12 
Beechnut  Oil. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1    January,  1896. 
being  very  characteristic,  and  the  pale,  smooth  bark  affording  a 
pleasing  contrast  to  its  neighbors  in  the  forest,  and  seeming  to  offer 
special  ,  inducements  for  the  carving  of  initials  and  dates,  which  are 
rendered  both  artistic  and  permanent  by  Nature  after  a  few  years' 
time,  and  which  often  remain  legible  for  half  a  century. 
The  power  which  the  beech  possesses  of  holding  the  ground, 
where  climatic  conditions  as  well  as  soil  are  favorable,  is  probably 
due  to  its  deep  shade  hindering  or  preventing  the  growth  of  rivals. 
The  drip  from  its  branches  is  also  said  to  be  more  injurious  to 
plants  than  that  from  other  trees.  It  sometimes  attains  a  height  of 
130  feet,  and  often  prospers  for  several  centuries. 
Beechwood  is  scarcely  suitable  for  carpentry,  as  it  does  not  resist 
either  moisture  or  atmospheric  changes,  but  it  is  used  largely  in 
cabinet-making,  and  for  a  variety  of  minor  purposes.  Beechwood 
is  very  good  fuel,  and  for  making  charcoal  it  is  said  to  be  sur- 
passed only  by  willow.  In  the  destructive  distillation  of  wood,  creo- 
sote is  one  of  the  products,  and  that  prepared  from  beechwood  is 
given  preference  by  pharmaceutical  and  medical  authorities. 
The  inflorescence  of  the  beech  is  of  two  kinds  ;  the  sterile  flowers 
are  capitate,  clustered  on  drooping  peduncles  with  deciduous  scale- 
like bracts.  The  fertile  flowers  are  usually  in  pairs  at  the  apex  of  a 
short  peduncle  invested  by  numerous  awl-shaped  bractlets.  The 
blossoms  appear  in  April  or  May,  with  the  first  leaves,  and  are  often 
injured  by  the  late  frosts ;  this  accounts  for  the  fact  that  the  tree 
only  bears  a  full  crop  of  fruit  at  irregular  intervals.  The  leaves  are 
oblong-ovate,  taper-pointed,  distinctly  and  often  coarsely  toothed, 
and  in  some  districts  in  continental  Europe  are  gathered  before  they 
are  injured  by  the  frost,  and  used  for  the  purpose  of  filling  mat- 
tresses, being  far  superior  to  straw  or  chaff  in  this  respect.  The 
fruit  is  very  distinctive  in  appearance,  being  a  sharply  three-sided 
nut,  pyramidal  in  shape,  pointed  at  the  apex  and  flattened  somewhat 
at  the  base.  The  involucre  is  prickly,  coriaceous  and  splits  into  four 
valves,  which  release  the  enclosed  nutlets,  usually  two  in  number. 
Michaux6  states  emphatically  that  there  are  two  distinct  species 
of  beech  in  North  America,  and  the  following  passages  are  taken 
from  his  article  on  the  beech  trees,  in  the  hope  that  it  will  be  of  in- 
terest to  persons  not  having  access  to  his  admirable  work: 
6  1819,  North  American  Sylva,  Vol.  Ill,  page  18. 
