258 THE WELLINGTONIA. 
in its native country is said to be soft and easily worked, not 
apt to warp; of a reddish colour like cedar, but scentless. It 
was reported that a tree cut down a few years ago in its native 
country was found to contain upwards of 3000 annual circles 
of timber, indicating that number of years of age, and that 
the timber all round the exterior of the trunk which had 
been last formed, was very hard compared to that nearer the 
centre, although the trunk was quite sound. The wonder is 
that the timber held together so long. It may be possessed 
of incorruptible qualities, though not strong. In a far shorter 
period the heart of oak moulders into decay ; for instance, the 
Great Oak of Cowthorpe, in Yorkshire, the largest I ever saw, 
whose age is unknown, has been hollow for many generations, 
its interior forming a vacant space equal to the size of an 
ordinary dwelling apartment, yet it continues to vegetate and 
form wood externally. 
In extreme old age our hardwood trees, generally, are more 
subject to heart-rot than the various species of Conifera. 
