Rule 41.-No article generally precedes the possessive pronouns when the latter are prefixed to substantives which express (1st.) kindred or relation, such as padre, madre, figlio, sorella, marito, etc.; (2nd.) the rank and quality, such as altezza, eccellenza, maestà, etc.; as

Chi è vostro padre? who is your | Egli adunque inteso il nobile atto father?

di Filippo usato a salute di suo marito, he then having heard of the noble action of Philip in favour of her husband.

Venne sua Maestà accompagnata dal Duca d' Orleano, his Majesty was accompanied by the Duke of Orleans.

Mia madre, un fratello minore, ed io, siamo restati nell' estrema miseria, my mother, a younger brother, and myself, have been left in great distress. Sua Eccellenza le baciò la mano, his Excellency kissed her hand. Rule 42.-When the possessive pronouns follow the above substantives, padre, madre, etc., or precede the same in the plural, then the article is used :—

Ho veduto la sorella vostra, I have | Finchè io possa farlo in persona, seen your sister. soffra la maestrà vostra, as long as I can do it myself, allow me, sire.

La madre mia è partita, my mother has set out.

Mi ricordo aver udito dire il padre mio, I recollect having heard my father say.

Prima che io ringrazio le loro signorie, before I thank your lordships.

tando, I see some one who is listening to us.

Alcuni sono li quali, più che l' altre genti si credono sapere, e sanno meno, there are some people who think they know more than other folks, when they know less.

Egli è dimorato in Parigi alcun

tempo, he has remained some time in Paris.

Vi sono andato con alcuni amici, I have been there with some friends.

Rule 52.-Alquanto, meaning somewhat, several, some, rather, is sometimes used alone, and sometimes with a substantive. When it is joined to a substantive, it agrees with it in gender and number :

Ella uscita dalla camera, e stata alquanto tempo, tornò dentro piangendo, she went out of the room, and, after some time, she came in with tears in her eyes. Alquante lagrime mandate per gli occhj fuori, cominciò ad attendere quello che la gentildonna gli rispondesse, having shed a few tears, he waited for the lady's

answer.

Alquanti, che risentiti, erano all' arme corsi, n' uccisero, they murdered several, who, being awakened, had taken up arms. Dopo alquanto spazio ella a me ritornò, after a little time she

came back to me.

La Lauretta con maniera alquanto pietosa cominciò così, Lauretta thus began, in a manner rather pathetic.

Rule 53.-Altro, signifying differently, something else, another, etc., may be used alone, or with a substantive; in the latter case it agrees with the substantive in gender and number:Altro avresti detto, se tu m'avessi veduto a Roma, you would have spoken differently, had you seen me at Rome. Sembiante facendo di rider d'altro, feigning to laugh at something else. Altri tempi, altri costumi, other times, other manners.

Un altro non vi avrebbe perdonato così facilmente, come v' ho perdonato io, another would not have pardoned you as easily as I have done.

Datemi un altro bicchiere di quel buon vino, give me another glass of that good wine.

Rule 54.--Ciascheduno and ciascuno, meaning every one, each, etc., are used either alone or with substantives. When they are prefixed to substantives, they agree with them in gender, and seldom admit of a plural :—

Rule 58.-Every verb must agree with its subject, either Abborrire, to abhor. expressed or understood, in number and person; as—

Voi parlate troppo forte, you Io scrivo, I write. speak too loud.

I sarti dicono spesso bugie, tailors often lie.

Parli da sciocco, thou speakest like a fool.

re

Accadere, to happen.
Accennare, to show.
Accertare, to assure.
Accomandare, to
commend.
Accordare, to grant.
Accorgersi, to perceive.
Afliggersi, to grieve.
Ammonire, to admonish.
Annojarsi, to be weary.
Ardire, to dare.
Arrischiare, to venture.
Assicurare, to assure.
Astenersi, to abstain
from.

Attentarsi, to attempt.
Avvedersi, to perceive.
Avventurare, to venture.
Avvertire, to admonish.
Avvisare, to inform.
Badare, to mind.
Biasimare, to blame.
Bramare, to wish.
Cercare, to seek.
Cessare, to cease.
Chiedere, to ask.
Comandare, to com-
mand.

Commendare, to com

Rule 63.-The future is used to event will take place at some future time :Noi lo faremo domani, we shall do | Egli ritornerà al suo paese, he Contentarsi, to consent. will return to his country. Rule 64.-The conditional present denotes that an action or event would take place, if certain conditions are fulfilled :

it to-morrow.

Se io avessi danari, comprerei un buon cavallo, if I had money, I would buy a good horse.

Tacerebbero, se potessero, they would be silent, if they could.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.

Rule 65.-Verbs expressing command, desire, doubt, fear, ignorance, order, passion, surprise, uncertainty, etc., require the following verb in the subjunctive :

Procurare, to try.

Professare, to profess. Proibire, to prohibit.

Proporre, to propose. Promettere, to promise. Ricordarsi, to remember. Ricusare, to refuse. Rimproverare, rinfacciare, to reproach. Rincrescere, to be sorry, Ringraziare, to thank. Riprendere, to reprove. Risolvere, to resolve. Scegliere, to choose. Scommettere, to bet.

Fermarsi, to stop.
Fingere, to pretend.
Finire, to finish.
Fissare, to fix.
Giudicare, to judge.
Giurare, to swear.
Gloriarsi, to pride one's
self.
Godere, to delight.
Guardarsi, to beware.
Immaginarsi, to ima-
gine.
Impedire, to hinder.
Imporre, to impose.
Increscere, to be sorry.
Incaricare, to charge.
Infingersi, to pretend.
Ingegnarsi, to endea-
[stand.
Intendere, to under-
Lamentarsi, to com- self.
plain.
Lasciare, to cease.
Lusingarsi, to flatter
one's self.
Mancare, to fail.
Meditare, to meditate.
Meritare, to deserve.
Minacciare, to threaten.
Negare, to refuse.
Mostrare, to show.
Negligentare, to neglect.
Obbligare, to oblige.

vour.

dis.

Scongiurare, to conjure.
Sconsigliare, to
suade.
Scordarsi, to forget.
Scusarsi, to cxcuse one's

Sembrare, to seem. Sospirare, to sigh. Sostenere, to support. Sperare, to hope. Svolgere, to dissuade. Supplicare, to entreat. Temere, to fear. Tentare, to try. Tremare, to tremble. Tralasciare, to desist. Vergognarsi, to be ashamed.

care to see him.

RECREATIVE NATURAL HISTORY.

FIR-TREES AND PINE-CONES.

THERE is to me an inexplicable charm in the fir-needle-carpeted, cone-strewn, aromatic, and shaded glades of a pine forest; and I like to linger where the fresh breeze sings through the tufted pine needles. The crossbills, too, are in their element, when hanging, parrot-like, head downwards, amongst the ripe brown cones, they deftly wrench off scale after scale with their pincerlike mandibles, as they cull the sweet, oil-laden seed which lies hidden at the base of each plate of the cone's armour. It is not my intention here to attempt a description of the almost endless number of conifers which the labours and researches of botanists and explorers have brought to the knowledge of the scientific: I intend rather to endeavour to enlist the reader as a companion in a sort of gossiping ramble amongst some of the most familiar and noteworthy members of the pine family, gathering, as we go, such bits and scraps of pine lore as good fortune may cast in our way.

It would be difficult to find, even amongst the most beautiful of Nature's forest handiwork, a more graceful, widely-distributed, or generally useful tree than the larch (Pinus lariz), the cone and foliage of which is represented at Fig. 1. By the Romans this tree was held in high esteem, and the larch forests, from time to time discovered by them, were made extensive use of. During their German wars vast quantities of larch timber were obtained. The trees, after being felled and trimmed in the Alpine fir forests, were sent, via the river Po, to Rome, where a great demand existed for larch for building purposes. Pliny, in writing of the larch, says: "This tree is the best of the kind that bears resin. It rots not, but endures a long time;" and there can be little doubt that the praise thus bestowed by the historian was just. There appears little reason to doubt the truth of the statement which has been made, that the Emperor Trajan's vast floating palace, which was constructed for him on a lake, as a place of resort during the heats of summer, was almost entirely composed of larch and cypress combined. We read that this extraordinary structure was built of cypress and larch, sheathed with lead, fastened with copper nails, doubly planked, and the seams caulked with linen rags, laid over with Greek pitch. After 1,400 years had passed away, some portions of the submerged palace were removed from the depths of the lake, when the fir timber of the building was found to be in an extraordinarily sound condition. We also find that Tiberius, knowing the remarkably durable qualities of larch timber, caused vast numbers of trees, brought from Rhætia, to be cut into planks, for the purpose of rebuilding the Naumachiarian bridge, which was originally built by Augustus, but met with destruction by fire. This socalled Rhætia larch appears to have been of remarkably good quality and luxuriance of growth; for we find it related that one pole reached 120 feet in length, and was of such perfect growth that all Rome flocked to examine it. For art purposes larch wood appears to have been held in high esteem from the very earliest periods. Some of the most admirable paintings executed by the masters who flourished between the periods when Pliny wrote and Raphael painted were executed on boards hewn from the substance of the larch; in fact, the term immortale lignum was applied to larch wood, on account of its extra ordinary powers of resistance to deteriorating influences. Much of the picturesque beauty possessed by that land of fine landscapes, Switzerland, is more or less dependent on the larch. The wild crag, deep ravine, and brink of the foam-flaked torrent each and all have their larch-plumes to break the monotony of rock scenery. Then, again, the peasants' châlets, perched on some wild ledge, or the frail-looking yet reliable mountainbridge or chasm-guard rail, which, as though secured by industrious spiders of a larger growth, stretch across cliff-tracks and giddy passes, which would be well-nigh impassable, were it not for the light, straight larch-poles which, felled hard by, are made to minister to man's requirements; and it is most fortunate that in the very situation where there is exposure to alternate wet and dry, heat and cold, and the rough buffetings of the tempest, this timber, so admirably calculated to resist decay, should be so abundantly found. Lambert, when speaking of the strength of larch wood, expresses himself as follows: -"By observations made on the strength of timber, it appears that a beam of larch, clear and free from knots and every other

imperfection, especially at or near the middle, eleven inches square and six feet and a half long, can bear, if placed horizontally on its two extremes, a weight of 200,000 lbs. suspended to the middle of it, and that it can bear a still greater weight in an oblique position." It was from the adoption of a system of analogical reasoning, that the constructors of the Royal Navy first turned their attention to the use of larch as a wood for ship-building purposes. The first larch-built ship we learn much about was constructed entirely from larch timber, furnished for the purpose by the Duke of Athol. This ship was called the Serapis. Then, for experimental purposes, the Sibylle frigate, the bottom of a lighter, and a number of piles for tidal use, were constructed at Woolwich dockyard. Quoting from the history of the experiments, we read that "the Athol, of twenty-eight guns, was built entirely of larch, of the same growth, whilst the Niemen, a ship constructed at the same time, was built of timber from Riga. At the expiration of their first course of service, both vessels were officially examined, when the Niemen was found so much decayed as to be condemned forthwith. The Athol was re-commissioned, completed her second term of service, provisioned, and made a store-ship of, when for a period of more than thirty years she was subjected to the wear and tear of almost every climate." It is somewhat curious, and not generally well known, that the larch, although so commonly met with throughout the length and breadth of Great Britain, is not one of our indigenous trees. We find that in the year 1629 Parkinson, in speaking of trees of this kind, refers to them as rarities, or out of the common order of trees. Evelyn, too, although perhaps possessed of more information regarding trees than any person who wrote in his time (1664), describes a larch tree of goodly stature, which grew at Chelmsford in Essex, and speaks of it as though he considered it a rare tree. Ben Jonson speaks of the juice of the larch as possessing some mystic virtues, but gives no information as to whether the tree yielding this sap was rare or not. Thus he writes

"Yes, I have brought to help your vows
Horned poppy, cypress boughs,

The fig-tree wild, that grows on tombs,
And juice that from the larch-tree comes."

It would be difficult to over-estimate the importance to be attached to the cultivation of this valuable tree in situations where little else could be grown. The Athol family have been celebrated for their zeal in the cause of larch growth. The extent to which their fir-tree cultivation has been carried on in Scotland will be best shown by a reference to the following statistics :-14,096,719 young larch trees were planted in the neighbourhood of Blair Athol and Dunkeld. The plantation covered a track of land 10,324 imperial acres in extent. The trees flourished and grew rapidly, and on felling one, at the ninety-fifth year of its growth, it was found to be 100 feet long, 10 feet 6 inches in girth, at five feet from the point at which it was cut through. It contained 368 cubic feet of timber. It has been truly said that the man who plants good trees abundantly stores up wealth for those who follow. An approximate calculation has been made as to the money value of the vast fir forests thus raise by one man's strong will and industry, and the sum arrived at is £6,500,000. In addition to this princely sum we must estimate the thinnings and trimmings as being worth about £7 per acre of forest. At the death of this noble pine-tree planter, a coffin was constructed from the wood of one of his forest favourites, which, on being felled, measured 106 feet in length.

Most of our readers will be familiar with a substance known as Venice turpentine, and sold by all druggists for a variety of medicinal and art purposes. This substance, although bearing the name of Venice turpentine, is not brought from Venice, but is simply the hardened sap of the larch. Considerable quantities are obtained in France, the Briançonnais being celebrated for the production of turpentine, which is obtained by tapping or perforating the trees with large augers. The first hole bored is commonly at about three feet above the ground-surface. Other holes, or outlets, are then made in the tree-trunk to a height of twelve or thirteen feet. A number of small wooden tubes, or spouts, are so cut as to fit these holes, just as a tap fits a barrel, and as the liquid resinous juice of the tree flows outwards through the spouts, it drips into a corresponding

number of little pots, or other vessels, placed for its reception. The turpentine-gatherers say that the side of the tree facing the south yields a notable quantity of juice more than either the north, east, or west surfaces of the tree.

The manner in which fir-tree sap is collected appears to have undergone but little change since periods of remote antiquity. Ovid thus writes of turpentine-gathering as practised in his day

"The new-made trees in tears of amber run, Which harden into value by the sun." Next to the larch in point of abundance in this country, and the freedom with which it yields its resinous juices, we may men. tion the Scotch fir (P. sylvestris). Fig. 2 represents the cone, foliage, and seed. This conifer

uninterrupted stream of tar composition from the heating chamber in which it was prepared.

A great deal of tar is manufactured in the north of Europe, and a great portion of this is commonly known as Stockholm tar. Such supplies, however, as are furnished from the firs of this country are mainly obtained from the Scotch pine. The roots and other cuttings of old trees furnish the largest return on treatment. P. sylvestris is not, however, the only pine from which the tar of commerce is obtained. The tar of the North American botanists is obtained from a conifer known

as P. rigida. P. Treda and P. Australis also yield it. Between four and five millions of barrels of wood tar are annually imported into this country.

The substance known as lampblack is, as most of our readers

is rich in a product, the loss of which would entail enormous inconvenience and difficulty.

There is perhaps no product yielded by the pine which, for importance and general usefulness, can be compared with tar.

The rope-maker, the shipwright, the timber merchant, and the sailor are all debtors to it. Those wondrous cables which furnish a medium for the conveyance of messages and intelligence from pole to pole and sea to sea, owe much of their power to resist decay and deterioration to the tar used in saturating the yarns or hempen cords which, layer after layer, envelop both the electric and protecting wires used in fashioning these submarine ropes. We were much pleased a short time since, on visiting the submarine cable manufactory at Silvertown, with the ingenious manner in which an endless band of heavy chainlinks were made to deposit, agitate, stir, and carry upwards to the rope, in the course of manufacture, a perfectly regular and

will be aware, extensively used in the arts. This is made in very large quantities from the waste products resulting from the manufacture of common tar, and it may not prove unin. teresting to the reader to follow out the manner in which this soft, jet-black, and generally useful substance is prepared. The Germans manufacture lampblack extensively, and find it a valuable addition to the return from the tar-works, about which we shall have more to say as we proceed. When about to prepare lampblack, the manufacturer prepares for himself a sort of coffer or box. This is accurately closed at every joint, but at the top a sort of ventilated stopper-arrangement is placed. This is provided with number of holes, over which a sort of cone or case of linen cloth is fastened. At a convenient distance from the box and cone a narrow-mouthed furnace is constructed in such a way that as the waste tar products are subjected to heat, the vapours given off