20 THE PINE. 



of that mountain and going due north in a direct line ; or if the moun- 

 tain in question be upon the Australian side of the equator, then it is 

 like starting from the base and going in a direct line southwards. In 

 a less degree, this curious parallelism is observable even in the moun- 

 tains of Europe, which present successively, as we ascend them, the 

 plants of countries more and more northerly. It may be remarked 

 indeed in the mountains of our own country. Very different is the 

 vegetation of Borrowdale from that of the tremendous summits that 

 rise upon its flanks. In the green meadow by the river are the purple 

 columbine and the lotus ; as we ascend the slopes, their place is taken 

 by the delicate parsley-fern ; and by-and-bye we enter the region of 

 the club-mosses, and of that lovely plant the alpine lady's -mantle, with 

 leaves that are plaited like a fan, and lined as it were with satin. Here 

 too are little saxifrages and mosses, that, like the chamois tribe, are 

 never seen upon the plains. 



Just of this nature, only on a far grander scale, is the succession of 

 plants upon a mountain-side in countries near the line. Ararat, 

 Teneriffe, and the Himalayas, show it in perfection ; and thus are we 

 prepared for the existence of pine and fir-trees at a very little distance 

 from palms, but higher up. Some of the noblest of the race are found 

 upon the high grounds of Mexico and northern India ; and coming 

 nearer home, everyone will remember the frequent allusions in Holy 

 Writ to the firs upon the mountains of Palestine, and to the cedars 

 that made Lebanon glorious, as contrasted with the palms which 

 flourished by the water- side. The world may be compared to two 

 great snow-capped mountains of the tropics, sliced off and placed base 

 to base, so that the tops shall be the poles, the midway portions 

 the temperate zones, the conjoined bases the equatorial zone. The 

 practical value of this great fact is immense, since the exact ratio that 

 a given elevation bears to a certain distance north or south of the 

 equator, is now pretty well known, and skilful men can calculate what 

 plants are likely to allow of culture in remote countries, where instead 

 of plains there are mountains, or vice versa. 



In the structure of their stems and branches, pine and fir trees 

 resemble the oak. They have distinct bark, wood, and pith, and the 

 annual rings by which then: ages may be reckoned, are ordinarily very 

 distinct. Viewed with the microscope, the delicate fibres of the wood 

 are found however to present a very singular and pretty appearance. 

 They are marked from end to end, as it were, with little spangles, so 

 differently dispersed as to serve as capital distinctive characters for the 



