LAST OF THE POLLOK WYCH ELMS. 129 
In 1842 it was 12 feet 4 inches in girth at 5 feet. 
In 1858 it was 13 feet in girth at 5 feet. 
In 1862 it was 13 feet in girth at 5 feet. 
In 1892 it was 13 feet 9 inches in girth at 5 feet, and 94 feet high. 
It is evident from these figures that these measurements were 
not all taken at exactly the same point. They were either taken 
at five feet up on different sides, or the ground-level was changed. 
The latter was the case in the last measurement, as the ground- 
level was raised about one foot between 1862 and 1892. 
The measurements of the whole group taken in 1892 gave the 
following results :— 
No. 1 at 5 feet was 13 feet 9 inches in girth, and 94 feet high. 
No. 2 at 4 feet 2 inches was 11 feet 10 inches in girth. 
No. 3 at 3 feet 114 inches was 12 feet and a %4-inch in girth. 
No. 4 at 4 feet 9 inches was 13 feet 1%4 inches in girth. 
The reason for the circumferences being taken at irregular 
heights was owing to the abnormal growths peculiar to elms. 
They had to be measured wherever a circuit of the trunk could 
be got clear of these knotty excrescences. 
The two survivors were again measured in 1899 and 1904. 
The one measuring 11 feet 10 inches in 1892 was by far the less 
vigorous tree, and its state of health gradually declined as the 
years rolled on, until, at last, the foliage in summer was very 
meagre and the crown very small by the falling of branches 
through decay. It was not to be wondered at then, that, when 
measured in 1899, no increase had been made; and again, in 
1904, the same tale was repeated, or even exaggerated, because 
then it was actually half-an-inch less, or 11 feet 94 inches instead 
of 11 feet ro inches, as on the two former occasions. Here we 
have a nice point raised, namely—Does a standing tree in 
declining health shrink ?—a question which may look ridiculous, 
but one which will stand investigation, as this was not the only 
old dying tree in Pollok about which the same peculiarity 
was recorded last year. In the case before us, however, the 
variation of half-an-inch may be accounted for by the loss of some 
of the old cork bark which frequently becomes detached on very 
old trees of this class, and although there was no trace of such 
having happened, it would take so little to cause the slight 
difference that it may have been solely due to that. 
