together with the fibrous roots of the 

 White Spruce. The seams are coated with resin 

 from the Bahn of Gilead. Great use is made of 

 these canoes by the savages and by the French 

 Canadians, in their long journeys into the interior 

 of the country ; they are very light, and are easily 

 carried on the shoulders from one lake or river to 

 another. A canoe calculated for four persons 

 weighs from forty to fifty pounds. Some of them 

 are made to carry fifteen passengers. This species 

 is known as the Paper Birch. The thin white 

 bark of the common Birch, which peels ofi* like 

 paper, is highly infiammable, and will burn like a 

 candle. 



The Birch abounds in a sweet watery sap, which 

 was formerly much valued for its supposed me- 

 dicinal virtues. The method pursued in collecting 

 it is as follows : — About the beginning of March 

 an oblique cut is made, almost as deep as the 

 pith, under some wide-spreading branch, into the 

 which a small stone or chip is inserted, to keep 

 the lips of the wound open. To this orifice a 

 bottle is attached to collect the fiowing juice, 

 which is clear, watery, and sweetish, but retains 

 something both of the taste and odour of the tree. 

 Various receipts are given for the preparation 

 of the wine. That recommended by Evelyn can 

 hardly fail to produce an agreeable beverage. He 

 directs that it should be boiled for an hour, with 



