The reason why : $b a careful collection of many hundreds of reasons for things which, though generally believed, are imperfectly understood. A book of condensed scientific knowledge for the million
John Stuart Mill · en
Respecting the other woods used in the manufacture of furniture,
we have nothing special to say, except of the oak--the emblem of
our native land. This tree yields a most useful and durable wood,
and as it not only defends our country by supplying our "wooden
walls," but gives to us the floors of our houses, furnishes our
good substantial tables, and comfortable arm-chairs, it will be
well for us to know a few facts about this celebrated tree. It is
said that there are no less than one hundred and fifty species
of the oak. The importance of the growth of oaks may be gathered
from the fact, that the building of a 70-gun ship would take forty
acres of timber. The building of a 70-gun ship is estimated to
cost about £70,000. Oak trees attain to the age of 1,000 years.
The oak enlarges its circumference from 10-1/2 inches to 12 inches
in a year. The interior of a great oak at Allonville, in Normandy,
has been converted into a place of worship. An oak at Kiddington,
served as a village prison. A large oak at Salcey, was used as a
cattle fold; and others have served as tanks, tombs, prisons, and
dwelling-houses.
The _Mammoth tree_, which is exhibiting at the Crystal Palace,
is one of the great wonders of the vegetable creation. It is the
grand monarch of the Californian forest, inhabiting a solitary
district on the elevated slopes of the Sierra Nevada, at 5,000
feet above the sea-level. From 80 to 90 trees exist, all within
the circuit of a mile, and these varying from 250 to 320 feet in
height, and from 10 to 20 feet in diameter. The bark is from 12 to
15 inches in thickness; the branchlets are somewhat pendent, and
resemble those of cypress or juniper, and it has the cones of a
pine. Of a tree felled in 1853, 21 feet of the bark from the lower
part of the trunk were put in the natural form as a room, which
would contain a piano, with seats for forty persons; and on one
occasion 150 children were admitted. The tree is reputed to have
been above 3,000 years old; that is to say, it must have been a
little plant when Samson was slaying the Philistines. The portion
of the tree exhibiting at the palace is 103 feet in height, and 32
feet in diameter at the base.
1192. _What is tea?_