352 THE FIR TRIBE. 



impregnated with resinous juice, becomes surcharged to 

 such a degree as to double its weight in a year." 1 Mean- 

 while the trunk increases in dimensions, and encloses the 

 hard stump in its substance ; and hence originate the dark 

 circular knots, so common in most kinds of Fir-wood. In 

 the main stem the woody fibres are less close than in most 

 other trees ; the effect of which is, that the wood is more 

 elastic, bending before the blast, but not breaking ; and 

 the resinous nature of the juices in every part of the tree 

 defies the influence of the severest frost. 



On examining the leaves, we find an equally beautiful 

 adaptation of these organs to the circumstances in which 

 they are placed. The thin dilated leaves commonly to be 

 found during the summer months on deciduous trees in 

 the plains, would here be soon torn to pieces or scattered 

 by the wind ; if, on the other hand, they partook of the 

 character of the lowland evergreens, such as the Laurel 

 and Bay, that is to say, if they had a broad surface and a 

 tough substance, the very resistance they offered would 

 bring destruction on the tree they clothed. The wind 

 would act on them mechanically, like the force exerted on 

 the long arm of a lever, and the breeze, instead of passing 

 freely through the branches with a low murmur .(one of 

 the pleasantest sounds in nature), would be as destructive 

 as the most terrific hurricanes which occasionally devastate 

 the forests of countries within the Tropics. 



But besides being admirably adapted for withstanding 

 the violence of the storms, to which the Firs are, from 

 their situation, peculiarly liable, the leaves of these trees 

 are no less remarkable in other respects. Subject to 

 almost uninterrupted exposure to cold, the resinous juices 

 in which they abound serve as a safeguard against its 

 injurious effects, and yet their shape is such as to be 

 naturally the cause of their temperature being lower than 

 that of surrounding bodies. A person walking through a 



1 Michaux. 



