THE LONGEVITY OF TREES. 121 



they have grown to six feet in diameter in the course of two 

 centuries, we may calculate how many centuries they would 

 require to attain the full diameter of twenty-five feet." * Soon 

 afterwards, Adanson communicated to the Royal Academy of 

 Sciences of Paris a full account of the Baobab ; which was 

 published in the volume of Memoirs of that society for the 

 year 1761 ; and, lastly, he wrote the article " Baobab " for the 

 supplement to the great French Encyclopaedia, published in 

 the year 1776. These accounts, although more detailed, em- 

 body no essential additions to what has already been given. 

 He says that the trees in question were two in number, upon 

 the bark of which the names of Europeans were engraved, 

 with dates, some posterior to the year 1600 ; and others, as 

 far back as 1555, were probably the work of those who ac- 

 companied Thevet, who, in his voyage to antarctic lands, saw 

 some of these trees that same year. 2 Some of the dates ap- 

 peared to be anterior to 1500, but these were somewhat equiv- 

 ocal. Neglecting, therefore, the indistinct dates in the four- 

 teenth century, continues Adanson, and even allowing that 

 the inscriptions were made when the trees were very young, 

 which is highly improbable, as they occupied less than an 

 eighth of the entire circumference, it is evident, that, if the 

 Baobab has attained six feet in diameter between 1555 and 

 1749, that is, in two hundred years, it would require more 

 than eight centuries to attain the diameter of twenty-five feet, 

 supposing the growth to continue at a uniform rate. But 

 Adanson goes on to say that trees grow the more slowly as 

 they advance in age ; so that such an estimate would fall 



1 "Voyage au Senegal," Paris, 1757, p. 66. 



2 " Aupres du promontoire Verd, y a trois petites isles prochaines de 

 terre ferme, autres que celles, que nous appellos Isles de Cap Verd, dont 

 nous parlerons cy apres, assez belles, pour les beaux arbres, qu'elles 

 produissent ; toutesfois elles ne sont habite'es. . . . En 1'une de ces isles 

 se trouve un arbre, lequel porte feuilles semblables a celles de noz 

 iiguiers ; le fruit est log de deux pieds ou enviro, et gros en proportion," 

 etc. (Thevet, " Singularite's de la France Antarctique ; " Anvers, 1558, 

 p. 18.) Thevet proceeds to describe the fruit, its edible character, its 

 furnishing food for monkeys, etc., so as to leave no doubt as to its being 

 a Baobab. 



