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will be best adapted to bear the strains which are likely to come upon them, or a combination of timbers which will form a stiff, strong, and reliable structure, or the selection of the proper size of wood to stand the different strains which it will have to bear, then we find the Japanese very deficient. The carpenters do not seem to have any appreciation of the disposition of strains in any framework, and where enormous timbers are placed they may be found resting on and sustained by beams not one quarter the size they should be. In their bridges the same incongruities may be observed; thus beams, which if properly fastened would form a tie and be a great support to the structure, may be observed secured in their places by wooden keys about one inch square which are not much stronger than a match. The workmen, however, are very skilful in the use of their tools. They only require explicit and detailed directions and they are then competent to execute any work in a very creditable manner. The woods generally used for building purposes in the southern parts of the country are not very varied. There is a great variety of very excellent woods in the island of Yezo, but these have not yet been introduced into this part of Japan. Kiaké is the commonest hard wood and is, generally speaking, a very serviceable timber. If cut when ripe, and at the proper season, the good qualities will last for centuries, proof of which is shewn in the older temples in the country, but there are great varieties of quality and it requires a very practised eye to pick out the good from the bad. The exigencies of the people are such that, in the absence of any regulations to the contrary, they do not hesitate to cut the wood at all seasons, or when they receive an order for it. Wood full of sap is therefore as common in the market as seasoned wood, and perhaps it is not until after some years that the quality of timber purchased is made evident by the decomposed sap oozing out of it like a black, tarry liquid. The fibres of the wood very soon after this occurs become rotten and the whole timber useless. Shinoké is the favorite soft wood
