114 



ETON NATUKE-STUDY 



features which distinguish one species from another, occupy 

 the attention of the scientific student. Hence, it is sometimes 

 said that no one can be a completely trained naturalist who has 

 not busied himself with the determination of nearly allied creatures. 



Nature-study may well pave 

 the way for such work in a 

 general manner. 



The description of the sec- 

 tions of wood ought to be 

 made in detail, and when 

 some botanical knowledge is 

 acquired, the reasons for the 

 differences in structure which 

 show themselves, will be more 

 easily recognised. 



There are a number of points 

 that will offer themselves for 

 explanation. For instance, 

 one may well wonder how it 

 is that yew trees increase so 

 in size and flourish long after 



they have become hollow. The interpretation which has been 

 given, is that numbers of young twigs which grow from the outside 

 of the trunk coalesce, thereby adding to its size, and forming a 

 solid outer part. Figure 112 shows a section through a piece of 

 yew which is made up seemingly in the way described. 



Another instance may be given. The willow wood used in the 

 making of cricket bats is sometimes marked or shows irregularities 

 in the grain, and is termed "stainy" by the bat makers. The 

 presence of the " stains " is by no means considered a defect 



From a photograph by Wilfred Mark Webb. 



FIGUEE 112. Section through a piece of Yew. 



