BEECH-TREE. 123 



shades, into which they penetrated, their retreating tramp 

 was heard gradually dying away." 



My stately brother, the strong oak, has spoken con- 

 cerning the abundance of his acorns, and that from year 

 to year he has scattered millions upon the earth. Methinks 

 my liberality is equally manifested, and my fruit deserving 

 of brief notice. Observe the ovate form of the enclosing 

 calyx, its silkiness, and pliant prickles, and how beautifully 

 the brown and glossy mast fits within that elegant re- 

 ceptacle. A botanist will tell you, that the beech-mast 

 exhibits in its growth a familiar illustration of vegetable 

 economy. First uprise from out the earth cotyledons, or 

 seed-lobes, which, like careful nurses, cherish and look well 

 to the young plant when it begins to expand, and from which 

 the first leaves are derived; secondly, the corculum, or 

 heart, placed between the cotyledons, and which exhibits in 

 its emerging a plumule, or feather-like appearance, which 

 gradually changes into a tuft of young leaves; thirdly, an 

 internal scar, called the eye, or hilum; and lastly, the 



