68 ACEBACE.E. 



We now come to another family of trees, the members of 

 which are familiar to us in every stage of growth. In the 

 winged seed of the SYCAMOBE may be found a miniature repre- 

 sentation of the young plant, with its stems and leaves ; near 

 the parent tree we soon see a pair of leaflets spring, and in 

 a few months a fresh shoot rises, and an exquisitely-folded 

 palmate leaf begins to open. A little higher and a little higher 

 marks the progress from year to year, until the stages of child- 

 hood and youth are past, and the fine forest tree has attained 

 maturity, and stands in the full dignity of blossoms and fruit. 



" Then he spoke to those wood-dwellers, 

 ' Ye are like to men, 

 And I learn a lesson from ye 

 With my spirit's ken : 

 Like to us in low beginnings, 

 Children of the patient earth, 

 Born like us to rise on high, 

 Ever nearer to the sky, 



And like us by slow advances from the minute of your birth.' " 



CHAMBERS' Journal. 



The Latin name for this family, Acer, means sharp, because 

 in olden times sharp instruments of war were made of Sycamore 

 wood. In the present day it is principally employed in making 

 platters, bowls, and musical instruments. This tree lives to a 

 great age. There is a Sycamore in the county of Edinburgh 

 known to have been planted there before the Reformation. 

 The Egyptians held the Sycamore in high estimation, and in 

 them they were chastised. " He smote their Vines with hail, 

 and their Sycamore trees with frost." The trees of this family 

 have blossoms with five sepals, five petals, and eight stamens. 



The Maple is a low-growing tree, seldom rising much above 

 the hedgerow ; its leaves are smaller than those of the Syca- 

 more, and its flower-cluster is erect, not pendant as in that 

 species. In both the winged seeds hang in graceful groups, 

 and receive tints of crimson from the summer sun. The bark 

 is very deeply furrowed, and the Kentish farmers value it on 

 this account for Hop-poles, the rough surface affording warmth 



