341 [Assembly 



ages ; the terms used to designate it at different periods of the 

 world pro 76 this. The Romans called it Salix, the Celtic, after 

 them, called it Salloio, meaning, sal near and lis water, the tree 

 now, is as much known in many places by sallow as willow. 

 The Roman term salix was the root from which all the modern 

 names sprung, the Saxon has it salix, the French saule, Italian 

 salico, Spanish salec, all show its thirst for water in all ages and 

 countries, and that this way only to be quenched by a free use of 

 it and being near it. 



Hon. Richard Bacon, of Simsbury, Connecticut, presented fine 

 large apples from his orchard, which he desired the Club to exani- 

 ine and name the species. The apples were tested by the 

 members. 



Dr. Underbill observed that in his opinion they were a variety 

 of the fall pippin. The members concurred in that opinion. 



Specimens of the two red pines of California, with their foliage, 

 were on the table and were examined by the members. These 

 specimens were transmitted from California by Andrew Williams 

 Esq., one of the earliest members of the American Institute. 



It appears on examination that the annual rings of these two 

 pines are extremely thin, so much so, that one tenth of an inch 

 contains, perhaps, four or five of these rings on an average. One 

 of these pines has its fibres all regularly waving like the curls of 

 hair in some cases. Some of these trees are found to be three 

 hundred feet high and twenty feet in diameter. A tree of that 

 diameter has therefore about four thousand rings — showing how 

 it began to grow about the time when the Egyptians were found- 

 ing the pyramids Lindley says that the locust tree of Brazil, is 

 of about the same age — that they were growing in the age of Ho- 

 mer, and were 332 years old when Pythagoras was living. The 

 same age is attributed to the enormous eufcalyptus of Australia. 



The subject of new plants and the osier willow was ordered for 

 the next meeting. 



