DESOEIPTIVE ENUMERATION OF TREES. 95 



forests, consisting entirely of Bircli. The soil in 

 some parts of these wastes being very shallow, or 

 very loose, the trees had not a snflBcient footing 

 for their roots, and became an easy prey to winds. 

 In these places Maupertuis found as many trees 

 blown down as standing. He examined several of 

 them, and was surprised to see that in such as 

 had lain long, the substance of the wood was 

 entirely gone ; but the bark remained a hollow 

 trunk without any signs of decay. I have heard 

 that the bark of the Black Cherry Tree in North 

 America, which grows there to a great size, has 

 the same property. 



Among elegant, pendent trees, the Acacia 

 should not be forgotten; though the Acacia 

 which we have in England (called by the botanist 

 the Bobinia) is perhaps only a poor substitute 

 of this plant in its greatest perfection. And yet 

 even ours, when we have it full grown, is often a 

 very beautiful tree, whether it feathers to the 

 ground, as it sometimes does, or whether it is 

 adorned with a light foliage hanging from the 

 stem. But its beauty is very frail. It is, of all 

 trees, the least able to endure the blast. In some 



