44 THK ELM. 



Such multiplication occurs in the case of the wych-elm ; but very 

 sparingly or not at all, in England, in that of the stately small-leaved 

 one. With all their willingness to accommodate themselves to new 

 soils and to new countries and latitudes, there is of course a limit to 

 the endurance of a plant, and we must not be surprised if, when a tree 

 is brought from a far southern country, as the campestris probably was, 

 either by the Romans or the Crusaders, it should be unable so to 

 harden its nature as to ripen fruit with regularity, and so easily and 

 steadfastly as to propagate itself without the aid of man, who trans 

 ported it from its birthplace. 



After all, it is by no means certain that the wych-elm is a distinct 

 species. No less than seven different varieties of elm are distinguished 

 by the analytical school of botanists. Two species, the campestris and 

 the montana, seem sufficient, and to include all the others that have 

 been proposed ; and even these, as we say, are perhaps resolvable into 

 a single one. The great question of the present day with naturalists, 

 " What is a species?" seems further from solution than ever. Perhaps 

 the wisest course is to take things as we find them, and be content 

 with their beauty and their grace, their strength and their utilities. 



