396 STIPPLEMENTAEX NOTES, BY SIB Wll. JABDISi:. 



The Beech-tbee. — Letter I., page 13, note. 



The loveliness of the beeeh is a matter of opinion ; but, much as 

 we admire the tree, and liberally plant it, we would adhere, so far as that 

 epithet is concerned, to what we have before written. The beech is a 

 tree selected by all for its expanse and shade {patulafagus). We quoted 

 Gilpin in favour of the ash ; of the beech he says — " On the whole, 

 however, the massy, full-grown, luxuriant beech is rather a displeasing 

 tree ; " and Loudon, though aware of its graceful hanging branches, 

 writes of its " lumpish head." Nevertheless, we are not insensible to 

 what belongs to it, and agree with Sir T. D. Laudei' in the opinion that 

 " a noble beech is a magnificent object," and with Mr. Selby that it 

 " combines magnificence with beauty." 



Geology op SELBoaNE. — Letter I., page 16, note*. 



The first of the various editions of " Selbome " which took notice of 

 the geology of the district, was that by E. T. Bennet, Esq., in 1836, who, 

 we believe, examined the locality for the purpose. Mr. Jenyns after- 

 wards used an extract of the note in question for his edition in 1843 ; 

 and as it is essential to the proper understanding of the text, and 

 the note we appended in 1829, Mr. Bennet will, we trust, not find 

 fault with our now extending the information he has so well given : — 

 " The parish of Selborne is situate on the lower part of the chalk 

 formation, and embraces within it the upper members of the weald. 

 In crossing it from east to west, each strata is visited in the order of 

 super-position. They are four in number ; comprising the Chalk, the 

 Upper Ch'een Sand, the Gualt, and the Lorixer Green Sand." It is upon the 

 chalk, so favourable to the growth of beech woods, that the " Hanger " is 

 placed ; but the " Freestone" upon which the " ShaTcey" oak wood grows, is 

 a part of the green sand, which is here in the form of rock, which " usually 

 rises slowly in a lengthened and widely-spread flat until it terminates 

 suddenly by an abrupt or cliff-like fall, constituting a terrace or escarp- 

 ment." This is quite difierent from the rock alluded to in the former 

 note, which usually here and in many parts of Scotland has the name of 

 Freestone also applied to it. It is the presence of iron which forms the 

 colom-ing matter of the Red SamLstone or Freestone, and of the Red Till, 

 that is obnoxious to the larch ; and the decay has been observed, also, 

 though not at so early an age, in trees planted on the older or Silurian 

 rocks, where iron, or the traces of it, was present. 



The Elm-tree. — Letter II., pages 16, 17, notes + and *. 



The elms commonly prevalent in Great Britain are now considered 

 as only two ; the one alluded to in the text and note, U. monia/na 

 (Bauhinus), and U. campestris (Linnseus), the one most commonly met 

 with in Scotland, and producing wood of considerable value ; the other, 

 frequent everywhere in the south of England, forming the common 

 hedge-row timber and brushwood, often a part of the fence itself, and 

 also appearing as the often magnificent and picturesque trees of our 



