3jSb PHILOSOPHICAL TRAKSACTIONS. [aNNO \73Q. 



6 inches long, cleft in the house, discovered several letters in the wood, about 

 1 inch and a half from the bark, and near the same distance from the centre of 

 the trunk. Two of these, db, show their old bark smooth and sound. The 

 wood lying between the letters and the bark of the trunk, as well as that be- 

 tween the letters and the heart of the tree, is likewise solid and sound, bearing 

 not the least trace of letters. The characters bd, being somewhat hollow, re- 

 ceive the bark of the letters db. 



The same letters are seen in the bark of the tree, only that they are partly 

 ill shaped, partly almost effaced ; whereas those within bear a due proportion, 

 as if done with a pencil. 



It is an ancient custom to cut nan)es, and various characters, on the rinds 

 of trees, especially on such as are smooth. That this has happened to our 

 beech, the mere inspection of the bark sufficiently shows. An incision made, 

 the tubuli conveying the nutritious juice, and the utriculi in which it is pre- 

 pared, are divided and lacerated, and more of them, as the incision was made 

 deeper and wider : and consequently the sap is not carried on in the circula 

 tion, but extravasated and stopped at the wounds. Hence the origin of the 

 characters in the bark and wood. 



Now as a new circle of fibres grows yearly on the tree, between the wood 

 and bark, a number of these may, in a process of years, more and more sur- 

 round the engraved characters, and at length cover them. And this number 

 was the greater in our beech, on account of better than half a century elapsed 

 since the incision, which was made in the year 1672, as appears on the outside 

 of the bark. But while new circles of fibres are successively added, the tunicle 

 or skin of the bark is broken each time, and the utriculi extended and dilated. 



M. Klein also mentions several other instances of the same kind, and ac- 

 counted for in the same manner, as treated of by different authors ; viz. Solo- 

 mon Reisel, John Meyer, Luke Schroeck, John Chrit. Gottwald, John James 

 Scheuchzer, and John Melch. Verdries. 



On the Ejects of Thunder on Trees, and on a large Deer's Horn found in the 

 Heart of an Oak. By Sir John Clark, one of the Barons of his Majesty's Ex- 

 chequer in Scotland, and F. R. S. N" 454, p. 235. 



Being lately in Cumberland, Sir J. C. there observed three curiosities in 

 Winfield-Park, belonging to the Earl of Thanet. The first was a huge oak, 

 at least 60 feet high, and 4 in diameter, on which the last great thunder had 

 made a very odd impression; for a piece was cut out of the tree, about 3 inches 

 broad, and 2 inches thick, in a straight line from top to bottom. The second 



