ivy. 331 



manner as the ivy; but this elegant North 

 American climber has never been considered 

 a parasitical plant. It is true, that the ivy is 

 often known to fix its root in the decayed 

 trunk of a tree or in the crevices of old 

 buildings, but other plants do the same. We 

 have found a hazel-tree growing on the top 

 of a church tower at Henfield, in Sussex ; an 

 apple-tree on the leads of Romsey church, in 

 Hampshire ; a Scotch fir on a stone building 

 called Gog and Magog, near Petworth ; and 

 we have gathered flowers of the valley, which 

 were growing out of the crevices on the 

 highest pinnacle of the church of St. Sulpice 

 at Paris. These were all offsprings of accident 

 and not parasitical plants. 



That ivy must injure young growing tim- 

 ber by confining its trunk too closely, and by 

 also drawing the same juices, is probable and 

 generally admitted ; but in some situations it 

 has secured timber also by preserving the 

 trunk from those severe frosts, which by con- 

 gealing the sap and causing it to expand, often 

 split the body of the tree, and thus render 

 the timber only fit for fire-wood* We are not 

 without instances of trees having actually pe- 

 rished when they have been stripped of this 

 protecting leaf, and suddenly exposed to cold. 



In ancient times such a circumstance would 



