238 LIFE OF A TREE. 
And is it not so when we can point to the steam- 
ing dung-heap in proof of the wisdom and fore- 
sight of the Great Creator and Lawgiver of the 
Universe ? 
In old trees that are undergoing this last of 
changes, a great many agents help forward the 
process. Among these we must specially par- 
ticularize the fungus or mushroom tribe of plants 
and the wood-boring insects. The latter are 
generally its first visitors; some of them attach 
themselves to the heart-wood, others to the 
bark, and in a short time these innumerable 
little carpenters will be found to have filled the 
trunk with their tiny mines, covered ways, and 
winding corridors; the wood then becomes satu- 
rated with moisture, and the process of decay 
advances rapidly. Now come the various spe- 
cies of mushrooms or fungi, and establish them- 
selves on the decaying mass, presenting us with 
a strange and painful spectacle. By and by 
these too pass away, and perish, and then the 
venerable trunk has become one with the 
soil. 
Long, therefore, though the majestic mass 
