268 VIEWS, &C. PHYSIOGNOMY OF PLANTS. 



naxuato is perfectly similar to that of the Fichtelberg in 

 Franconia. Both form grotesque domes, which break through 

 and are superimposed on transition argillaceous schists. In 

 the same manner pearl-stone, porphyritic schist, trachyte, 

 and pitch-stone porphyry present analogous forms in the 

 Mexican mountains, near Cinapecuaro and Moran, in Hun- 

 gary, Bohemia, and in Northern Asia. 



(12) p. 220 " The Colossal Dragon-tree of Orotava" 



This colossal dragon-tree (Dracaena draco) stands in the 

 garden of M. Franqui, in the little town of Orotava, called 

 formerly Taoro, one of the most charming spots in the world. 

 In June, 1799, when we ascended the Peak of TeiierifFe, we 

 found that this enormous tree measured 48 feet in circum- 

 ference. Our measurement was made at several feet above 

 the root. Nearer to the ground Le Dru found it nearly 79 

 feet. Sir G. Staunton asserts that at an elevation of ten 

 feet from the ground, its diameter is still 12 feet. The 

 height of the tree is not much more than 69 feet. Accord- 

 ing to tradition it would appear that this tree was venerated 

 by the Guanches (as was the ash-tree of Ephesus by the 

 Greeks, the Plantain of Lydia, which Xerxes decorated 

 with ornaments, also the sacred Banyan- tree of Ceylon), and 

 that in the year 1402, which was the period of Bethen- 

 court's first expedition, it was as large and as hollow as in the 

 present day. When it is remembered that the dragon-tree is 

 everywhere of very slow growth, we may conclude that the 

 one at Orotava is of extreme antiquity. Berthollet says, in 

 his description of Teneriffe, " On comparing the young 

 dragon-trees which grows near this colossal tree, the calcu- 

 lations we are led to make on the age of the latter strike the 

 mind with astonishment. "* The Dragon-tree has been culti- 

 vated from the most ancient times in the Canary isles, in 

 Madeira, and Porto Santo, and that accurate observer, Leopold 

 von Buch, found it growing wild near Iguesti in Teneriffe. 

 Its original habitat is not therefore the East Indies, as has 

 long been believed; and its appearance does not afford any 

 refutation of the opinion of those who regard the Guanches as 

 a wholly isolated primitive Atlantic race, having no intercourse 



* Nova Acta Acad. Leop. Carol. Natures Curiosorum, t. xiii. 

 1827, p. 781, 



