124 Gilpin's foxiest scenert. 



tells us, it is never found, though on the European 

 side it is so common, that tlie Scythians, who 

 inhabit those parts, use it always in making 

 arrows. He treats Eratosthenes with some con- 

 ternpt for asserting that when Alexander was in 

 India, he used Eir in constructing his navy.* 

 Strabo's accuracy is generally much respected, but 

 in this instance his observations seem to have 

 been confined. There is little doubt, I think, that 

 •the Fir abounded in many parts of Asia : it was 

 probably as much a native of Mou.nt Lebanon, as 

 the Cedar itself.f 



Neither tlie Hemlock SiDruce {Ahies canadensis) nor the 

 Black Spruce (Ahies nigra) can be properly described as 

 ' dwarfish,' as they reach a height of seventy or eighty 

 feet, the latter sometimes rising a hundred feet. — Ed. 



After the Pine and Eir tribes, the Yew deserves 

 our notice. The Yew is a pure native of Britain, 

 and was formerly what the Oak is now, the basis 



* See lib. ii., p. 510, edit. Caus. 



t After all, however, it is probable that the word eXarr], which 

 the Latins translate ahies, and we translate j^Z?', might appear to 

 he somewhat very different from the tree which we call a fir, if 

 we had a Grecian botanist to consult. 



