100 



THE YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



poison," hence the name, but it is very 

 dangerous to tamper with, for a small 

 quantity inadvertently partaken of 

 will produce intoxication, delirium, and 

 death ; and yet there is clear evidence 

 that it is eaten with impunity in 

 Eussia, and the omnivorous slugs 

 devour it readily enough. 



In Spring the ascending sap of the 

 birch contains a considerable amount 

 of saccharine matter analogous to the 

 juice of the sugar maple. In remote 

 rural districts the trees are tapped and 

 a refreshing beverage is furnished by 

 the fresh fluid, whilst a vinous or vine- 

 gary liquor is made from the fermented 

 juice. In these days of cheap sugar 

 the practice is now almost, if not en- 

 tirely obsolete; but there is not a 

 schoolboy in Scotland but knows how 

 to tap the silver birch with his knife, 

 and applying his lips to the orifice, 

 sucks the luscious juice ; if it flows 

 freshly he knows for certain that spring 

 is come. The young growing twigs 

 and freshly expanded leaves of the 

 birch are covered with minute glands 

 containing an essential oil of a resinous 

 aromatic character, which exhales an 

 exquisite fragrance, especially when 

 wet with dew or rain, as Burns sings : 



" Down by yon burn, where scented birks 

 Wi' dew are hanging clear my jo." 

 In early summer the rural cottagers in 

 Scotland adorn the fireplaces in the 

 " ben " end of their dwellings with the 

 odoriferous branches of the birch. 



Doubtless this attractive secretion 

 helps to account for the immense num- 

 ber and variety of the insect inhabit- 

 ants, which either feed entirely on or 

 may be found in the vicinity of the 

 birch, and which is shown by Mr. 

 Mosley^s extensive list. 



The young outer bark of the birch 

 is usually white, and always flaky, 

 readily peeling off in large sheets. But 

 in old trees, especially at the base of 

 the trunk, it becomes thick, corky, and 

 furrowed. The wide prevalence of 

 birch-forests in this country in former 

 times is shown by the large quantity 

 of the debris of this tree found in the 

 peat mosses. And as showing the 

 preservative character of the tannin 

 principle contained in the bark, it is 

 often met with entire and uninjured 

 whilst the woody part of the trunk has 

 completely decayed and disappeared. 

 Its combustible qualities adds largely 

 to the value of peat as a fuel, and the 

 inflammable nature of the fresh wood 

 is noted in the old Scotch couplet : — 



" Birk will burn, though it's trailed through 

 the burn ; 



Saugh will sing, though its summer won." 

 It is also sometimes called candlewood. 

 In North America canoes were often 

 made by the aborigines of the bark, of 

 a species of birch (B, papi/racea) and 

 so light and strong were they that one 

 capable of floating four persons only 

 weighed fifty pounds. At the present 

 day it is often used like paper-hangings 



