258 



ASH TREE. 



and impoverished growth point out the condition of the 

 plant. 



The notable exertions which vegetables occasionally 

 make to obtain nutriment may be instanced by the fol- 

 lowing rude drawing of an ash, a tree which, in con- 



sequence of the profusion of its seed, we find more 

 often scattered in wild and singular places than any 

 other not propagated by the agency of birds, or con- 

 veyed by the winds. This one had originally been root- 

 ed in the earth, upon the top of a wall, but nourish- 

 ment being required beyond what was supplied by the pre- 

 carious moisture of the scanty soil, its roots proceeded 

 downwards, winding their way through the crevices of 

 the stones into the earth beneath, and remained appa- 

 rently incorporated with the masonry ; the materials of 

 this wall being wanted for an adjoining work, were so 

 pulled out, as to leave the tree with all its roots detach- 

 ed, much as represented, with all its vegetative powers un- 

 injured: the root B had stretched itself along the top 

 of the wall, but how far it had extended in perfection, 

 is uncertain, being broken away when I saw it first. 

 The wood of the ash, when burned in a green state, 



