Jietrospedive Criticism. 329 



from the great quantity of turpentine they contained. They soon set fire to 

 the coals, and in a few minutes a deh'ghtful warm fire was the result, A few 

 blasts of the bellows might be an improvement. Next followed the decanters 

 and glasses ; and, it may perhaps be unnecessary to add, the two doctors made 

 themselves comfortable in front of the cone fire. The practitioner obtained 

 this knowledge in the following manner. He was attending a poor woman 

 residing close to the forest. She coidd not pay him. With the gratitude of 

 the rural population, next morning her two daughters came to his house, each 

 carrying a sack filled with dried pine cones collected in the wood. They told 

 him they were for kindling a fire, and if he had no coals they would make an 

 excellent durable fire of themselves. The cones of the Pinus silvestris, or 

 Scotch fir, contain a great quantity of solid woody matter in addition to the 

 resinous, and are excellently adapted for fuel. They are used over Italy, 

 Switzerland, &c. This circumstance is little known ; and the intention of 

 these remarks is to recommend their use to the poor population of Scotland. 

 — H. Edinburgh. Dec. 1842. 



Remarkable Mountain Ash. — There was cut last week on the estate of 

 Ochtertyre, belonging to Sir William Keith Murray, a mountain ash, or rowan 

 tree, which measured 96 in. in circumference about 7 ft. from the ground, the 

 branches covering an area the diameter of which was upwards of 46 ft. This 

 remarkable tree was upwards of eighty years old ; but the wasting hand of 

 time having at last seized upon its aged trunk, the forester was under the 

 painfid necessity of cutting it down. (^Caledonian Mercury, Nov. 26. 1842.) 



Art. IV. Retrospective Criticism. 



Improving Churchyards. — I read your articles in the Gardener'' s Magazine 

 (p. 93. 141. and 215.) with great interest. We may be pretty sure that a 

 disposition to rescue churchyards from their now generally ruinous and dis- 

 graceful condition will become more and more prevalent. The self-evident 

 improvement in every way, the force of example, and the progress of taste, in 

 accordance with the attention bestowed on church buildings, will induce 

 people to put these depositories of our forefathers into a more decorous con- 

 dition. We ought to get rid of the nuisances of cattle in churchyards. Sheep 

 are the only animals permitted by law ; but I have seen the law evaded, and 

 cows and horses turned in. Our grasping churchmen will give up nothing, if 

 they can avoid it ; and, I dare say, would make a strong fight to retain their 

 right of turning sheep into their freehold. However, I am one of those who 

 look upon their property as national property placed in trust ; and very bad 

 trustees they make : so that I hope to live to see the nation resume posses- 

 sion of it all ; investigate it rigidly, reform the disposal of it, and place it alto- 

 gether on a different footing. — //. A. M. May 3. 1843. 



The Volume on Cemeteries, (p. 314.) — I have now read your volume on ceme- 

 teries and churchyards, and I sincerely hope you have made a great step 

 towards rescuing us from a barbarism which does not exist among Turks and 

 Chinese, of leaving the depositories of our dead in at once a disgraceful and 

 pestiferous condition. I dare not venture to offer any ideas upon a subject 

 which you have so well considered and explained. It will certainly take hold 

 of the public mind eventually. There is, however, a fashion in these matters, 

 as in most others. No doubt, the Duke of Sussex's interment will give an 

 impetus to the fashion of cemeteries ; and I hope ornamental churchyards will 

 follow. There is a difficulty in the latter case. At whose expense can the 

 improvement be eflfected ? Not one out of twenty of our parsons will stir ; 

 and, to effect your proposal contained in the note to p. 80. at the end of the 

 volume, we should have to apply a very considerable lever to bishops and 

 archdeacons. The churchwardens, who misspend a good deal of money, and 



