THE ARCHITECTURE OF TREES 163 



wind to disturb its dignified calm. Its tortuous 

 branches will not bend. Only straight young 

 branches yield with the slightest appearance of 

 willingness; and that the highest and outer- 

 most, and therefore most slender branches, 

 cannot resist, only evidences by contrast the 

 tree's essential immobility. The stalwart chest- 

 nut yields more and more gracefully. The 

 sycamore yields with long, slow, swaying move- 

 ments. The ash is quicker. The motions of 

 the beech often lack rhythm. The strong but 

 lofty elm and lime let their branches sway up 

 and down. The Lombardy poplar gracefully 

 bows its head, and lets the wind play with its 

 plumes. The smaller trees lean bodily before 

 the gale. All this variety of resistance and of 

 movement, and more, do we see, as we watch 

 the trees on a windy day. I have already in 

 a previous chapter had to say something about 

 the movement of the leaves of different trees, 

 which perhaps is hardly to be considered as 

 connected with their architecture, in the sense 

 in which we are using the term. 



Some of the effects upon trees of winds 

 blowing prevalently from one quarter are 

 readily seen. Often the whole tree is thrown 



