THE PERSONALITY OF TREES 305 



among reptiles, the apteryx among birds, and the 

 bison among mammals, the forlorn hope of the 

 great redwoods, making a last stand in a few 

 small groves of California, awaits total extinc- 

 tion at the hands of the most terrible of Nature's 

 enemies— man. When the last venerable giant 

 trunk has fallen, the last axe-stroke which severs 

 the circle of vital sap will cut the only thread of 

 individual life which joins in time the beating of 

 our pulses to-day with the beginning of human 

 history and philosophy, — thousands of years in 

 the past. 



Through all the millions of years during which 

 the evolution of modern forms of life has been 

 going on, then as now, trees must have entered 

 prominently into the environment and lives of the 

 terrestrial animals. Ages ago, long before snakes 

 and four-toed horses were even foreshadowed, 

 and before the first bird-like creatures had ap- 

 peared, winged reptile-dragons flew about, doubt- 

 less roosting or perching on the Triassic and 

 Jurassic trees. Perhaps the very pieces of coal 

 which are burned in our furnaces once bent and 

 swayed under the weight of these bulky animals. 

 Something like six millions of years ago, long- 

 tailed, fluttering birds appeared, with lizard-like 

 claws at the bend of their wings and with jaws 

 filled with teeth. These creatures were certainly 

 arboreal, spending most of their time among the 

 branches of trees. So large were certain great 



