PLANTS WITH MAN AND ANIMALS. 17 



.Jbring forth a folio of no inconsiderable size than a slender 8vo. of 114 

 pages ; yet Mr. Lees has, with much ingenuity, avoided encumbering 

 his subject with extraneous detail, or abridging it of that which was vital 

 to his purpose. Choosing his evidence with due discrimination, he 

 expatiates upon its features, passing from one to another rapidly but 

 impressively, and ultimately producing a very satisfactory outline of the 

 affinities he proclaims. His description of various trees remarkable for 

 their antiquity, or their great dimensions, or rendered subjects of interest 

 by historical event or local tradition, are spirited records of these 

 *' sylvan monarchs — these aged patriarchs of the glade.'* A few clever 

 illustrations on wood appertain to this portion of the essay ; they are 

 elaborately engraved, and their fidelity of likeness and neatness of eflfect, 

 notwithstanding a slight degree of hardness in the execution, must 

 recommend them to the observer. The Mitre Oak, on Hartlebury 

 Common, Worcestershire, engraved by Jewitt, from a drawing by Smith, 

 the Sorb tree in Wyre Forest, by the same, and the antique sculpture 

 above the door of Ribbesford Church, by Wood, are among the best. 

 The necessity of limiting the number of embellishments, precluded the 

 introduction of many beautiful graphic designs with which Mr. Lees 

 accompanied the delivery of his lecture. 



Worcestershire, it may be noticed, is rich in sylvan associations. 

 Among other trees situated in different parts of the kingdom, we may 

 name the Magdalen oak, which grew near the gate of the water walk by 

 Magdalen College, Oxford ; and Dumery's oak, near Blandford, Dor- 

 setshire, which measured sixty-eight feet in circumference at the base ; 

 and we may add three magnificent trees at Tredville, the seat of John 

 Plumtre, in the county of Kent, Esq. ; the splendid cedar of Lebanon, 

 now flourishing in the grounds of Stanford Court; and the Shelton oak, 

 near Shrewsbury, which tradition informs us was ascended by Owen 

 Glendwr for the purpose of reconnoitre^ when on his march to effect a 

 junction with Hotspur against Henry IV. The list might be easily 

 extended, but we refrain from a fear of exceeding our boundary. 



Mr. Lees has successfully demonstrated the affinities between plants, 

 man, and animals, but very properly considering that ** the province 

 of the lecturer should be chiefly to trace a few prominent objects that 

 may serve as beacons to the memory in private study, instead of wearying 

 with minute description," he has left much untouched, or merely alluded 

 to. The affinities between insects, birds, reptiles, and trees are almost 

 inexhaustible, and offer infinite scope for observation ; a singular fact 

 connected with the subject, we will here submit to the reader. The bark 

 of trees possesses the faculty of increasing sufficiently to enclose any 

 substance by which it may be either wounded or encompassed ; a re- 

 markable evidence of this is presented in the following circumstance, 

 communicated to us by a gentleman upon whose intelligence and accuracy 

 we can rely. According to our informant, whose words we have 

 endeavoured to preserve, " his attention was attracted towards a fine 

 young lime tree, the sap of which was rapidly exuding from between 

 two of the principal branches.*' " On examination,** pursues our friend, 

 *' I discovered, partially enclosed by the bark which had grown round him, 

 a huge toad, which would, in all probability, have been, ere long, entirely 

 encased, had I not, from an anxiety to preserve my tree, ordered the 

 animal to be removed. I conceive the toad must have been hybernizcd 

 in the recess formed between the branches, and that on waking, in his 

 efforts to free himself from this novel species of trap, he had wounded 

 the rind and caused the extraordinary flow of sap." This anecdote 

 may assist in throwing some light upon the undecided question by what 



NO. I. D 



