166 Capt. S. E. Cook on the Genus Pinus and Abies. 



quality and durability of their timber ; and the enlightened pa- 

 tronage of the India Company, seconded by the unwearied 

 zeal and ability of their officers, will no doubt enable us to add 

 materially to our list of this interesting region. The Abies 

 Webbiana, a gigantic silver fir, probably the noblest of the 

 tribe, has not perfectly stood this winter near London, although 

 it has in my neighbourhood. It may probably become inured 

 to the climate, and the A, Morinda, their spruce, which has 

 stood uninjured, well deserves attention. Both species are 

 propagated easily by cuttings. 



In the northern parts of the chain our travellers might meet 

 with the A, pichta, the silver fir of the Altaian chain, which 

 seems to be a most desirable tree to possess ; and in the mean 

 time, through the assistance of the Russian Government, which 

 in matters of science is extremely liberal, seed might be pro- 

 cured in sufficient quantity to make the trial it so well de- 

 serves, as it ought to equal in hardiness if not surpass any of 

 our Europsean species. 



The last and most interesting group on the whole is un- 

 questionably that of Europe. We are now tolerably well ac- 

 quainted with the species that are spread over this portion of 

 the globe, from the arctic circle to the shores of the Mediter- 

 ranean and the confines of Asia and Africa. By far the greater 

 part of these are of considerable, and some of surpassing value. 

 In taking the range from south to north it will be found that 

 the qualities of the timber become more valuable, as the tree 

 which produces it grows naturally at a higher elevation, lati- 

 tude, and level above the sea, one or both entering into this 

 calculation. The same tree which grows spontaneously on the 

 shores of the Baltic is never found in a similar situation on 

 those of the Mediterranean, but as it approaches the south 

 gradually ascends the sides of the mountains in search of a 

 more congenial climate. We also find that there is no in- 

 stance of a species which grows naturally at a low elevation 

 producing good timber, the improvement in quality being as 

 nearly as possible in a direct ratio from south to north, or in 

 the degree of winter's cold they are able to resist. 



To prove these positions, which we shall find afterwards to be 

 of some importance, we shall proceed to analyse some of the 

 principal species, following the descending scale. 



