328 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



cestershire, England, which was a large tree in the reign of King 

 Stephen, and is over 1,000 years old. Fig. 5 represents the " Great 

 Chestnut of Mount Etna," consisting, at present, of what appears to 

 be several trees, fragments of the original one. By a writer in the 

 North American Hevieio, for July, 1844, these are supposed to be 

 shoots from, rather than portions of, the old tree. 



Jean Houel, who examined the trees, says " they are portions of 

 one tree." By removing the soil, the outer rim of the tree has been 

 found, and the circumference ascertained to be 175 feet. Other chest- 

 nuts near this are in girth 64, 70, and 72 feet respectively. 



The lime or linden, in Europe, is an important tree. Those in the 

 town of Morat are celebrated in the history of Switzerland. One 

 was planted in 1476 to commemorate the defeat of the Burgundians, 

 under Charles the Bold ; the other was a noted tree at the time of the 

 battle, and is now near nine centuries old. But, equally famous is the 

 one at Wilrtemberg, called the " Great Linden," six centuries ago. It 

 is, probably, 1,000 years old, and measures 35|- half*feet in girth. 

 Four and a half centuries ago its branches were supported by 67 col- 

 umns of stone, now increased to 106, many of which are " covered 

 with inscriptions." 



The well-known olive-tree is associated with our most cherished 

 recollections. There is an old one near Nice, 24 feet in girth, re- 

 garded by the inhabitants with great interest. Those on the Mount 

 of Olives may be contemporary with the Christian era. They are 

 known to have been in existence in 1217, when the Turks captured 

 Jerusalem. 



The evergreen cypress, long celebrated for its longevity, is abun- 

 dant in the burial-grounds of Eastern nations, and, from it dark, 

 dense foliage, forms an impressive feature of Oriental landscapes. In 

 the Palace Gardens of Granada are cypresses said to be 800 years old ; 

 and there is one at Somma, in Lombardy, proved by authentic docu- 

 ments "to have been a considerable tree 40 years before the Chris- 

 tian era." Of this family of trees is our well-known white cedar, 

 specimens of which, exhumed from the meadows on the coast of New 

 Jersey, had from 700 to 1,000 rings of wood solid and fragrant as 

 if of recent growth. 



The cedars of Lebanon are often referred to in the Sacred Writings. 

 The present trees are, 'we believe, seven large ones, with many of 

 smaller growth, situated in an elevated valley of the Lebanon Moun- 

 tains, 6,172 feet above the Mediterranean. The valley is surrounded 

 by peaks of the mountains, which rise 3,000 feet higher, and are cov- 

 ered with snow. Fig. 6 may give some idea of their massive gran- 

 deur. De Candolle supposes the oldest are 1,200 years old, but no 

 sections of their wood have been examined to determine their age. 

 The cedar is known to grow slowly, as does the North American or 

 bald cypress, which we will next notice. This tree is common in our 



