rill': hk; tufJ': .\.\n its nvoam 



11 



go nowadays, hut Dudley sjx-aks 

 of a ivvv ' \)l" moderate ai»;e" tliat when 

 cut in 191)0 had reaelunl an a<2;(> of 

 2171 years, and IIuntin«i:ton ''counted 

 the rin«2;s of 79 that were over 2,0{)() 

 years of a,«2;(\ of '^ that W(>re i)\vv ',],()()() 

 and of one that was o.loO," a sturdy 

 saplinji; at tiie time of the Exodus. 



romi)anHl with this, our own tree 

 was in the full vij>;or of middle life, 

 though it had lived through many 

 of the most eventful periods in the 

 history of the world: the most eventful 

 so far as we are concerned. It wit- 

 nessed the death of old nations, the 

 birth of new and might w^ell be con- 

 sidered as ancient when Columbus 

 discovered America and the history 

 of the New^ World really began. And 

 w^hat progress has this, our Sequoia, 

 seen during its long career! When 

 it began, steel, steam, electricity and 

 all that they make possible, w^re 

 unknown factors in the progress of 

 civilization. And as for that com- 

 bination of behef, theory and knowl- 

 edge of living things that we term 

 biological science, our Sequoia saw 

 all save its birth with the wTitings of 

 Aristotle. And as this science lay 

 dormant for many years it really saw 

 all w^orth seeing. 



To Prof. Ellsworth Huntington be- 

 longs the credit of having found a 

 scientific use for the large stumps 

 of the Sequoia. As is well known, in 

 regions where there is a marked differ- 

 ence between the climate of summer 

 and winter, w^hether there be heat and 

 cold or moisture and dryness, the 

 years of a tree's Hfe are marked by 

 rings of annual grow^th. 



Moreover the wddth of these rings 

 shows whether the year w^as favor- 

 able or unfavorable for growth, a 



thick I'iiig. lor example, indicating a 

 moist season, a thin one a di\\' \'ear. 



Owing to the great age attained l)>' 

 these trees they must have |)assed 

 through many vicissitudes of climate, 

 and if there have been ai)|)recial)le 

 changes of climate during a pei'iod of 

 a thousand years, they should be 

 recorded in the Secjuoia l)y a succes- 

 sion of wide or narrow rings. So 

 reasoned Prof. Huntington. 



And this reasoning is borne out by 

 the facts; knowing certain changes 

 that have taken place in the last 

 thousand years or so, indicated by 

 abandoned cities, shrunken lakes and 

 the transformation of fertile plains 

 into deserts, he was able to show what 

 changes had taken place during his- 

 toric times and fix the dates of long 

 periods of drouth. Now by counting 

 the rings of the Big Trees and noting 

 the favorable or unfavorable condi- 

 tions recorded by them. Prof. Hunting- 

 ton was able to show that the records 

 of the Sequoia corresponded with 

 the known facts of history. 



This method of research has been 

 carried into geologic times, and by 

 observation of the rings on the trunks 

 of fossil trees, it has been possible 

 to obtain an idea of changes of cUmate 

 that occurred long ages ago. 



When the tree w^as a mere sapling, 

 Europe was overrun by the Goths, 

 Vandals and Franks, and a state of 

 almost universal war prevailed. About 

 twenty years later Mahomet was born 

 and then foUow-ed the establishment 

 of the Mohammedan religion, w^hich, 

 during the next one hundred and fifty 

 years, reached the zenith of its power 

 and threatened to overrun the whole 

 W'Orld. This Saracenic invasion was 

 checked at the battle of Tours (732), 



