22 THE OAK. 



by diverting the sap of the tree from essential organs to 

 their own use, and consequently check the healthy growth 

 of the trees. Unlike the other galls which, for the most 

 part, disappear with the foliage they are most conspi- 

 cuous during the season when the trees are bare of leaves. 

 They contain a considerable quantity of gallic acid, but 

 scarcely enough to render them of commercial value. 1 



I now come to speak of the flower and fruit of the Oak. 

 Of the former, every tree produces two kinds; the first 

 containing stamens only, and, therefore, producing no fruit. 

 These appear nearly as soon as the leaves, consisting of 

 yellow tasselled threads, which wither and drop off as 

 soon as they have shed the pollen or fructifying dust which 

 they contain; unless, as I have stated above, they happen 

 to have been perforated by one of the gall-insects. The 

 other kind of flower appears soon after, and is even less 

 conspicuous than the first; it is this which subsequently 

 produces the acorn. Of the acorn itself no description 

 need be given; no other natural production, perhaps, has 

 served as a model for so many ornamental works of art; 

 and this is to.be attributed not so much to the popularity 

 of the Oak, as to the finished elegance of form of the fruit 

 itself. 'Acorn-shaped' would, I should think, be a word 

 as readily understood as 'round' or 'square.' Acorns and 

 roses are in modern architecture what pomegranates and 

 lilies were in Jewish. Different in proportions though it is 

 in the various species of Oak, there is yet always similarity 

 enough to reveal the genus of the tree which produced it. 

 The ball may be almost buried in the cup, or may be dis- 

 proportionately long ; the latter may be almost smooth, or 

 rugged, or even mossy; yet, were an acorn of any species 

 to be placed before a person who had never seen any other 



1 These being of a closer texture, and harder than any other Oak 

 galls, are persistent. Coated with leaf gold, they produce a pleasing 

 effect, when mixed with evergreens, for Christmas decorations ; and 

 being, moreover, spherical, and for the most part nearly equal in size, 

 they might, perhaps, be used as a beading for picture frames. 



