FORMS OF TREE-TRUNKS. 



31 



than do the columns of Gothic, Greek, and Egyptian 

 temples. Some are almost cylindrical, rising up out of 

 the ground as if their bases were concealed by accumu- 

 lations of the soil ; others get much thicker near the 

 ground like our spreading oaks ; others again, and these are 

 very characteristic, send out towards the base flat and 

 wing-like projections. These projections are thin slabs 

 radiating from the main trunk, from which they stand 

 out like the buttresses of a Gothic cathedral. They rise 

 to various heights on the tree, from five or six, to twenty 

 or thirty feet ; they often divide as they approach the 

 ground, and sometimes twist and curve along the surface 

 for a considerable distance, forming elevated and greatly 

 compressed roots. These buttresses are sometimes so 

 large that the spaces between them if roofed over would 

 form huts capable of containing several persons. Their 

 use is evidently to give the tree an extended base, and 

 so assist the subterranean roots in maintaining in an 

 erect position so lofty a column crowned by a broad and 

 massive head of branches and foliage. The buttressed 

 trees belong to a variety of distinct groups. Thus, 

 many of the Bombacese or silk-cotton trees, several of 

 the Leguminosse, and perhaps many trees belonging to 

 other natural orders, possess these appendages. 



There is another form of tree, hardly less curious, in 

 which the trunk, though generally straight and cylin- 

 drical, is deeply furrowed and indented, appearing as if 

 made up of a number of small trees grown together at 

 the centre. Sometimes the junction of what seem to be 

 the component parts, is so imperfect, that gaps or holes 

 are left by which you can see through the trunk in 

 various places. At first one is disposed to think this is 



