Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/649

 1869.] Cedar, 525 CEDAE; AND ITS RELATIONS. W "E need offer no apology, for ex- tracting, entire, from the Lon- don " Builder," for the month of July, 1868, the following very able and ex- haustive article on " Cedar and its Re- lations.," The writer has so thoroughly reviewed the whole subject of the various uses to which this wood has been ap- plied, from the earliest days of history, down to our own times, that little re- mains for us to add. With relation, however, to the particu- lar use, which he advocates, on the ground of its having been similarly em- ployed by the ancients, viz. : that of Book-shelves and Cabinets, we have found mention of a lecture, delivered at Edinburgh. Scotland, in 1852, by the late Dr. Fleming, the Professor of Natural Science in the College of that city, in which the Doctor stated, that from his own personal knowledge, and from the result ©f inquiries he had instituted, he had come to the conclusion, that " none of the resinous firs and pines, as well as junipers, (which yield the wood usually termed Cedar,) can be safely employed in the construction of drawers for the reception of objects of Natural History. " He had come to this resolution, from having personally observed, that arti- cles and specimens kept in cabinets made of Cedar wood had become coated with a sticky gum, difficult to remove, and having a strong aromatic odor of Cedar, owing to the resin of the wood having become evaporated and condensed on the surfaces of the contents of the cabi- net. In the case of one containing watches, much serious damage was occa- sioned, it having been found, that the oil had been converted into a species of gum. From this, he is of opinion, that the advantages which Cedar undoubt- edly possesses, from the aromatic odor of its resin preventing injury from in- sects, are neutralized by the injury done by the presence of this very resin, itself, on the objects to be preserved. He pro- ceeds to state, that he " can testify to the White American Fir possessing all the desired qualities, being perfectly innocuous in itself, and proof against dry rot or the influence of moisture ;" it is also, in a remarkable degree, free from resin, in comparison with other firs and pines. The Professor here alludes to the "Pinus Strobus," widely known, throughout Canada and the United States, by the name of White Pine, from the perfect whiteness of its wood when freshly exposed ; and recognized, in the different States and provinces, by the local names of " Pumpkin Pine,' 1 ' 1 "Apple Pine," and " Sapling Pine." The wood of this species is employed in greater profusion, and in more va- ried uses, than that of any other Amer- ican Pine ; and, yet it has its own, very striking and well-known defects. It has little strength ; gives a feeble hold to nails ; and is apt to swell, under the in- fluence of the moisture in the atmo- sphere. These disadvantages are, how- ever, fully counterbalanced by the su- perior properties which it enjoj^s. It is soft, light, free from knots, easily wrought, very durable, not liable to split from exposure to the sun, and can be obtained in boards of great width, and spars and timbers of large dimensions. We can here enumerate only a few of the diversified uses to which it is put throughout the United States ; such as the ornamental work round the outer doors of our buildings, cornices, and friezes of apartments, mouldings of fire- places, &c, the inside of mahogany fur- niture and of trunks, the bottoms of Windsor chairs, water pails, j:>acking- boxes for goods, shelves for stores, barrels to contain salted fish ; some of our finest bridges ; masts and yards for our shipping, clapboards, shingles, &c.