Ymkshire, 55S 



Within a few feet of the edge of the precipice, on the 

 summit, is now to be seen a regular row of ash trees, rooted in 

 the nearest crevice, proceeding to work down the next series 

 of fragment ; Hke vegetable pioneers, preparing to demolish^ 

 in the slow course of nature, this rocky barrier. The yew, 

 the holly, the ivy, and other bushes, are also taking a share 

 in this work ; but the ash tree is the most prominent in the 

 ranks. 



I have seldom seen, either in England or on the Continent, 

 an example so striking as the present of the force of vege- 

 tation, in clothing and preparing the barren surface of rocks 

 for future soil and fertility. I have visited this spot several 

 times, at intervals of a year or two ; and I have little doubt 

 that, in process of time, the summit of this craggy ridge will 

 be rounded off by the grassy mantle being drawn over it 

 from the pasture surface on the east ; while the sloping side, 

 on the west, is receiving its covering from the wood at its 

 base. 



The foregoing sketch may convey a useful hint to the 

 proprietor of the neighbouring barren rocky slopes ; viz., to 

 plant a wood of the above-named trees, and others, at their 

 western base, with the view of promoting the earlier formation 

 of soil upon them ; but how soon such effect would be pro- 

 duced, it would require long consultations, indeed, with nature 

 to be able to pronounce. 



On the ruined site of an abbey, at the entrance of Dover, 

 is to be seen a group of ash trees growing in the midst of 

 the grassy mounds : I have no doubt they have been the final 

 demolishers of the ruin, the remains of which are now very 

 much covered with grass. — A, JR. B, Laytonstone, near London^ 

 March, 1832. 



Some plants are more saxifractory than others; and the 

 genus *Saxifraga, according to Martyn's Miller's Dictionary, 

 receives its name from the saxifractory capabilities of some of 

 the species: to this end, those which grow in large cushion- 

 like tufts (included in De Candolle's section Dactyloides) are 

 most subservient. The numerous plants which inhabit rocks, 

 mountains, and hills, are doubtless agents, each more or less 

 effective, in the process of saxifraction. — J". D, 



^-^i • \j..^'^</t. XS i^j ji . . ^. 



', ^.jf^^f. tj,^ ^ r, ; »^ YORKSHIRE. 



Birds found in the Neighbourhood of Wensleydale, in the 

 North Ridi?ig of Yorkshire. — Sir, I am not aware whether I 

 have been anticipated by any of your correspondents in a 

 former volume of your Magazine, in a list of the birds found 

 in this neighbourhood, at the mouth (if I may be allowed the 



