188 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE CHAP, 
minor differences according to the situation 
in which they grow. 
Since, then, there is so much complex 
structure in a single leaf, what must it be in a 
whole plant? There is a giant seaweed (Mac- 
rocystis), which has been known to reach a 
length of 1000 feet, as also do some of the 
lianas of tropical forests. These, however, 
attain no great bulk, and the most gigantic 
specimens of the vegetable kingdom yet 
known are the Wellingtonia (Sequoia) gigan- 
tea, which grows to a height of 450 feet, and 
the Blue Gum (Eucalyptus) even to 480. 
One is apt to look on animal structure as 
more delicate, and of a higher order, than 
that of plants. And sono doubt it is. Yet 
an animal, even man himself, will recover 
from a wound or an operation more rapidly 
and more perfectly than a tree.’ 7 
Trees again derive a special interest from 
the venerable age they attain. In some cases, 
no doubt, the age is more or less mythical, as, 
for instance, the Olive of Minerva at Athens, 
the Oaks mentioned by Pliny, ‘which were 
1Sir J. Paget, On the Pathology of Plants. 
