ASH TREE. 



381 



tree which, in consequence of the profusion of its 

 seed, we find more often scattered in wild and sin- 

 gular places than any other not propagated by 

 the agency of birds, or conveyed by the winds. 

 This one had originally been rooted in the earth, 

 upon the top of a wall, but nourishment being re- 

 quired beyond what was supplied by the precarious 

 moisture of the scanty soil, its roots proceeded 

 downwards, winding their way through the crevices 

 of the stones into the earth beneath, and remained 

 apparently incorporated with the masonry ; the ma- 

 terials of this wall being wanted for an adjoining 

 work, were so pulled out, as to leave the tree with 

 all its roots detached, much as represented, with all 

 its vegetative powers uninjured: the root B had 



