TREES IN NATURE 71 



sometimes more unreasonable creatures, till 

 they are able to protect themselves." The lime 

 is still a familiar tree in London parks. Those 

 in St. James's Park are said to have been 

 planted at the suggestion of Evelyn himself. 



The wood of the lime is light and fine- 

 grained, and is much employed by musical 

 instrument makers. Grinling Gibbons used 

 it for his elaborate carvings ; thus has the tree 

 entered into two arts. 



The distinctive feature of the beech, to the 

 mere observer, is its beautiful, smooth grey 

 bark. "Beech-bark," says Hamerton, "seems 

 to fit like a glove, having an appearance of 

 neatness far surpassing that of the fissured 

 barks, so that the rounded and swelling forms 

 of the trunk and the great limbs approach 

 nearer to the purity of well- formed human 

 limbs than those of any other English tree." 

 The play of light and shade on this smooth, 

 rounded surface produces exquisite gradations 

 of tone and colour. 



It is a widespreading tree, luxuriant rather 

 than noble in appearance ; but its roots, gradu- 

 ally sloping from the bole, and finally entering 

 the earth like great fingers, give it the appear- 



