306 THE WHITE BIRCH. 



Dworotrkoi, in Siberia, a piece of birch wood was found 

 changed into stone, while the outer bark, white and shin- 

 ing, remained in its natural state. 



So many of the most delightful scenes of nature are 

 in my own mind allied with the different birches, that 

 there is not one that does not immediately call up some 

 charming scenery and impress my mind with pleasant 

 memories. He who in his early days was a rambler in 

 the woods is familiar with the White Birch trees. They 

 have shaded him in his sylvan researches and his solitary 

 musings, his social walks in quest of flowers with the sex 

 for whom the flowers seemed to be created, or with his 

 male companions in pursuit of game. "When journeying, 

 these graceful trees, in company with the fragrant pitch- 

 pines, have offered him their flickering shade, and along 

 the sandy plains have defended him from the scorching 

 heat of the sun, and spread a leafy canopy over his rustic 

 path. In the sultry heat of summer noonday, I have 

 often followed the course of some humble cart-path 

 through their tangled undergrowth, gathering wild fruits 

 from bush and bramble, or watching the singing-birds 

 that nestled in their boughs and blended their wild notes 

 with the sound of the green rustling leaves. 



All the birches are graceful trees. Their branches are 

 finely divided, like those of the elm and the lime, and 

 many of them incline to a drooping habit. There is a 

 remarkable airiness in their slender feathery spray, ren- 

 dered still more lively in the White Birch by its small 

 tremulous leaves. This species is found in the highest 

 latitude in which any tree can live. It is the last de- 

 ciduous tree in the northern boundaries of vegetation in 

 America and Europe, before we reach the Arctic Circle, 

 and the last that appears when we ascend high moun- 

 tains, occupying the belt just below the line of perpetual 

 snow. It is worthy of notice that the small White Birch 



