a7id ati the Means of ascertainmg it. 343 



1660. If, as we are informed, they are still in existence, they 

 ought to be fourteen centuries and a half old. 



That of Fotheringall in Scotland * was, in 1770, 2588 lines in 

 diameter, and therefore, twenty-five or twenty-six centuries old. 



That in the churchyard of Braburn, county of Kent, was, in 

 1660, nearly 2880 lines in diameter, and if it be existing at 

 present, should be 8000 years old. 



I venture to point out these trees to the foresters and bota- 

 nists of England, that they may verify them, ^nd if possible 

 ascertain the law of their growth, for it is very probable that 

 the oldest specimens of European vegetation are to be found 

 there +. 



For the same reasons, I recommend to those who may have it in 

 their power, to study the law of the growth and dimensions of the 

 CeUis or nettle-tree, box-tree, carob-tree, beech-tree, phillyrea J, 



• The yew-tree here alluded to, stands in the church-yard of Fortingal, 

 at the entrance to Glenlyon in Perthshire. It was described by the Hon. 

 Dames Barrington in 1769, (Phil. Trans, vol. lix.) : he mentions that, at that 

 period, on one side of the trunk the outward bark only remained, the centre 

 having decayed ; that the fresh portion was then 34 feet in circumference ; 

 but that he could then measure the entire bole, and had in fact measured it 

 twice over, and ascertained it to be 52 feet. This ancient tree still lives, 

 and was visited, in July 1833, by Mr Neill, Secretary to the Caledonian 

 Horticultural Society. From him we learn, that considerable spoliations 

 have evidently been committed on the tree since 1769; large arms have been 

 removed, and masses of the trunk itself carried off by the country people, 

 with the view of forming quechs or drinking-cups and other relics, which vi. 

 sitors were in the habit of demanding. The remains of the trunk now pre- 

 sent the appearance of a semicircular wall, exclusive of traces of decayed 

 wood which scarcely rise above the ground. Great quantities of new spray 

 have issued from the firmer parts of the bark, and a few young branches 

 spring upwards to the height perhaps of 20 feet. The side of the trunk now 

 existing gives a diameter of more than 15 feet, so that it is easy to conceive 

 that the circumference of the bole when entii'e should have exceeded 50 feet. 

 Happil)', farther depredations have been prevented by means of an iron-rail, 

 which now surroundsi the sacred spot ; and this venerable yew^ which in all 

 probability was a flourishing tree at the commencement of the Christian era, 

 may yet survive for centuries to come. —Ed. 



•f- A Ficm IndicCf on the banks of the Nerbudda, is celebrated throughout 

 India, on account of its vast size and great antiquity. It answers to the tree 

 described by Nearchus, and therefore cannot be less than 2500 years old Ed. 



X There are some specimens of Phillyrea laHfolia in the garden of Mont- 

 pellier, planted in all probability in the year 1 598. 



