[44] 



than that of the common oak, and it's more easily split. Thus it's preferable for slats, wood 

 flooring, furniture, and various other kinds of carpentry. Both species grow to a great 

 height and their trunks become enormously large, although that depends on the soil in 

 which they grow. The common oak prefers slightly gravelly soil; the other one likes 

 kink v. nil s. ikplh 



Since the two species often have been mistaken for one another, and consistently 

 still are, the following properties can apply to either of them. 



FLOWERS: in May and June. 



RANGE: France and part of Europe. 



NOMENCLATURE. In Celtic the tree is called derw, from which the name 

 Divides, or priests of the oak tree, seems to have originated. Greek, drys. German, die 

 eiche, eecke, steineiche. Dutch, eik. Danish, eeg. English, the oak. Italian, quercia, 

 rovero. Spanish, roble, carballo. Russian, dub. Hungarian, toly-fa. Tartar, eman. Turkish, 

 mesche. Kalmuk, chara-modou. 



USES. Acoms over time have been used for food. They were resorted to during the 

 famine of 1709 [Translator's note: the winter in Europe was extremely cold that year; 

 crops failed and many lives were lost]. But historians report that as food they caused 

 serious complications. There also have been attempts to use them medicinally, especially 

 for recurrent fevers and for consumption, but apparently the results were unsatisfactory. 

 Aqueous decoctions or powders of oak bark are administered in doses of an eighth of an 

 ounce in preserves or in honey. The decoction is prepared by boiling an ounce of the 

 m.ikii.il in .iK>ui .1 pini ••! 



Several kinds of animals, such as pigs, sheep, and wild animals eat acorns and 

 derive nourishment from them during part of the winter. 



During my visit to England, I noticed that they made a great case for the English 

 oak, and they considered its wood to be superior to that of all the European oaks. This 

 preference is simply a result of their national prejudice for everything English. However, 

 their view is not entirely groundless, 



