VIII.] 
BRITISH OAK. 
47 
largest proportion of useful wood, are most in request 
for the general purposes of the architect and en¬ 
gineer, but they are also fully appreciated by ship¬ 
builders, who employ them for beams, waterways, 
keelsons, &c. 
Oak timber of the gnarled description, and having 
some figure in the grain, is in request for articles of 
furniture ; and even when in a state of decay, or in its 
worst stage of “ foxiness,” the cabinet-maker prizes it for 
its deep-red colour, and works it up in a variety of 
ways. 
The economical uses of Oak timber, and especially 
the English varieties of it, are, on account of its many 
valuable properties and freedom from excessive weight 
—the specific gravity being only about ’730 to *900—so 
extensive that it would be impossible to enumerate the 
many useful purposes to which it is applied, while in wood 
ship-building it is invaluable, and, indeed, almost indis¬ 
pensable, as it is flexible enough to bear bending to the 
most curved and difficult parts in a ship’s construction, 
without breaking. 
The wood is light-brown in colour, hard, tough, and 
very strong ; it does not splinter readily, and its solidity 
of character is such that it resists well the action of 
water. In seasoning it is apt to warp and shrink, 
although not to any considerable extent; consequently 
it cannot be used in a partially dried state without in¬ 
curring some risk to the stability of the work ; but when 
once its moisture is completely evaporated, few woods 
are liable to so little change, particularly when employed 
in situations where it is protected from the influence of 
moisture or draught. If subjected to alternations of 
wet and dry, it withstands the change better than most 
