266 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Wetherby, Yorkshire, has been considered by most 

 writers on trees as the oldest oak in Britain, and an 

 engraving of it was given in the "Gentleman's 

 Magazine" more than half a century ago. Dr. 

 Hunter states its dimensions in 1776 as 4S feet in 

 girth at threefeetfrom the ground, and 78 feet round 

 the bole close to the ground. It would be well if 

 some Yorkshire correspondent would mention the 

 present appearance of this oak. The largest, if not 

 the oldest, oak-tree, that I know, is " the Newland 

 Oak," now standing at Newland, on the borders of 

 the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. This hollow 

 oak measures 60 feet in girth not far from the base 

 of the bole. A battered and decaying hollow oak, 

 if it has existed to observation a long time in that 

 state, must exceed a thousand years in age, accord- 

 ing to the old rhyme, — 



" Three centuries it grows, three centuries stays, 

 And slowly three long centuries decays." 



But in fact, having got into the stage of old age 

 and only maintaining life, it may yet keep on an 

 existence of another five hundred years. Dr. Hunter, 

 in his edition of Evelyn's "Silva," gives a portrait of 

 the Greeiidale Oak, at Welbeck, which has an arch- 

 way cut through it for a road, and horsemen and 

 carriages, it is said, have often gone under the arch- 

 way thus made. Its greatest girth above the 

 artificial opening is given as 3S feet. It would 

 be well to know if this tree still remains, as it must 

 have attained a great age. 



People in general do not live long enough to mark 

 the increase of size' in trees after they have attained 

 full maturity,'and except with a few historical trees, 

 connected with great events or old usages, the data 

 as to the exact age of old trees is wanting. Still 

 trees appearing to possess hoar antiquity may be 

 noted and their dimensions taken carefully, as well 

 as what is known of them by the oldest persons 

 living in their vicinity ; for surely trees of great 

 dimensions, and only seen in a hollow state by the 

 present generation, must be of considerable, if un- 

 known, age. But let any one watch an old tree for 

 a lifetime, and then some idea may be formed of its 

 powers of endurance. For my own part I must say 

 that in fifty years of observation I can mark no 

 obvious change as to its age in a very old yew or 

 oak. A clean cut, if it were possible to obtain one, 

 and count the annual rings of growth, would mark 

 the age of an exogenous tree ; but where a tree is 

 hollow, this is unavailable, and besides, a tree of 

 moderate age cannot properly afford a test as to a 

 very old tree, the increase in the latter case being 

 so much slower with advancing age. The yew, too, 

 from its being able to surround the old decaying 

 trunk with new layers of descending alburnum, is 

 almost indestructible, and may exist up to three 

 thousand years, as has been suggested of some 

 Kentish yews, or indeed for an indefinite time. The 



holly, too, is a long-enduring tree, and I have seen 

 some on forest ground upon the side of the Steiper- 

 stones mountain in Shropshire, which in my opinion, 

 and that of other observers, indicate a longevity of 

 at least two thousand years. This remarkable holly 

 grove attracted the notice of the late Sir Roderick 

 Murchison, who, in his "Silurian System," mentions 

 these " old indigenous tenants of the soil, defying 

 all cold blasts," as being " appropriate emblems of 

 the extreme antiquity of the rocks of this moun- 

 tain." In other places there are hollies of great 

 age, and whatever information can be gathered as 

 to existing old treees in Britain, and their dimen- 

 sions, would be very desirable. 



Worcester. Edwin Lees, F.L.S. 



THE MUSK BEETLE. 



OF all the numerous tribe of insects that pass 

 their larval lives in tunnelling tlirougli our 

 timber trees, and ultimately bringing them to de- 

 struction, there is no more active member than the 

 Musk Beetle {Ceramhyx moschatus). And yet, 

 while we deplore the damage which it does, we 

 cannot keep our affections from the larva, when it 

 has made its final transformation into the imago 

 state. Its sheeny wings, its graceful antennae, its 

 marvellous legs, all charm us with their exceeding 

 beauty; in fact it is not too much to say, that 

 throughout the ranks of our British Coleoptera wc 

 shall find no insect, which can compare with the 

 Musk Beetle. Its loveliness is of the true descrip- 

 tion, and only increases on closer inspection. 

 Viewed under a microscope, its elytra are so 

 wonderfully beautiful, that no effort of human art 

 could hope to give even a dull idea of the pris- 

 matic colouring. The general tint is a rich green, 

 but there are flecks of azure, bronze, and gold 

 studded on the surface, which considerably modify 

 the ground colour. Some specimens indeed are 

 almost purely green, but others approach as nearly 

 to golden bronze, and between the two extremes 

 there exists every variety of shade. The size also 

 of the insects differs considerably, the smallest 

 specimens being about half an incli in length. The 

 general aspect of the insect will be understood from 

 the accompanying illustration, but it is unfortu- 

 nately impossible to convey any conception of the 

 odour whicli emanates i'rom its body, and from 

 which it takes its name. This odour, which is very 

 enduring, is often stronger after the death of the 

 beetle than during its life, and may be perceived at 

 a considerable distance from a tree which happens 

 to have one or two "musks" upon its bark. Its 

 favourite resorts are willow-trees, and my own 

 observations lead me to think that it prefers a tree 

 already tenanted by the caterpillar of the Goat-moth ; 

 but when once its larvae have commenced their 



