A Catechism of Familiar Things Part 7

Each year the bark of a tree divides, and distributes itself two contrary ways, the outer part gives towards the skin, till it becomes skin itself, and at length falls off; the inner part is added to the wood. The bark is to the body of a tree, what the skin of our body is to the flesh.

Of what use is Bark?

Bark is useful for many things: of the bark of willows and linden trees, ropes are sometimes made. The Siamese make their cordage of the cocoa tree bark, as do most of the Asiatic and African nations; in the East Indies, they make the bark of a certain tree into a kind of cloth; some are used in medicines, as the Peruvian bark for Quinine; others in dyeing, as that of the alder; others in spicery, as cinnamon, &c.; the bark of oak, in tanning; that of a kind of birch is used by the Indians for making canoes.

What are Canoes?

Boats used by savages; they are made chiefly of the trunks of trees dug hollow; and sometimes of pieces of bark fastened together.

How do the savages guide them?

With paddles, or oars; they seldom carry sails, and the loading is laid in the bottom.

Are not the savages very dexterous in the management of them?

Yes, extremely so; they strike the paddles with such regularity, that the canoes seem to fly along the surface of the water; at the same time balancing the vessels with their bodies, to prevent their overturning.

_Dexterous_, expert, nimble.

Do they leave their canoes in the water on their return from a voyage?

No, they draw them ash.o.r.e, hang them up by the two ends, and leave them to dry; they are generally so light as to be easily carried from place to place.

Were not books once made of Bark?

Yes, the ancients wrote their books on the barks of many trees, as on those of the ash and the lime tree, &c.

Which part did they use?

Not the exterior or outer bark, but the inner and finer, which is of so durable a texture, that there are ma.n.u.scripts written on it which are still extant, though more than a thousand years old.

Is it not also used in Manure?

Yes, especially that of the oak; but the best oak bark is used in tanning.

What is Cork?

The thick, spongy, external bark of the Cork Tree, a species of oak.

There are two varieties of this tree, the broad-leaved and the narrow: it is an evergreen, and grows to the height of thirty feet. The Cork Tree attains to a very great age.

Where is the Tree found?

In Spain, Italy, France, and many other countries. The true cork is the produce of the broad-leaved tree.

What are its uses?

Cork is employed in various ways, but especially for stopping vessels containing liquids, and, on account of its buoyancy in water, in the construction of life boats. It is also used in the manufacture of life preservers and cork jackets. The greatest quant.i.ties are brought from Catalonia, in Spain. The uses of Cork were well known to the ancients.

To what particular use did the Egyptians put it?

They made coffins of it, lined with a resinous composition, which preserved the bodies of the dead uncorrupted.

What is Cochineal?

A drug used by the dyers, for dyeing crimsons and scarlets; and for making carmine, a brilliant red used in painting, and several of the arts.

Is it a plant?

No, it is an insect. The form of the Cochineal is oval; it is about the size of a small pea, and has six legs armed with claws, and a trunk by which it sucks its nourishment.

What is its habitation?

It breeds in a fruit resembling a pear; the plant which bears it is about five or six feet high; at the top of the fruit grows a red flower, which when full blown, falls upon it; the fruit then appears full of little red insects, having very small wings. These are the Cochineals.

How are they caught?

By spreading a cloth under the plant, and shaking it with poles, till the insects quit it and fly about, which they cannot do many minutes, but soon tumble down dead into the cloth; where they are left till quite dry.

Does the insect change its color when it is dead?

When the insect flies, it is red; when it is fallen, black; and when first dried, it is greyish; it afterwards changes to a purplish grey, powdered over with a kind of white dust.

From what countries is the Cochineal brought?

From the West Indies, Jamaica, Mexico, and other parts of America.

What are Cloves?

The dried flower-buds of the Clove Tree, anciently a native of the Moluccas; but afterwards transplanted by the Dutch (who traded in them,) to other islands, particularly that of Ternate. It is now found in most of the East Indian Islands.