60 THE HARMONIES OF NATURE. 



geologist when describing the ancient and eternal strife between 

 the ocean and the land. 



A similar formation of pendulous roots distinguishes the screw- 

 pines, those singular plants whose foliage resembles that of the 

 palm or bromelia, while their fruits remind one of the cones 

 of the fir-tree or the pine. The older trees which require this 

 additional support send forth their aerial roots in so opportune a 

 manner that one might suppose them gifted with a peculiar 

 instinct. For if the screw-pine, as is frequently the case, reclines 

 to one side, the pendulous roots not only exclusively grow in this 

 direction, which chiefly requires to be propped, but seem even 

 able to choose the most proper places for their attachment. 



The screw-pines grow on a sandy as well as on a rocky soil, 

 for their roots spread out in considerable ramifications, and 

 penetrate into the smallest cavities or crevices of the stony 

 ground. They frequently grow in fantastic forms on the brinks 

 of precipices overhanging the abyss, and then again twist 

 their branches into a vertical position. Content with the most 

 meagre soil, their frugality and the ease with which they 

 strike root render them extremely serviceable in paving the 

 way for a more luxurious vegetation on rocks or sandy shores. 

 Thus they are widely spread on low islands and coasts 

 throughout the whole tropical zone, where the lively green of 

 their long ribbon-like leaves and the glowing crimson of their 

 fruits contribute in a great degree to the beauty of the land- 

 scape. 



But of all the plants which support themselves by means of 

 pendulous roots, there is none more remarkable than the beau- 

 tiful and stately Banyan, the vegetable wonder of India. Each 

 of these marvellous trees is in itself a grove, and some of them 

 are of astonishing size, as they are continually increasing, and, 

 contrary to most other animal and vegetable productions, seem 

 to be exempted from decay, for every branch from the main body 

 throws out its own roots, at first in small tender fibres, several 

 yards from the ground, which continually grow thicker, until by 

 a gradual descent they reach its surface, where, striking in, they 

 increase to a large trunk and become a parent tree, throwing 

 out new branches from the top. These in time suspend their 

 roots, and receiving nourishment from the earth, swell into 

 trunks, and send forth other branches, thus continuing in a state 



