296 scoLOPENDRiuM vuLGARE. \October,'- 



Maple, several of our Plum-trees, Medlar, Sorb, etc. And, besides 

 these, how can we with any degree of consistency retain our pop- 

 lars ? Populus alba, P. tremula, P. nigra, and a multitude of Wil- 

 lows and Osiers, must be discarded. But again, where are we to 

 place our Elms? Are we certain of their nativity? Or was there ever 

 a time since this island emerged from the surrounding ocean when 

 the Elm-tree was absent from our farmhouses, our hedges, our 

 meadows, and our fields ? 



There is no historical record of the importation of any one of 

 the above-mentioned trees. Is Carpinus Betulus a native? Is 

 Betula Alnus a native ? Is the Ash a native ? Is Fagus sylva- 

 tica a native ? Csesar says it is not. What are the native trees 

 of Britain or of the British Isles, the Oak of the south and 

 the Pine of the north, and the Birch, and the Mountain Ash? 

 The Pine is not a true native of the south of Britain, nor, pro- 

 bably, is the Oak of the north. There are several counties where 

 the Mountain Ash is only a planted tree. The following are all 

 in the same predicament, viz. the Willows, the Poplars, the Ash, 

 the Elm, the Beech, the Maple, the Lime, the Hornbeam, and the 

 Chestnut. There is no historic evidence of their ever having 

 been introduced into this country ; and the ocular proof we have 

 and the historical accounts of many of them are presumptive 

 evidence of their nativity. 



But if any or many botanists choose to be hypercritical on this 

 subject, the history of the trees, — if they will still resist the testi- 

 mony of past ages and the results of experience and observation, 

 — we cannot help them ; nobody can convince them ; but it may 

 be said, without offence, that their objections and their arguments 

 have no great weight. Some excellent people have prejudices 

 and untenable conceits about the nativity of many other plants; 

 and it would be only labour lost to refute their pet arguments, 

 and try to upset their visionary speculative theories. 



SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARE, etc. 



By John Sim. 



This comparatively rare Fern (rare in Scotland only, I mean) 



was l)rought to me on the 2nd of July, from rocks in the Den of 



Murrayshall, near Perth, by Mr. Soutar, of New Scone village, 



