THE TECHNOLOGIST. [Aug. 1, 1866. 
2 THE GENUS ARAUCARIA. 
the South Pacific Ocean where a ship could supply herself with a mast 
or a yard, were she ever so much distressed for want of one. My 
carpenter, who was a mast-maker as well as shipwright, was of opinion 
that these trees would make exceedingly good masts. The wood is 
white, close grained, tough and light. Turpentine had exuded from 
most of the trunks, and the sun had inspissated it into a resin which 
was found sticking to them and lying about the roots. These trees 
shoot out their branches like all other pines, with this difference, that 
the branches of these are much smaller and shorter, so that the knots 
become nothing when the tree is wrought for use. I took notice that 
the largest of them had the smallest and shortest branches, and were 
crowned, as it were, at the top by a spreading branch like a bush. This 
was what led some on board into the extravagant notion of their being 
basalts, indeed, no one could think of finding such trees here." This 
island was afterwards named by Captain Cook the Isle of Pines. We 
do not know whether at the time we write the particular tree that first 
attracted Captain Cook's attention ninety years since is still standing, but 
in 1850 it was reported to be " in a flourishing condition," and was said 
to exactly resemble " a well-proportioned factory chimney of great 
height." From the peculiarity of the foliage and general habit of 
the Araucarias, and more especially of A. columnaris, it is certainly a 
matter of no wonder that all on board the ' Resolution ' were surprised 
and astonished upon first beholding so novel and beautiful a scene. 
There is, perhaps, no one family of plants more interesting than that to 
which the Araucarias belong (the Coniferce), and it is certain of all the 
timber-trees none have produced so much interest among botanists as 
the Araucarias. And there are many reasons for this, for if we except 
the Mammoth trees of California, the Araucarias take a position among 
the largest and most majestic forest trees. 
To Captain Cook and his fellow-travellers, then, are we indebted for 
the first accurate general account of A. columnaris, though it had been 
previously mentioned by several authors, but under other names. 
The Araucarias, which take their rank as the noblest of all that 
noble family of trees, the Conifers, are now confined to the Southern 
hemisphere ; but there is evidence that would lead us to suppose that 
at one time they held a footing even in our own island. Geologists, 
and notably poor Hugh Miller, speak with confidence of having found 
fossil Araucaria steins. The microscopic structure of the wood corres- 
ponds very closely with that of the recent Araucarias. The remains of 
one found in the lias of Dorsetshire have" been figured and described 
under the name of A. primceva. There are some seven or eight species 
of the genus now known to botanists, and these are natives of Brazil, 
Chili, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island, Australia, &c. Some of them 
have been only recently introduced to our gardens, others have been 
cultivated for many years. A few particulars concerning them may not 
be without interest to the readers of this magazine. The name of the 
