PAGES FOR THE. PEOPLE.

TREES AND THEIR USES.-No. IX.

PINE TREES.

Nor many months ago we stood beside one of the pine woods which form so marked a feature of parts of our southern coast. The brighter green of the beech, and the richer foliage of the oak, had retreated inland from the assaults of the blustering wind, and the rough sandy soil had no attractions for more dainty elms and willows. We missed even the common grasses which never grudge to spread their luxurious carpet of verdure over hill and dale alike, and only here and there a little moss twinkled like a green emerald as a chance sunbeam lighted up the old trunk to which it clung. No joyous singing-birds fluttered from twig to twig. All was so still that we could hear the splash of the waves as they fell on the beach below, and the rustling of the winds swaying the boughs and leaflets above seemed to echo the swell and fall of their monotonous cadence.

Standing thus amidst the works of God, we realized with peculiar freshness His power and wisdom in making such wonderful provision for the wants of His creatures. Each climate, nay, each soil has its own peculiar vegetation adapted to the wants of man. The burning desert has its shady palm; the cactus tribe, which inhabit torrid regions and arid soils, are peculiarly succulent, and possess thick skins, capable of resisting the evaporation which would otherwise be caused by the heat of the sun. The thirsty tropics are favoured by refreshing melons and juicy fruits. When we come further north we find the abundant pasturage so needful for cattle, on which the more laborious inhabitants of these regions. depend for sustenance. Even the dreary soil of Iceland furnishes nutritious moss for the reindeer; and above the favourite nooks where other forest trees luxuriate with spreading roots and lofty heads, we find the hardy pines climbing the mountain sides, and clothing them in sombre green.

All pines bear cones, have branched trunks, and pointed leaves, and are hardy evergreens, but there are many different species of the tree. There is the wild pine, or Scotch fir, a hardy long-leafed tree, which grows in the Highlands of Scotland, in Denmark, Norway, and other northern countries of Europe. Its wood is the red or yellow deal, so called from an old Saxon word, daelan, to divide, because its trunks are sawn up into planks. Then there is the swamp pine, which furnishes most of the tar and turpentine in use; and the stone pine, whose seeds furnish a variety at the dessert on the rich man's table. There is also the pinaster, or cluster pine; but we need not enumerate all the species, of which there are seven. Besides these, we have the closely-allied plants of the fir-tribe, including, along with three other species, the

Norway spruce-fir, a very lofty tree sometimes attaining a height of 150 feet, and the Canadian balsam-fir. Again, the common larch claims a close relationship with these.

The uses of this tree are more varied than its species. We have already referred to deal boards made from the Scotch pine, and need not dwell on the uses of the wood further than to remind our readers that, owing to its cheapness, it is the timber most in requisition for common purposes. When we learn the expense of a required article which we have ordered to be made in mahogany or oak, and are deterred from our purchase by the limits of our purse, we are glad to follow the carpenter's suggestion, and have it made of deal. Hence, our common bandboxes are made of thin deal shavings, our floors are boarded with its planks; doors and wainscots, shutters and cupboards are framed of deal, and owe their fictitious claim to be thought of greater value only to the painter's skill. The fisherman urges on his boat with oars which the pine tree supplies. The cottager dines upon the table constructed with its wood, and the loss of deal would be regarded as a far more serious calamity in our English homes than the destruction of all the finest ebony or sandal-wood in the world.

But we are indebted to the pine tribe for more than wood. Who does not know the name and uses of turpentine? It is an oily, resinous juice which may be obtained from all the pines and conebearing trees we have named above, though its properties vary somewhat with the species of the tree from which we procure it. The American, or white turpentine, which chiefly supplies our commerce, is thus collected. A hollow is cut in the tree a few inches from the ground, and the bark removed some inches above. Into this hollow the turpentine flows from March to October, and is transferred as it flows into casks. The juice which flows from the Canadian balsam-fir is very clear. At first about as thick as thin honey, it gradually hardens by exposure to air. It is much valued by opticians for its transparency and power of refraction. On these accounts it is used for cementing together the glasses of the microscope-where two or more glasses are placed in juxta-position -and, by thus filling the interspace between them, preventing any mouldiness from arising to dim their transparency.

When turpentine is distilled, we obtain from it two substancesa volatile oil and a resin. The form of turpentine most familiar to us is its peculiar oil, or spirit of turpentine. This has a peculiar, and, to many, a most unpleasant odour; but with all it is found so useful that few households are without a bottle of this fluid. It is employed in various ways by the physician, who numbers it amongst his list both of internal and external remedies. Its power of dissolving resinous matters brings it under the notice of the painter, who mixes his colours with it, and is thus enabled to spread them in thin films over the required surface, to which they adhere more and more strongly as the turpentine evaporates. We take

this opportunity of reminding our friends that if they have had the misfortune to paint their clothes," by coming into contact with freshly-painted doors, they are indebted to the same solvent property of turpentine for the removal of the stain. It lightens the poor housemaid's labour, for many a spot on cloth and furniture which resists all her rubbing, readily yields to the application of turpentine.

We have not yet exhausted the uses of the pine. A thick liquid, called tar, is procured from the roots and hard wood, or what may be called the waste of fir timber. The process is thus described by Dr. Clarke:-" The situation most favourable is in a forest near to a marsh or bog, because the roots are always most productive in such places. A conical cavity is then made in the ground, and the roots of the fir, together with logs and billets of the same, neatly trussed in a stack of the same conical shape, are let into this cavity. The whole is then covered with turf, to prevent the volatile parts from being dissipated, which, by means of a heavy wooden mallet and wooden stamper, worked separately by two men, is

beaten down, and rendered as firm as possible about the wood. The stack of billets is then kindled, and a slow combustion of the fir takes place, without flame, as in making charcoal. During this combustion the tar exudes, and a cast-iron pan being at the bottom of the funnel, with a spout which projects through the side of the bank, barrels are placed beneath this spout to collect this fluid as it

comes away." The utility of this substance need not be pointed out. We detect it by its well-known scent, which mingles with that of the meadow flowers when our fences are tarred to protect them from the decaying influence of wet; and the sea-breezes are impregnated with it when we linger in the busy dockyard, or watch the nimble sailors and fishermen plying their craft along the coast.

GLASS. No. I.

What

GLASS! surely every one knows about glass. In the window of the poorest cottage some panes are left to show that it was once a framework neatly filled with glass; and fancy, if you can, the effect of the sudden demolition of all the glass at present in use. shivering faces, as people met to tell of the currents of air blowing through their houses-broken skylights giving free passage to the soaking rain-the Sydenham Palace an airy skeleton of ruin -splendid wares hastily snatched in from shop windows by their alarmed proprietors, because the protecting medium was gone, which, while it disclosed them to public admiration, shielded them from the dishonest hand. All ages-all classes would join the general lament, and sing the requiem of glass. The babe would wail for its sucking-bottle, and the maiden sigh for her mirror; the thrifty housewife for the contents of her closet; the bon-vivant for his cherished old port and sherry; the man of science for his useless microscope and telescope; the chemist for his measures and test tubes. Yes! and there are other things which we will only mention just above as whisper, little discoveries that would be made of glass eyes where it was desirable to conceal a deformityor glass jewelry instead of rubies and emeralds, but indeed it would be idle to trace glass through all its ramifications of luxury and convenience of course, we could not do without it. Be thankful, then, good friend, that you happen to have been born far on in the nineteenth century, for there was a time when the world had to do without glass; and, perhaps, as you have a sense of its value, you will be willing to go back with me some 3,000 years, and learn to whom we are indebted for its first discovery. There are strange things told of it. Some say that the Israelites set fire to a forest, and the heat became so intense, that it made the nitre and sand contained in the soil melt and flow along the mountain side, and so discovered at once the new material and the mode of producing it. Others give the credit to a party of pirates, who are said to have learned it on the sea-beach, and, wishing to make their cauldron boil, piled up some vitreous stores and placed on them a quantity of sea-weed and blocks of wood, causing so strong a heat that the stones were softened and ran down on the sand, which, melting and mixing with the alkali from the sea-weed, became a transparent and glassy mass. Very interesting stories these only wanting the recommendation of truth; for modern science has never found that any heat short of that which can be artificially

produced in a well-constructed furnace, will liquify the constituents of glass; and, in the absence of clearer evidence, we are left to infer that the credit of this invention, in common with the baking of bricks and pottery, belongs to Egypt. They are known to have made enamels of various colours which they applied on potteriesmagnificent specimens of which still exist, and are called Egyptian porcelain. Glass beads, and other ornaments in the same material, have been found adorning mummies which are known to be upwards of 3,000 years old. At a later date, Tyre, Sidon, and Alexandria were celebrated for their glass, and furnished the greater proportion of that used at Rome. Egypt, however, still retained its superiority, and the Roman Emperor Aurelius caused them to pay their tribute in that manufacture. At this time it held an equal rank with gold for rarity and costliness. It was not to be supposed, however, that Rome would submit to remain dependent on a conquered nation for so choice a luxury, and we accordingly find glass-making introduced into Italy probably by workmen brought over from Egypt in the time of Cicero. Its manufacture now rapidly spread, and it was employed in the decoration of buildings, but there is no mention of the use of glass for windows till the close of the third century. The substitute was a semitransparent substance called lapis specularis, a fossil of the class of mica, which easily splits into thin plates, and is used, even in the present day, by some lantern-makers in the same manner as horn, and by the Russians even for windows. So fairly does mica perform the two-fold functions of glass-to admit light and exclude cold -that delicate plants were raised under it, and the Emperor Tiberius owed to it the cucumbers which graced his table all the year round.

ANSWER TO SCRIPTURE CHARACTERS.-No. XXIV.

Text.-"The love of Christ constraineth us." (2 Cor. v. 14.)

SCRIPTURE CHARACTERS.-Nos. XXV. and XXVI.

E. E. L.

The following initials will give the name of one of the first officers in Israel, and the last letters of the same will give the name of his father, who was of the tribe of Benjamin, "a mighty man of power:

1. That King of Egypt in whose hand Israel was left through forsaking the Lord.

2. The name of the father of that prophet who refusing to obey the command of the Almighty, met with such punishment as would have ended his life had not the Lord, in a miraculous manner, delivered him therefrom. 3. One of David's mighty men that was slain by the sword of the children of Ammon.

4. One of the cities of Judah that was given to the sons of Aaron.