94 



ACORN3 AND OAKS. 



A. Acorn germinating. The shell ruptured at the 

 top ; an umbilical vessel from each lobe of the nut ; 

 the germ at their union, but hardly visible. 



B. The young plant. The root extended ; the 

 plumule, or future stem, barely developed. Durable 

 trees make roots first. 



What scale so fine as to measure, or what bal- 

 ance so delicate as to weigh, the present germes of 

 the thousands of giant oaks which are all to be pro- 

 duced by that little thing in its infant dress, and 

 which are to form those future navies by which the 

 sea is made to rule as well as encom; ass the land ! 



PENSHANGER OAK. 



That and other of the great oaks which have justly 

 acquired celebrity in various parts of England, as 

 being both ornaments and historical records, pro- 

 duce enough of acorns every fertile year to stock a 



