60 



ALDER.— ALNUS. 



Natural order , Amentacece. A genus of the 

 Moncecia Tetrandria class. 



The classical reader will regard this tree 

 with peculiar interest, as it will remind him 

 of the lines in Virgil — 



Tunc alnos primum Jluvii sensere cavatas. 



" Then first on seas the hollow'd alder swam." 



Dryden. 



Nee non et torrentem undam levis innatat alnus, 

 Missa Pado. Geor. 2. 



" And down the rapid Po light alders glide." 



Ovid also tells us, 



" Trees rudely hollow'd did the waves sustain, 

 Ere ships in triumph plough'd the wat'ry plain." 



When the Author of Nature first clothed 

 the earth with vegetables, every plant was 

 adapted to its peculiar situation. There was 

 nothing superfluous or idle, from the pine 



