154 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 



cleared away by fires ; the canoe birch does 

 the same, and these two are the only trees of 

 which this fact has been noticed. 



" Now, my dears, here is a nut ; can you 

 tell me what the name of it is ?" 



" Oh yes, to be sure we can, Uncle Philip ; 

 it is a horse-chestnut." 



" Very right ; and now can you tell me 

 what this is ? you see it is exactly like the 

 other, except that it is not much more than 

 half as large." 



" Why, that is a horse-chestnut too, Uncle 

 Philip." 



" Very right again, but the large one is the 

 Asiatic, and the other the American ; that is, 

 the small one is a native of this country, and 

 the other came originally from Asia, although 

 it is now very common in this country. This 

 small horse-chestnut is called, in order to distin- 

 guish it from the other, and, from the spot on 

 one side of it, the buck-eye; and from its being 

 found only on the banks of the Ohio River, 

 some writers call it the Ohio buck-eye. The 

 tree on which it grows is quite small, seldom 

 exceeding ten or twelve feet in height ; the 

 leaves grow in a curious fashion ; five of 

 them are always found springing from one 



