chap. cv.

coiiyla'ceje. que'iicus.

1725

by Caesar (Bell. Gall., vi.) as requiring sixty (lays to traverse it; anil the re-mains of it are supposed by some to constitute the forest on the mountains ofthe Hartz ; and by others, to be the Black Forest of the Tyrol.

The beautiful fiction of the Hamadryads is frequently referred to by theGreek poets. The Hamadryads were nymphs, each of whom was

“ Doom’d to a life coeval with her oak.” Pindar.

Callimachus, in the Hymn to Delos (v. 80.), represents Melie as “ sighingdeeply for her parent oak;” and adds,—

“ Joy fills her breast when showers refresh the spray :

Sadly she grieves when autumn’s leaves decay.”

In Apollonius Rhodius, book ii., we find one of the Hamadryads imploring awoodman to spare the oak to which her existence was attached : —

“ Loud through the air resounds the woodman’s stroke,

When, lo! a voice breaks from the groaning oak.

* Spare, spare my life ! a trembling virgin spare!

Oil, listen to the Hamadryad’s prayer!

No longer let that fearful axe resound ;

Preserve the tree to which my life is bound !

See, from the bark my blood in torrents flows,

I faint, I sink, I perish from your blows.’ ”

Among the Celtic nations, the god Teut was worshipped under the formof an oak, or, according to others, Tarnawa, the god of thunder ; but theselegends, together with the superstitions of the druids, belong rather to theBritish oak, than to the genus generally.

Properties and Uses. The wood of most of the species of oaks is, compara-tively with that of other trees, hard, compact, heavy, tough, and durable; and, inmost, the entire plant, and more especially the bark, leaves, and fruit, aboundin astringent matter, and in tannin. The wood of the larger-growing Eu-ropean kinds, and more especially of the group iiobur, is considered superiorto all other European or American woods for ship-building. The wood of Q.alba, and that of <2. virens, are most esteemed for the same object in America.The wood of the group Cerris is also employed in ship-building in Turkey andGreece; more especially, as Olivier informs us, at Constantinople. The woodof the group /'lex is very heavy, hard, compact, and durable, and fit forvarious uses in mechanics and joinery. In America, the wood of Q. obtusiloba,the post oak, is considered as one of the best kinds for most purposes ofconstruction. The wood of Q. rubra and Q. coccinea has a reddish tinge, but iscoarse-grained, porous, and not durable. In general, the evergreen oaks havewood of the finest grain; and the deciduous kinds of the group Rubrte thatof the coarsest grain. There is no purpose in the arts to which the woodof most of the species of oak is not applicable, when it can be obtainedof sufficient dimensions; and the durability of the wood of the group Pollin'is thought to exceed that of the wood of every other tree used in ship-build-ing, the teak alone excepted. Throughout Europe, and more especially inBritain, oak timber was used for every purpose, both of naval and civilarchitecture, till the wood of the pine and fir tribe came to be generallyimported from the Baltic and North America, about the beginning of thelast century. Since that period, the use of oak timber has given way to thatof pine and fir in house-building; but it still maintains its superiority in theconstruction of ships, and various kinds of machines; and even in house-building, where great durability is required. Oak wood is also still employedin joinery and cabinet-making.

The bark of all the species of oak abounds in tannin and gallic acid, and is,or may be, used in tanning; but, in Europe, more especially that of the sec-tion Pobur, and, in America, the bark of Q. falcata, Q. rubra, Q. tinctoria,and Q. Prinus monticola, are most esteemed for this purpose. The bark ofQ. tinctoria also furnishes a yellow dye, much used in dyeing wool and silk,and considered preferable to that of the woad. Medicinally, the bark of someof the species affords a substance which may be used instead of quinine.