OBSERVATIONS ON HIMALAYAN CONIFERS. 



231 



This requires confirmation. Dr. Hoffmeister very kindly fur- 

 nished me with some memoranda of his observations on the 

 Himalayan Coniferce, in which the palm appears to be mentioned 

 as Phoenix humilis ; and, as far as I have observed, it is much 

 more likely to be this ascending to its utmost limit, than Cha- 

 mcerops Martiana descending to its lowest. Each is known as 

 the " Thakil" in Kumaoon, on the N.W. frontier of which 

 Chamcerops becomes rare ; but on the Thakil mountain near 

 Pithoragurh, in Shor, or S.E. Kumaoon, Chamcerops Khasiyana 

 of Griffith, which seems a mere variety of Ch> Martiana, grows 

 in abundance at 8,000 feet above the sea level, attaining a height 

 of 50 feet, associated with yew, maple, holly, oak, hornbeam, 

 far above the forests of Pinus longifolia which clothe the in- 

 ferior slopes of the mountain. The locality indicated by Dr. 

 Hoffmeister merits, however, further examination.* Colonel 

 Kirkpatrick has " Jugur " as " a species of Tal " in Nepal : 

 and Chamcerops Khasiyana bears this name as well as " Thakil " 

 in Kumaoon. 



A curious phenomenon, yet unaccounted for, is observable in 

 perhaps one-half the whole number of Pinus longifolia in Ku- 

 maoon. This consists in the spiral arrangement of the bark 

 and woody fibre, the coils being sometimes as much compressed 

 as those of an ordinary corkscrew, and in some instances the 

 stem itself is thus contorted. This is attributed by the people 

 to the action of the wind : but the phenomenon is apparently 

 unknown in Gurhwal, &c, where the winds are equally violent ; 

 while in Kumaoon we find specimens with straight and with 

 spiral fibres mixed up in the same forest, and trees of other 

 genera, in company with these, are never so affected, nor does 

 the peculiarity extend to the Coniferce of the upper ranges. A 

 careful dissection under the microscope would perhaps show it 

 to be already present in the embryo. There is a strong prejudice 

 against the use of the twisted timber, which may be well founded 

 where it is required for planks ; but when applied unsquared for 

 roof-trees it appears to stand well, bearing great weights for 

 many years ; nor in Kumaoon does the practice or the experience 

 of the people at all bear out the very inferior estimate of the 

 timber formed by some of our officers in Gurhwal. From the 

 facility of obtaining it little other wood is used in a great part 

 of the province, where, with ordinary care, it is calculated to 

 last a couple of generations. It is also employed to a consider- 



* A careful search in October, 1849, authorizes me to assert, that Cha- 

 mcerops of any kind does not grow in the pine woods indicated : Phoenix 

 sylcestris (var. humilis) reaches up to 5,500 feet, and I doubt not is the palm 

 seen by Dr. Hoffmeister. 



