[Footnote 43: Pliny and Plutarch agree that the famous books of Numa Pompilius, written 700 years before Christ, were upon birch-bark. (Keeler.)] [Footnote 44: The banquet-hall of the famous Auditorium Hotel in Chicago is finished in birch. (Kidder.)] [Illustration: PLATE 14. BIRCH (_Betula_). Yellow Birch Tree (_Betula lutea_). White Birch Bark (_Betula populifolia_). Yellow Birch Foliage (_Betula lutea_). Birch Wood.] WHITE BIRCH. _Betula populifolia Marsh._ Nomenclature. (Sudworth.) White Birch (local and common name). Gray Birch (Me., R. I., Mass.). Oldfield Birch, Poverty Birch (Me.). Poplar-leaved Birch, Small White Birch (Vt.). Locality. Atlantic coast, Canada to Delaware. Features of Tree. Twenty to forty feet in height, about one foot in diameter. Durable, laminated, smooth, white bark on large branches and on trunk, save near ground; is not very easily detached from tree. Tremulous leaves. Color, Grain, or Appearance of Wood. Heartwood light brown, sapwood lighter, close-grained. Structural Qualities of Wood. Soft, light, not strong or durable. Representative Uses of Wood. Clothes-pins, shoe-pegs, tooth-picks, paper-pulp. Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot. 35. Modulus of Elasticity. 1,036,000. Modulus of Rupture. 11,000. Remarks. The white bark is distinct from that of the paper birch in that it does not cover the whole trunk and in that it remains more perfectly intact. [p071] PAPER BIRCH, WHITE BIRCH. _Betula papyrifera Marsh._ Nomenclature. (Sudworth.) Paper Birch, White Birch (local and common names). Silver Birch (Minn.). Large White Birch (Vt.). Boleau (Quebec). Canoe Birch (Me., Vt., N. H., R. I., Mass., N. Y., Pa., Wis., Mich., Minn.). Locality. Northern United States, northward into Canada, valley of the Yukon in Alaska. Features of Tree. Fifty to seventy feet in height, one and one-half to two and one-half feet in diameter. Smooth white exterior bark on large limbs and trunks away from ground. Brown or orange inner surfaces of bark. Splits freely into thin paper-like layers. Color, Grain, or Appearance of Wood. Heartwood brown tinged with red, sapwood nearly white. Very close-grained, compact structure. Structural Qualities of Wood. Strong, hard, tough, not durable. Representative Uses of Wood. Spools, shoe-lasts, pegs, paper-pulp, fuel, bark used in canoes. Weight of Seasoned Wood in Pounds per Cubic Foot. 37. Modulus of Elasticity. 1,850,000. Modulus of Rupture. 15,000. Remarks. Starch is said to be manufactured from inner bark by Northern Indians. Reaches higher latitude than any American deciduous tree. Forms forests. The name White Birch is because of the color of the bark. [p072] RED BIRCH. _Betula nigra Linn._ Nomenclature. (Sudworth.) Red Birch (local and common name). Black Birch (Fla., Tenn., Tex.).