THE OCCIDENTAL PLANE. 



289 



ibis rule ; for if the tree be examined while in full foliage, 

 not a single bud can be detected. On a closer inspection, 

 however, it will be observed, that the leaf- stalk is much 

 swollen at the base, being there as thick as the twig which 

 supports it. Carefully detach it, and it will be found to 

 be hollow, and to inclose a green bud, which remains 

 behind after the leaf has been removed. The use of tho 



hollow stem is to shelter the young bud during the colds 

 of autumn. But when the leaf has fallen off, the bud is 

 not left without protection, for it is enveloped in a tough 

 case lined with a kind of resin, which is impenetrable to 

 wet; within this is a similar case lined externally with 

 the same coating ; next come a number of scales covered 

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