LEAFLESS WOODS. 17 



Lebanon, so remarkable in this respect. The 

 limbs of most trees spring from the trunk. In 

 the Oak they may be rather said to divide 

 from it; for they generally carry with them a 

 great share of the substance of the stem. You 

 often scarcely know which is stem and which is 

 branch ; and towards the top, the stem is entirely 

 lost in the branches. This gives particular pro- 

 priety to the epithet fortes in characterizing the 

 branches of the Oak ; and hence its sinewy 

 elbows are of such peculiar use in ship-building. 

 Whoever, therefore, does not mark the fortes 

 ramos of the Oak, might as well, in painting a 

 Hercules, omit his muscles. But I speak only 

 of the hardy veterans of the forest. In the 

 effeminate nurslings of the grove we have not this 

 appearance. There, the tree is all stem, drawn up 

 into height. When we characterize a tree, we 

 consider it in its natural state, insulated, and 

 without any lateral pressure. In a forest trees 

 naturally grow in that manner. The seniors de- 

 press all the juniors that attempt to rise near them. 

 But in a planted grove all grow up together; 

 and none can exert any power over another.' 







