FOREIGN NOTICES. 



n Cvpross or Juniper. Tlio leaves nre pnle grass green ; those of the yo\ing trees are spreading' 

 witli a shiirp actiniiiuite jioint The cones are about 2^ incites long, and 2 inclits across at the 

 tliickest jmrt The trunk of the tree in question was perfectly solid, from the sap-wood to the 

 center; and judging from the number of concentric rings, its ago lias been estimated at 3000 

 yeiirs. The wood is light, soft, and of a reddish color, like Redwood, or Taxodlnm scmpcrvirena. 

 Of this vegetable monster, twenty-one feet of the bork, from tlie lower part of the trunk, have 

 been put in the natural form in San Francisco for exhibition ; it there forms a spacious carpeted 

 room, and contains a piiino, witli seats for forty persons. On one occasion one hundred and forty 

 children were admitted without inconvenience. An exact representation of this tree, drawn on 

 the spot, is now in the hands of the lithographers, and will be publislied in a few days.' 



" What a tree is this ! — of what portentous aspect and almost fabulous antiquity ! They say 

 that the specimen felled at the junction of the Stanislau and San Antonio was above 3000 years 

 old; that is to say, it must have been a little plant when Samson was slaying the Philistines, or 

 Pakis running away with Helen, or ^neas carr^'ing off good pater Anchises upon his filial shoul- 

 dei"8. And this may very well be true, if it does not grow above two inches in diameter in 

 twenty years, which we believe to be the fact. 



"At all events, we have obtained the plant. Tlie seed received by Messre. Veitcii has all the 

 appearance of vitality ; and since the tree is Iftrdy and evergreen, it is a prodigious acquisition. 

 But what is its name to be ? 



"Are the plants of Lobd and Douglas identical? Possibly, no doubt; for Douglas reached 

 lat. 38 dcg. 45 min. K, and therefore was within the geographical range of Lobb's discovery. 

 But it is quite as possible that he meant some other tree, also of gigantic dimensions ; and it is 

 hardly to be imagined that so experienced a traveler would have mistaken a tree with the foliage 

 of a Cypress and the cones of a Pine for a Taxodhnn, and still less for the species semper v ire ns. 

 Besides, the slendei-ness of the specimens he saw is greatly at variance with the colossal propor- 

 tions of the plant before us. That, at all event", the latter can not be regarded as a Sequoia we 

 have explained in another column ; and we think that no one will differ from us in feeling that 

 the most appropriate name to be proposed for the most gigantic tree which has been revealed to 

 us by modern discovery is that of the greatest of modern heroes. Wellington stands as high 

 above his contemporaries n,~ the Californian tree above all the surrounding foresters. Let it then 

 bear henceforward the name of Wellingtonia gigantea. Emperors and kings and princes have 

 their plants, and we must not forget to place in the highest rank among them our own great 

 warrior. 



Walks on Hilly Ground. — In a season like the present, when lieavy drenching rains succeed 

 each other in quick succession, the comforts of a good gravel walk can scarcely be over-rated. It 

 is, therefore, a serious drawback when paths are not good ; and there are many that are not so, 

 owing as much to the injudicious manner in which they have been made, as to the indifferent 

 materials of which they are composed ; but there are walks likewise with which in ordinary 

 weather no fault can be found, but which after heavy rains present a guttered and broken 

 appearance. Such walks are those on hill sides, when the water is sure to break them up into 

 gullies, more or less deep. Now, to obviate this defect, many Avalks are provided with outlets at 

 the sides, where the water is caught by an earthenware pipe, which conveys it to some subterra- 

 nean channel. Now these outlets, or eyes as they are called, are, to say the least of them, but 

 clumsy appurtenances to a walk ; and they must be pretty numerous, otherwise the accumulation 

 of water does all the mischief they are intended to remedy. Any plan, therefore, that would bind 

 the walk together, so as to resist the flow of water, without at the same time rendering it 

 unpleasant to walk upon, must be an acquisition, provided it be capable of general application. 

 Now, the following, though possibly nothing new, will effect this object: — Pound some good 

 lime, (not slake it,) and convey some of it to the damaged walks ; then mix it with the gravel in 

 something like the proportion of one part lime to four or five of gravel. A small quantity only 

 ought to be mixed at a time with water, and then laid on immediately, beating and smoo 

 accordingly; then another quantity; and so on, until the whole is done. The mass by 



