X. 1. THE AMERICAN ELM. 291 



house belonging to that family, and which was known to be 

 one hundred and eighty-one years old in 1837, then measured 

 twenty-six feet five inches at the ground, or as near to it as the 

 roots would allow us to measure, and sixteen feet eight inches 

 at five feet. The branches extended one hundred and four feet 

 from southeast to northwest, and ninety-five from northeast to 

 southwest. 



The great elm on Boston Common was measured by Prof. 

 Gray and myself, in June of 1844. At the ground, it measures 

 twenty-three feet six inches ; at three feet, seventeen feet eleven 

 inches, and at five feet, sixteen feet and one inch. The largest 

 branch, towards the southeast, stretches fifty-one feet. 



The classical elm, opposite the gate of the Botanic Garden, 

 Cambridge, measured fourteen feet nine inches at four feet, in 

 1838. 



In Hingham, on the road leading to Cohasset, just below the 

 turn from the Old Colony House, stands an elm which is said to 

 have been transplanted in 1729. It may have been one hundred 

 and twenty or one hundred and twenty-five years old, on the 

 25th of July, in 1839, when I measured it, in company with that 

 excellent botanist, William Oakes, Esq., of Ipswich. It was 

 thirteen feet in circumference, at four and a half feet from the 

 ground. At from ten to fifteen feet, eight large branches are 

 thrown out, which sweep upwards in a broad curve, making a 

 noble round head sixty or seventy feet high. The immense 

 roots, which, beginning at three or four feet above the surface, 

 stand out like abutments, in all directions, chiefly west and 

 east, give an idea of permanency and vast strength. The 

 extreme spread of the limbs is forty-five feet from the trunk, 

 making the breadth of the head more than ninety feet. In the 

 angle of one of the branches, when we measured it, was grow- 

 ing a currant-bush with ripe fruit. Speaking of this tree, J. 

 S. Lewis, Esq., to whom I am indebted for valuable informa- 

 tion concerning the trees of Hingham, says, — "At ten feet, it 

 is fifteen feet nine inches in circumference. It has a hemi- 

 spherical top, of ninety feet diameter at the base, ascending and 

 terminating with singular uniformity, presenting to the eye a 

 rare combination of beauty and grandeur. At this measure- 



