Dauphiné, and in the forest of Baye, in Provence, which two men could not grasp.

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Of the qualities of the larch wood we have so much to add to what we have already stated, that should any one read our account who has plantations of this timber, and is not yet acquainted with its valuable properties, he will naturally seem to increase in riches as he proceeds from line to line.

Dr. Anderson says it is possessed of so many valuable qualities, that to enumerate the whole would appear extravagant hyperbole.

We have already noticed what the ancients have said of this timber's resisting the flames; in addition to which Mr. Hart observes, that there is perhaps no instance of the cottages in Carniola being set on fire, although their roofs are covered with boards of this wood, and they are so careless as to throw flaming firebrands on them. Matthiolus notices the incombustibility of this wood; but says, unwilling as it is to take fire, yet it is nowise difficult to burn it in kilns, glass-houses, and furnaces belonging to iron-works, when once the inside of these receptacles is rendered intensely hot. Such is the practice in the iron-works of Stiria and the bishopric of

Trent, where this wood is of singular use, when there is heat sufficiently fierce and strong to penetrate it forcibly.

It is known that the larch timber will resist water in a still stronger degree than it is able to endure the fire, as when employed under water, it remains almost to eternity without rotting. The piles of this timber on which the houses of Venice were built many hundred years ago, are still found as fresh as when first put in. Stakes of it have been tried in the decoys of Lincolnshire, which, between wind and water, have already worn out two or three sets of oak stakes, and do not yet discover any symptoms of decay.

Dr. Pallas, in his survey of the Russian dominions in Asia, observed several tumuli in Kamtschatka, reared at a period so remote, that none of the present inhabitants had any tradition respecting their origin. The platform was covered by larch wood, over which the mound of earth was raised; and the wood was found to be uncorrupted.

It is said that planks of larch are superior to those of oak for many purposes in shipbuilding. At Archangel, ships of the line are built of this timber; and at Venice it is also employed in naval architecture, especially in the lighter parts of the upper works,

but not where massy pieces of timber are required, on account of its weight. It resists the intemperature of the air more than any wood known in that country, and therefore is much used for outer gates, poles, &c. In some of the old palaces at Venice there are beams of larch as sound as when placed. Mons. le President de la Tour d'Aigues says, in 1787, "I I have in my castle of Tour d'Aigues beams of twenty inches square, which are sound, though upwards of two hundred years old."

We are assured that when used for hoppoles, one set of these would outlast two or three sets of ash; and as it will bear so great a weight, it is particularly adapted for the supporting the roofs in mines, &c.

There is not a branch or twig of the larch, says Dr. Anderson, that may not be put to some useful purpose. The larger branches may be employed in fencing, and the smaller brush for filling drains, and for fuel. In drains it is more durable than any other wood; and though the timber will not readily burn, yet the brush is found to make a fire almost equal to the billets of many other The Italians use it for picture-frames, because no other wood gives gilding such force, brightness, and, as it were, a sort of

trees.

natural burnish; and this is said to be the grand secret why their gilding on wood is so much better than ours.

On account of its bitter nature worms will not attack it, and it is not subject to warp like most other panels of wood; and, being extremely solid, it admits of a fine polish or smooth firmness, and is therefore particularly adapted for artists to paint on, as it throws forth the colouring better than any other wood. It is the wood which the incomparable Raphael chose to bear the strokes of his pencil, and his celebrated picture of the Transfiguration was painted on panels of this timber; and let us hope that we have British Raphaels growing up with our British larches, who will, by their enchanting art, show us that they can metamorphose this wood into beautiful figures, as easily as Ovid transformed the sisters of Phaeton into these trees.

The artist not only finds his palette and panel in the larch, but this tree also bleeds freely to furnish him with turpentine and varnish for his paint, and lends its assistance also in furnishing a material for the frame.

It is the larch which produces the turpentine known by the name of Venetian turpentine, which is obtained by making incisions in the trunk of the tree, at about three feet

from the ground: narrow troughs of about twenty inches long are fixed in the incisions, to convey this liquid into receivers below. The principal season for collecting this resinous juice is from the end of May to September. As our larch-trees become aged, we may fairly calculate on saving much money to the country by using turpentine extracted from our own woods. It is only after the tree has attained the thickness of ten or twelve inches in diameter, that it is thought worth while to collect the turpentine; and from that time, during 40 or 50 years, if it continue in vigorous growth, the tree will continue to yield annually from seven to eight pounds of turpentine.

Martyn calculates that an English acre will contain 682 trees, at the distance of eight feet from each other. Suppose the annual produce to be six pounds a tree, on an average, and the price to be no more than two-pence the pound, the value of the produce would be 31. 4s. 2d. the acre.

It was from old larch-trees that the ancients gathered the agarick, so celebrated by their medical writers; but this fungous substance is now fallen into total disuse as a medicine in this country, though it is still used in northern countries as an emetic in intermitting fevers.