14 
THE YOUNG SCIENTIST. 
passes take the length of the line a b and 
mark it off on the line just laid down. 
Now take the line a c in the compasses, 
and with a as a centre, strike an arc at 
c. Do the same with the line b c and the 
point at which these arcs cross is the 
point c. Then draw lines between a c and 
b c and the figure is complete. 
In our next issue we will give an en- 
graving showing the method of placing 
these figures so as to form an exact 
square. 
Christmas Decorations. 
BY A. W. ROBERTS. 
^^^^1 0 many are interested in the sub- 
ll^^S ject of Christmas decorations, 
L^^pl both for the home and the 
*~ ' church, that I am sure a few 
hints on the subject will be welcome. In 
the way of material, there is an abund- 
ance to be found in all our woods. There 
is the hemlock, arborvitse, spruce, laurel, 
ink-berry, holly, rhododendron, and the 
junipers and cedars among the trees and 
shrubs. Then comes the three varieties 
of club mosses, or lycopodiums, of which 
the variety known as "Bouquet Green," 
or ground pine, is most useful for small 
work. Then come our berries, catkins, 
and cones, and also the evergreen ferns. 
Next to these it is entirely proper to use 
pressed Autumn leaves and ferns. Also, 
from the garden may be obtained the 
golden and other varieties of the arbor- 
vitses, box, English ivy, and other ever- 
greens, which, by judicious selection and 
trimming, will afford useful material. 
The immense trade in Christmas greens, 
which begins two weeks before the holi- 
days, is one of the most striking features 
of Washington Market. These ever- 
greens are procured from almost every 
part of the United States east of the Alle- 
ghanies. From the vast wilderness ofj 
Maine steamboat loads of Christmas 
trees are delivered at the Boston and 
New York markets. The cedar, lycopo- 
dium, and holly come from New Jersey 
and Pennsylvania; Virginia leads all 
other states on holly, laurel and bay, and 
England and Florida on mistletoe. It 
has become the custom, of late years, 
with English people, to send a living 
branch of mistletoe, as a Christmas 
present, to their friends and relations 
living in " the States." 
When one sees the immense loads of 
Fig. 1. 
Christmas trees that are received at the 
market, he wonders what becomes of 
them, and who purchases them ; and as 
they range in height from four feet to 
twenty-eight, and even thirty, and in 
price from twenty-five cents to $15, he 
becomes still more puzzled. And yet, 
even all these very small and very tall 
trees do not fill the bill, for even to-day, 
as I was obtaining my notes, a gentleman 
wished to obtain a tree forty feet high, 
and was willing to pay a dollar a foot for 
it. This tree was for one of the Brooklyn 
orphan asylums, and was to be hung and 
ornamented with all kinds of toys, pres- 
ents, bon-bons, etc. Next to the trees 
