20* ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS. 
Little is yet known respecting the southern limits of 
this species of Oak, though there can be little doubt 
that it continues along the borders of the Mexican Gulf 
to Yucatan. Dr. Burroughs informs me that it is said 
to be found growing on the banks of the Alvarado river, 
about seventy-five miles south of Yera Cruz. I am also 
informed of the existence of the Live Oak near Mata- 
gorda in Texas. 
It is stated in a late Texian paper that an English 
company have recently landed on the Brassos, in the 
neighbourhood of Brazoria, for the purpose of getting 
out Live Oak. They are said to have contracted 
with the English government to deliver two millions 
of cubic feet. The country about Brazoria is loaded 
with enormous trees, some of them casting a shade of 
150 feet in diameter. The Live Oak extends into Texas 
at least one hundred and fifty miles, according to the 
observations of Mr. Caspar Wistar, jr., of Germantown. 
John Lenthall, Esq., United States Naval Constructor, 
has favoured me with the following remarks concerning 
the timber used in the United States Navy. 
The frames and principal pieces are all of Live Oak, 
and the frames of several of our ships that were cut 
from the islands of Georgia and on the coast, thirty 
yeans since, are still in an excellent condition, though in 
some ships, in which the timber was cut inland, the 
result is not so favourable. The weight of a cubic foot 
varies from 73 to 78 pounds. This timber is peculiarly 
adapted to ship building, and is scarcely fit’ for anything 
else, being short and crooked, so that the timbers are 
rarely grain cut. 
The White Oak, used almost exclusively for plank, is 
cut from the seaboard of the middle states, and is equal 
to the best English or foreign timber. The Red Oak is 
never used. The Oak from Canada, is that which has 
