THE SEQUOIA 
with the soil. It is bright clear red, turning darker on exposure, 
with thin, nearly white sapwood, and contains thin, dark colored 
conspicuous bands of small summer-cells and numerous thin 
medullary rays. The specific gravity of the absolutely dry wood 
is 0.2882, a cubic foot weighing 17.96 pounds. Manufactured 
into lumber, it is used locally for fencing and in construction, 
and is made into shingles.” 
The reproduction of the Big Tree is so slow and uncertain, 
and the methods of the lumbermen in cutting the timber so de- 
structive, that it is probable that in a short time these veritable 
giants of the forest will become extinct, unless protected by law. 
Fortunately both the State and national governments control 
some of the groves, although not the grandest. 
For the purpose of procuring a specimen of this remarkable 
tree for the American Museum of Natural History, S. D. Dill was 
sent to California in the summer of 1891. Through the courtesy 
and liberality of A. D. Moore, owner of one of the largest groves 
of Big Trees, and his son (manager of the King’s River Lumber 
Company), Mr. Dill was permitted to select the tree he might 
desire. After diligent search, he found a fine specimen growing 
at an altitude of 7000 or 8000 feet and bearing the name “‘ Mark 
Twain.” Nearly all the large trees have been christened by 
hunters or tourists, and several are marked with marble tablets. 
Such names as “ Bay State,” “Sir Joseph Hooker,” “ Pride of the 
Forest” and “Grizzly Giant”’ are familiar. 
“Mark Twain” was a tree of magnificent proportions, one of 
the most perfect trees in the grove, symmetrical, fully 300 feet 
tall, and entirely free of limbs for nearly 200 feet. Eight feet 
from the ground the trunk was 62 feet in circumference, while at 
the ground it measured go feet. Mr. Moore kindly took the con- 
tract of felling the tree and shipping to the Museum a section 
suitable for exhibition. The accompanying instantaneous photo- 
graph gives a vivid picture of the fall of this noble giant. 
The section on exhibition was cut from the trunk about 12 
feet from the base, and is 4 feet in thickness. Its estimated 
weight was 30 tons, and for easier transportation it was split into 
ten pieces. The face of the specimen as it now stands is 16 feet 
4 
