224 NATURAL HISTORY 



As to that on the Plestor, 



" The late vicar stubb'd and burn'd it," 



when he was way-warden, regardless of the remonstrances 

 of the bystanders, who interceded in vain for its preserva- 

 tion, urging its power and efficacy, and alleging that it had 

 been 



" Reli^ione patrum multos servata per annos." 



LETTER XXIX. 



TO THE HONOURABLE DAINES BARRINGTON. 



SELBORNE, Feb. 7. 1776. 



heavy fogs, on elevated situations, espe- 

 cially, trees are perfect alembics ; and no 

 one that has not attended to such matters 

 can imagine how much water one tree will 

 distil in a night's time, by condensing the 

 vapour which trickles down the twigs and boughs, so as to 

 make the ground below quite in a float. In Newton Lane, 

 in October, 1775, on a misty day, a particular oak in 

 leaf dropped so fast that the cartway stood in puddles, 

 and the ruts ran with water, though the ground in general 

 was dusty. 



In some of our smaller islands in the West Indies, if I 

 mistake not, there are no springs or rivers ; but the people 

 are supplied with that necessary element, water, merely by 

 the dripping of some large tall trees, which, standing in the 

 bosom of a mountain, keep their heads constantly enveloped 

 with fogs and clouds, from which they dispense their kindly 

 never-ceasing moisture ; and so render those districts habit- 

 able by condensation alone. 



Trees in leaf have such a vast proportion more of surface 

 than those that are naked that, in theory, their condensa- 

 tions should greatly exceed those that are stripped of their 

 leaves ; but as the former imbibe also a great quantity of 

 moisture, it is difficult to say which drip most : but this I 



