42 THE TREES OF AMEEICA. 



PLATE VII. 



• THE BQSTON ELM, * ' - 



The Great'Elm on Boston Goinraon, whicli, accbrdijig ;to 'Dr. Warren, is over 

 two hundred years old, is' 72 1-2. feet in height; circumfere^ice,. one foot above 

 the ground, 22' 1-2 feet; greatest' spajn, of' branches; ,101 feet, The author is in- 

 debted to the late lain<^te'd. president of itlie Boston Society of Natural History, 

 J. C. Warren, M. D., for most of. the. facts ih^his description- of the,;great tree, 

 as well as other, kindly encouragement, in'^eqime.Qtion -with ithe publication of 

 his'book.;- This eminent surgeon. and naturalist' had such a love for the old elm 

 a's tb lead him" to "vvrite a book/upon it. A copy of -this book now lies before 

 us while we are writin^iand we value. :it/ much, hot only as a token of regard 

 from its distinguished author, but as teachthg; a lesson to all, when one whose 

 name is known to science throughout- the world could, deem a single tree of so 

 much consequence as to induce rhim';tb write its biography. Dr. Warren tells 

 us that we owe a debt;- of gratitude to General. Gage, the commander of the 

 British army when encamped in Boston, .and . suffering, under the inclemency of 

 winter, for the preservation of this and other fine .trees. More than a century 

 ago, as is shown in a picture byi Miss Hannah G. Otis, a,untof. Hon. H. G. Otis, 

 there was a cavity in the trunk,' with a hole on the side siifficiently large for a 

 boy of nine years of age to enter. This orifice was knbwn' to Dr. Warren, and 

 according to him was made to heal up by covering the edges with a mixture of 

 mud, &c., and protecting the whole by fastening a piece of canvas over it. 

 Four of the largest limbs have also been split from the tree during a great 

 storm, their ends resting upon the ground. These were raised by Mr. James A. 

 Sutton, master block maker, assisted by others, and bolted in their places ; and 



