Am.  Jour.  Pbarm.\ 
January,  1896.  j 
Beechnut  Oil. 
13 
In  North  America  and  in  Europe  the  beech  is  one  of  the  tallest  and  most 
majestic  trees  of  the  forest.  Two  species  are  found  in  Canada  and  the  United 
States,  which  have  hitherto  been  treated  by  botanists  as  varieties;  but  my  own 
observations  confirm  the  opinions  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Northern  States, 
who  have  long  considered  them  as  distinct  species,  and  give  them  the  names  of 
white  beech  and  red  beech  from  the  color  of  the  wood.  In  the  Middle,  Western 
and  Southern  States  the  red  beech  does  not  exist,  or  is  very  rare,  and  the  other 
species  is  known  only  under  the  generic  name  of  beech.  White  beech  is  common 
in  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and  the  country  east  of  the  mountains.  It  is  insu- 
lated in  the  forests  instead  of  comprising  large  masses.  The  heart- wood  in  this 
species  bears  only  a  small  proportion  to  the  sap-wood,  and  frequently  occupies 
only  3  inches  in  a  trunk  18  inches  in  diameter.  On  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  and 
in  some  parts  of  Kentucky,  where  the  oak  is  too  rare  to  afford  bark  enough  for 
tanning,  the  deficiency  is  supplied  by  the  beech  ;  the  leather  made  with  it  is 
white  and  serviceable,  though  avowedly  inferior  to  that  prepared  from  oak 
bark. 
The  red  beech  is  almost  exclusively  confined  to  the  northeastern  part  of  the 
United  States.  In  Maine,  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont  it  is  so  abundant  as 
often  to  constitute  extensive  forests.  The  name  is  derived  from  the  color  of 
the  wood,  and  not  of  the  leaves.  It  equals  the  white  beech  in  diameter,  but  not 
in  height,  as  it  ramifies  nearer  the  earth,  and  is  more  numerously  divided.  The 
leaves  are  slightly  larger  and  thicker,  and  have  longer  points.  The  fruit  is  of 
the  same  shape,  but  only  half  the  size  of  the  white  beech  fruit.  A  more  im- 
portant difference  exists  in  the  wood  ;  a  red  beech  15  to  18  inches  in  diameter 
consists  of  from  13  to  14  inches  of  heart,  the  inverse  of  which  is  found  in  the 
white  beech. 
The  fruit;  or  "  mast,"  as  it  is  collectively  termed,  was  formerly 
known  in  Great  Britain  as  buck,  and  Buckingham  County,  England, 
is  named  from  its  fame  as  a  beech-growing  country;  buckwheat 
also  derives  its  name  from  the  resemblance  of  its  angular  seeds  to 
the  fruit  of  the  beech  tree. 
Beechmast  is  eagerly  sought  for  as  food  by  pheasants,  deer  and 
other  wild  animals ;  in  late  autumn,  when  the  ground  lies  thickly 
covered  with  it,  pigs  and  turkeys  are  allowed  to  run  wild  and  fatten 
upon  the  mast ;  the  flesh  of  domestic  turkeys  allowed  to  forage  in 
this  manner  is  said  to  closely  resemble  wild  turkey  in  flavor.  The 
kernels,  when  dried  and  ground  into  meal,  yield  a  flour  of  which 
wholesome  bread,  can  be  baked  ;  when  roasted,  they  form  a  tolerable 
substitute  for  coffee.7 
A  clear,  yellow,  inodorous  oil  is  expressed  from  the  mast ;  the 
percentage  yielded  seems  to  have  been  confused,  by  some  authorities, 
with  the  percentage  existing  in  the  fruit,  and  the  variation  in  the 
1876,  Waste  Products  and  Undeveloped  Substances.    P.  h.  Simmonds. 
