76 



GLIMPSES INTO PLANT-LIFE 



As the bark is hard and inelastic, it cannot 

 expand in proportion, and therefore has to crack 

 and spht in )'ielding to the internal pressure. If 

 we look for these fresh cracks, we shall see the 





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fit 3: t^' 





, A ^ !» 



'4 



■I. 



clean new bark within, which, before long, \\ill 

 harden and become of the same shade of gre)' as 

 the rest of the stem. 



It is at this season, too, that the plane-tree sheds 

 off its fragments of bark in greatest quantity, as 



