dish tinge, very thick, and
capable of being divided into several layers. The wood of the tree makes
excellent fuel, and is also often used for articles of furniture. It has
a close, shining grain, and is strong enough for ordinary implements;
but if exposed to the weather will decay rapidly.

The "canoe-birch" is not the only species of these trees found in North
America. The genus _Betula_ (so called from the Celtic word _batu_,
which means birch) has at least half-a-dozen other known representatives
in these parts. There is the "white birch," a worthless tree of some
twenty feet in height, and less than six inches diameter. The bark of
this species is useless, and its wood, which is soft and white, is unfit
even for fuel. It grows, however, in the poorest soil. Next there is a
species called the "cherry-birch," so named from the resemblance of its
bark to the common cherry-tree. It is also called "sweet birch," because
its young twigs, when crushed, give out a pleasant aromatic odour.
Sometimes the name of "black birch," is given to this species. It is a
tree of fifty or sixty feet in height, and its wood is much used in
cabinet-work, as it is close-grained, of a beautiful reddish colour, and
susceptible of a high polish.

The information regarding the birches of America was given by Lucien to
his brothers, not at that time, but shortly afterward, when the three
were engaged in felling one of these trees. Just then other matters
occupied them, and they had only glanced, first at the canoe-birch and
then at the other tree which Norman had pointed out. The latter was of a
different genus. It belonged to the order _Coniferae_, or cone-bearing
trees, as was evident from the cone-shaped fruits that hung upon its
branches, as well as from its needle-like evergreen leaves.

The cone-bearing trees of America are divided by botanists into three
great sub-orders--the _Pines_, the _Cypresses_ and the _Yews_. Each of
these includes several genera. By the "pine tribe" is meant all those
trees known commonly by the names pine, spruce, fir, and larch: while
the _Cupressinae_, or cypress tribe, are the cypress proper, the cedars,
the arbor-vitae, and the junipers. The yew tribe has fewer genera or
species; but the trees in America known as yews and hemlocks--of which
there are several varieties--belong to it.

The pines cannot be termed trees of the tropics, yet do they grow in
southern and warm countries. In the Carolinas, tar a