WEYMOUTH PINE. -SPRUCE FIR. 235 
extensive use to mechanics, and in numerous manufac- 
tures ; but the principal demand for it is in ship-build- 
ing, to secure the joints and crevices of the planks and 
timbers, and for other purposes. When mixed with a 
certain quantity of oil and suet, it is made into shoe- 
makers' wax ; and, in conjunction with whale fat, forms 
carriage-grease , or the substance with which the wheels 
of carriages are smeared. The best pitch is imported 
from Sweden and Norway : and, is of a glossy black 
colour, perfectly dry, and very brittle. 
Lamp-black is a soot formed by burning the dregs 
and coarser parts of tar in furnaces constructed for that 
purpose. The smoke is conveyed through tubes into 
boxes, each covered with linen, in the form of a cone. 
Upon this linen the soot is deposited : and it is, from 
time to time, beaten off into the boxes, and afterwards 
packed in barrels for sale. This substance is employed 
in printing and dyeing ; and has its name from the prac- 
tice that was formerly adopted of making it by means 
of lamps. 
247. The WEYMOUTH PINE is chiefly distinguished by 
Us leaves growing' in fives, and its cones being- smooth, cylindrical, 
and longer than the leaves. 
This species of fir-tree grows wild in North America, 
and succeeds well in strong land in England. Its timber 
is white, of more open grain than Scots fir, and not so 
heavy as that. In America it is principally used for 
the masts of ships, for which, by its toughness, it is pe- 
culiarly calculated. 
248. The SPRUCE FIR (Pinus a.bics), a native of Norway, 
and other Northern parts of Europe, is known by its short, and 
Jour-sided leaves growing singly, and surrounding the branches ; Us 
cones being cylindrical, the scales somewhat square, flattened, and 
notched at the top. 
The ivood of the spruce fir is what the English car- 
penters usually denominate while deal. It is considered 
next in value to that obtained from the Scots fir ; and 
