128 TREE ANCESTORS 



glacial period, although their continuous range had already been 

 interrupted by the formation of mountain ranges like those of the 

 western United States or those of central Asia which by their in- 

 terference with the chmatic equihbrium caused the development of 

 vast stretches of arid or semi-arid country Hke that of the present 

 day in central and southwestern Asia and in our own western and 

 southwestern states. 



The Pleistocene records of the beech include the remains of 

 wood, of an abundance of leaves as well as of nuts and husks, the 

 latter almost always present in buried swamp deposits. These 

 records embrace an extinct species in Japan, remains of the still 

 existing Fagtis japonica, and other leaves in that country which 

 are distinguished with difficulty from the European beech. The 

 latter, Fagiis sylvatica, occurs in England, Germany and southern 

 Europe at this time and is often associated with traces of Neolithic 

 man. The American beech, variously denominated {e.g., Fagus 

 ferruginea Alton, Fagus americana Sweet, Fagus atropimicea 

 (Marsh) Sudworth, and Fagus grandifolia Ehrhart), is wide- 

 spread in Pleistocene deposits. It is found in the Port Keimedy 

 bone cave in Pennsylvania ; in the bluffs of the Mississippi in west- 

 em Kentucky; in the high river terraces of West Virginia, and in 

 buried swamp deposits in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina 

 and Alabama. 



In the foregoing brief sketch I have refrained from saying much 

 about the utility of the beeches or of the surpassing beauty of their 

 Hght smooth bark and glossy symmetrical foliage. Beech woods 

 are the common heritage of the Anglo-Saxon race and are inti- 

 mately associated with our ancestors during the time that they 

 were slowly emerging from barbarism. Ages later they furnished 

 the best fuel for the open hearth heating and cooking of our more 

 immediate ancestors and along with the oaks furnished the mast 

 for the swine that roamed the forests of the feudal barons. 



The mist of tradition and history that clothes the beech should 

 inevitably awaken some of the thrill corresponding to that awak- 

 ened by a visit to some scene of ancient romance or tradition such 

 as Kenilworth Castle, Palestine or the scenes of classic Greece or 

 imperial Rome. 



