306 
CORK  AND  ITS  USES. 
tion,  and  the  demand  of  late  years  has  almost  exceeded  the 
supply.  The  annual  quantity  imported  into  this  country  ave- 
rages about  5000  tons. 
Of  the  early  history  of  cork,  it  is  very  clear  that  it  was  well 
known  and  in  use  amongst  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  Theo- 
phrastus  distinctly  alludes  to  the  fact,  now  so  well  known,  that 
the  continual  barking  of  the  trees  tends  to  improve  the  quality 
of  the  cork.  With  the  Greeks  it  was  called  "Phenos,"  while 
the  Romans  knew  it  by  its  present  specific  name  of  "  Suber." 
Though  cork  was  probably  used  in  very  remote  times  for  similar 
purposes  to  those  of  the  present  day — that  of  stoppers  for  bot- 
tles amongst  the  rest — this,  however,  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
its  common  or  general  use,  inasmuch  as  we  find  that  vessels  of 
that  period  were  frequently  closed  by  earth,  clay,  and  other 
similar  substances.  Stoppers  of  cork,  or  "  corks,"  as  we  now 
call  them,  appear  not  to  have  been  generally  introduced  till  some 
time  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century ;  from  that  pe- 
riod, however,  its  use  has  been  getting  more  and  more  universal 
in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
Before  the  introduction  of  cork,  or  its  general  adoption  for 
bottle-stoppers,  various  articles  were  resorted  to  for  this  purpose. 
We  are  told  that  apothecaries  secured  the  contents  of  their  phials 
with  stoppers  made  of  wax,  which  must  have  been  a  somewhat 
tedious  process.  But  even  in  our  "own  day,  a  similar  custom 
prevails  in  many  parts  of  Europe  ;  for  with  many  of  the  Italians 
and  Neapolitans,  for  instance,  the  practice  of  securing  their 
wines,  by  pouring  oil  into  the  mouth  of  the  bottle  before  tying 
it  down  with  skin,  is  still  very  prevalent. 
Before  entering  into  the  uses  of  cork,  however,  let  us  pay  a 
short  visit  to  the  forests  from  whence  it  is  obtained,  and  trace 
its  progress  from  its  natural  position  to  that  of  its  ultimate  ap- 
plication. 
Cork,  as  we  all  know,  is  the  bark  of  a  tree,  though  com- 
mercially miscalled  u  corkwood."  It  is  produced  by  two  species 
of  oak,  Quercus  suber,  L.,  and  Querciu  occidentalism  hence  called 
the  "  cork-oaks."  These  trees  grow  abundantly  in  large  forests 
in  Spain,  Italy,  the  South  of  France,  and  Northern  Africa,  the 
latter  species  being  found  alone  on  the  Atlantic  side.  This 
