. A description and history of vegetable substances, used in the arts, and in domestic economy . el are the prevail-ing woods in that second stratum: the timber is ingeneral decayed; but the nuts of the hazel are in astate of considerable preservation ; and some of theseeds that have been found at this depth have vege-tated, though they had probably lain for several cen-turies in the peat earth, in which their outer coatsmust have been literally tanned. When there is athird stratum of wood, which is not often the case,the timber wliich it contains is chiefly alder, with 34 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES
. A description and history of vegetable substances, used in the arts, and in domestic economy . el are the prevail-ing woods in that second stratum: the timber is ingeneral decayed; but the nuts of the hazel are in astate of considerable preservation ; and some of theseeds that have been found at this depth have vege-tated, though they had probably lain for several cen-turies in the peat earth, in which their outer coatsmust have been literally tanned. When there is athird stratum of wood, which is not often the case,the timber wliich it contains is chiefly alder, with 34 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. the imgs of the bo^-myrtle {Myrica Gale). Afterthese, the peat becomes of a verj spong^y nature, andcontains no vegetable substance of larger dimensionsthan the stem of a heath, and not verj oflen smaller portions of peat which lie in dells, incountries not much elevated, contain in general onlythe twigs and the nuts of hazel. The fall of timberis not, however, essential to the formation of peatbogs, for, in many of them, the remains of trees havenot been found. ■>¥mM.^ :m M. Scotch Fir.—Pinus sylvestris. The pines found native in Britain, whether buriedin the earth, or growing on its surface, are all of onespecies,—the Phius sylvestris, or wild pine—in thiscountry usually termed the Scotch fir. This pine isvery generally diffused. It is found in all the northernregions, and in elevated ones considerably to The timber which it produces is called reddeal, or yellow deal, according to the colour ; and asdeals are the form in which it is often conveniently im- THE SCOTCH FIR. 35 ported from Norway and the Baltic, the word deal hasbecome the common name for all sorts of pnie timber. With the exception of cedar and larch, in respectof touflfhness and durability Scotch fir producesbetter timber than any of the pines. It is good, too,almost in proportion to the slowness of its it is cut directly to the centre, or right acrossthe grain, as
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