38 THE PINE. 



Here too are 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, every one 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 equa- 

 torial zone. In this fact there is no slight value, 

 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 calcu- 

 late 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 



