Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/111

* BIRCH. 93 BIRCH. birch (Betula pendula of some botanists) they leaves. It is a native of the northern regions are still more slender, elongated, and pendulous, of the globe, and is found in some parts of the The bark and leaves of the birch arc, in some highlands of Scotland. It is interesting because northern countries, used medicinally in cases of of its uses to the Laplanders and other jnhabl- fever and eruptions. The bark is also used for tants of very northern regions, to whom it sup- yellow dye. It is in some countries made into shoes, hats, drinking-cups, etc. In many parts of the north of Europe it is used instead of slates or shingles by the peasantry; and in Russia — the outer or white layers being subjected to distilla- tion — there is obtained a reddish empyreumatic oil called birch oil; it yields also the birch tar, or degutt, which is employed in the preparation of Russia leather. The wood is in universal use in northern countries for a great variety of pur- poses. It is white, firm, and tough, and is em- ployed by wheelwrights, coopers, turners, etc. It is much employe! for smoking hams, herrings, etc., because of the flavor which it imparts. Much of it is made into charcoal for forges. In the highlands of Scotland, and in many other countries, the sap is used, either in a fresh or in a fermented state, as a beverage. The white birch of North America (Betula popuUfoUa) very nearly resembles the common birch, but is of much less value. It is found as far south as Pennsylvania. The wood is scarcely used. The black birch, or river birch, of North America (Betula nigra), also sometimes called red birch, is very similar to the common birch, and pro- duces very hard and valuable timber. It attains the height of 70 feet. The bark is of a dark color, the epidermis in the younger trees red- dish. The name black birch is also given to a species that is found in the more northern parts of North America and is sometimes called the sweet birch, or cherry birch (Betula leiita) : this also is a tree 70 feet or more in height, of which the timber is fine-grained, and valuable for making furniture and for other purposes. The bark of this species yields an essential oil identical with oil of wintergreen. Its leaves, when bruised, diffuse a sweet odor, and, when carefully dried, make an agreeable tea. The yellow birch of North America (Betula lutea) is a tree 70 to 80 feet high, destitute of branches for 30 to 40 feet, and remarkable for its large leaves, which are 3 to 5 inches long, as well as for the brilliant golden yellow color of the epi- dermis. It is found in Nova Scotia, New Bruns- wick, Elaine, etc. Its timber is used in ship- building. The young saplings of all these Ameri- can species are much employed for making hoops for casks. The paper birch {Betula pa jnjrif era) is found in the northern parts of North America. It attains the height of 70 feet. The bark of the young trees is of a brilliant whiteness, and capa- lile of division into very thin sheets, which have been used as a substitute for paper. It is used by the Indians for canoes, boxes, buckets, baskets, etc. The wood is used for the same purposes as that of the common birch. The mountainous districts of India produce several species of Betula. Thin, delicate strips of the bark of the Betula utilix are used for lining the tubes of hookahs. They were fonnerly used as writing- paper. Betula alnoides, a native of the moun- tains of Nepal, is a tree .50 to 60 feet high, cov- ered with branches from the base, and of an oval form. Its wood is strong and durable. The dwarf birch (Betula nana) is a mere bushy shrub, seldom more than 2 or 3 feet high, and generally much less. It has orbicular crenate plies their chief fuel and the material with which they stuff their beds. Its seeds are food for the ptarmigan, which is useful to the Lap- landers. For illus. see plate Br.ke ..vd Birch. Fossil forms of birch are found in the Creta- ceous rocks of Greenland and in the Tertiaries of Europe and North America. BIBCH, H-BVEY. A fine, resourceful char- acter in T)ic Spu, a novel of the American Revo- lution hv Cooper. BIRCH, Sami-el (1813-85). An English antiquarian, Keeper of the Oriental Antiquities in the British iluseum. He was born in London, November 3, 1813. the grandson of Samuel Birch, Lord JIayor of London in 1814, and the son of the Rev. Samuel Birch, rector of Saint Mari,''s, Woolnoth. London. He received his education at the Merchant Tailors' School, and in 1832 entered the service of the Commissioners of Pub- lic Records. In 1836 he accepted an appoint- ment as an assistant at the British Museum, and in 1844 became Assistant Keeper of Antiqui- ties in that institution. In 1861 he was ad- vanced to the position of Keeper of Oriental, British, and Medieval Antiquities. When, in 1866, these departments were divided. Birch was made Keeper of the Oriental Department. He died December 27, 1885. Birch was a man of varied attainments. Dur- ing his connection with the British Museum, he devoted much attention to classical and British antiquities, and to nimiismatics. Among his works on these subjects are his Catalogue of Greek and Etruscan Vases in the British Museum, pub- lished in 1851 with the collaboration of Mr. Newton, and his History of Ancient Pottery (2 vols.), published in 1858. He also wrote a number of papers for the Xumismatic Chronicle and for Arclmologia. In early life he was a zealous student of Chinese, and in later years he wrote some translations from that language. .mong these, his Chinese Widow, published in 1862, is well known. He was also proficient in other Oriental languages, but it is upon his work as an Egyptologist that Birch's reputation chiefly rests. As early as 1838 he published his Expla- nation of the Uierogli/phics on the Coffin of Myce- rinus. and some of the most important Egypto- logical publications of the Britisn Museum were issued under his editorial supervision. Among these are: Select Papyri in the Hieratic Charac- ter (1841-60): Inscri/tlions in the Hirralic and Demotic Character (1868); The llhind Papyri (1866) ; and Facsimile of an Egyptian Hieratic Papyrus (1876). In 1867 Birch enriched Bun- sen's work. Egypt's Place in I'nircrsal History, by the addition of a valuable volume (Vol. V.) containing the first Egyptian dictionary since that of ChamiioUion. and the first transhititm of the Book of the Dead: and in 1878 he edited the revised edition of Wilkinson's Manners and Cus- toms of the Ancient Egyptians. Birch was a most prolific writer, especially upon Egyptologi- cal subjects, and his articles in the Proceedings of the Society of Literature, Herue archeologiquc, Zeitsrhrift fiir ugyptischc Sprache, and other lieriodicals, are very numerous. He was one of the founders of Records of the Past (1873 IT.),