DESCRIPTIVE BNUMEEATION OF TEEES. 69 



furnish, arise from the union of Oak and Beech. 

 We often see a wonderful effect from this com- 

 bination. And yet, accommodating as its leaf 

 is in landscape, on handling it feels as if it were 

 fabricated with metallic rigour. In its autumnal 

 state it almost crackles : — 



' Leni crepitabat bractea vento.' * 



For this reason, I suppose, as its rigour gives it 

 an elastic quality, the common people in France 

 and Switzerland use it for their beds. 



I have dwelt the longer on the Beech as, not- 

 withstanding my severity, it is a tree of pic- 

 turesque fame ; and I did not choose to condemn 

 without giving my reasons. It has acquired its 

 reputation, I suppose, chiefly from its having a 

 peculiar character ; and this, with all its defects, 

 it certainly Jias. I may add, also, that if objects 

 receive merit from their associated, as well as 

 from their intrinsic qualities, the dry soil and 

 salubrious air in which the Beech generally 

 flourishes, give it a high degree of estimation. 



* The lidit metal crackled in tlie wind. 



