OAK-TREE. 67 



herb, in allusion to Atropos, one of the Eates, or Parcse, 

 who was fabled to sever the thread of life. 



Men boast of their superior wisdom ; I hear them dis- 

 puting beneath my branches concerning things which they 

 cannot understand. But let them consider this wonderful 

 phenomenon, and explain why it is that such a difference 

 should exist between two vegetable productions growing 

 side by side. We are rooted in the same soil, and the 

 same sun shines upon us ; we are equally refreshed by the 

 dew of heaven, and by the rains of the vernal season. 

 And yet the moisture of the earth, received through the 

 roots of each, becomes changed in its nature, and either 

 in the bark, or leaves, or fruit, deposits secretions opposite 

 in their effects ; one exuding a deadly poison, the other 

 such secretions only as are beneficial in their results. 



Consider, for a moment, the variety and beautiful ar- 

 rangement of the cells and vessels, through which the sap, 

 productive of such effects, freely circulates ; that, during a 

 period, perhaps, of many hundred years, moisture is ab- 



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