it produces the Gum?

The gum, or rather the resin, distils from the trunk. It is called
Cyprus or Chian Turpentine, much of it being brought from the isles of
Cyprus and Scio, or Chios, and is procured, by incision, about the
month of July. This turpentine, owing to its superior quality, as well
as its scarcity, each tree seldom yielding over two or three pounds,
is very costly.

_Incision_, a cutting.

_Costly_, expensive.

CHAPTER XVI.

BRICKS, MORTAR, GRANITE, SLATE, LIMESTONE, OR CALCAREOUS ROCKS,
STEEL, EARTHS, VOLCANOES, AND EARTHQUAKES.

Of what are Bricks composed?

Of clay, dried by the heat of the sun, or burnt in kilns; their color
varies with the different degrees of heat to which they are subjected
in burning. In the East, bricks were baked in the sun; the Romans used
them crude, only laying them to dry in the air for a long space of
time.

_Crude_, in the rough, unbaked state, just as they were
formed.

How long have Bricks been in use for building?

Bricks appear to have been in use at a very remote period of
antiquity, both from the account of them in the Holy Scriptures, and
from the remains of them which have been found; the Tower of Babel and
the walls of Babylon were built of them. They were in early use among
the Egyptians, as appears from the history of the Jews before their
deliverance by Moses. In the book of Exodus, we are told that this
captive people were compelled to make bricks for that nation. The
Romans, under their first kings, built with massive square stones; but
towards the end of the Republic they began to use brick, borrowing the
practice from the Greeks; and the greatest and most durable buildings
of the succeeding Emperors were composed of them, as the Pantheon, &c.

_Massive_, bulky and heavy.

By whom was the Tower of Babel erected, and why?

By the descendants of Noe's three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth; they
were extremely numerous, and dwelt in the land of Sennaar; becoming
ambitious of distinguishing themselves, they set about building a
tower whose summit might reach to heaven. Sennaar was the original
name of the country about Babylon.

_Descendants_, those descended from a particular person or
family.

What remarkable event followed their foolish pride?

The Almighty suddenly frustrated their purpose by confusing their
language and causing them all to express their words by different
sounds; hence aro