LONGEVITY OF TREES. 83 



The real value of these enormous dimensions will be best felt if our readers would 

 make a circle in a field of 180 feet in circumference, and then measure a distance oi 

 70 yards to indicate the width and height of a tree. 



There are several ancient oaks in England, through the remains of whose hollow 

 trunks coaches have been driven ; and in New Zealand it is said to be a common 

 txjcurrence to use decayed trees as stables. 



The following list of ancient trees may be found in a French work, the " Teratologie 

 Vegetale," and their ages have been computed upon the principles now laid down. 



List of old trees, according to Maguire and Tandon. There are known : 



Palms of 200, 300 years. 



Cereus 300 



Chirodendron 327 



Ulmus (Elm) 355 



Cupressus (Cypress) 388 



Hedera (Ivy) 448 



Acer (Maple) 516 



Larix (Larch) 263, 576 



Castanea (Chesnut) 360, 626 



Citrus (Orange) 400, 509, 640 



Plantanus (Plane) 720 



Cedrus (Cedar) 200, 800 



Juglans (Walnut) 900 



Tilia (Lime) 364, 530, 800, 825, 1076 



Abies (Spruce) . 1200 



Quercus (Oak) .... 600, 800, 860, 1000, 1600 



Olea (Olive) 700, 1000, 2000 



Taxus (Yew) .... 1214,1466,2588,2888 



Schubertia 3000, 4000 



Leguminosae 2052, 4104 ,, 



Adansonia (Baobab) of Senegal 6000 



Dracaena (Dragon' s Blood Tree) of Teneriffe . . 6000 



When we remember that the two latter periods carry us back to the days of Adam, 

 and contrast them with the ordinary destructibility of vegetable growths, they appear to 

 be incredible, and we cannot but suspect that some elementary error has crept into the 

 computation. 



Since the quantity of woody fibre produced depends mainly upon the number of 

 leaves upon the tree, and the number of leaves must bear some proportion to the size 

 of the tree, it might be inferred that the quantity of wood deposited would increase 

 with much regularity as the age of the tree advanced. This increase might be mani- 

 fested in two, or one of two ways viz., the increasing length of the zone and its 

 increasing width. It is very probable that an increase does take place in the annual 

 deposit, until the tree has attained its maximum of growth ; and it is quite clear that 

 so long as the tree enlarges, the circumference of each zone must increase likewise ; 

 but there is no evidence that the zone at the same time increases in thickness. This 

 militates against the oft-repeated attempt to determine the age of a tree from its 

 diameter ; and if there were no- other source of fallacy, it would suffice to remind our 

 readers that the growth of trees must depend upon the varying nature of the soil, the 



