CONIFER.^. 



123 



czarism ; ignoring all freedom of speech, or action which is not of their 

 own dictation, and which is not expressed by all other writers as 

 serfs ; for the first commandment of all such czaric savans, in all their 

 codes or catechisms, is, Ego solus sum scqoiens ; and the second very- 

 much resembles the first, sapiens sum solus Ego. Such theories, how- 

 ever, are things of the past, for in the present age subjects as well as 

 rulers have a voice, and mooty questions have to be aired and ventilated 

 in the cosmopolite arena of "public opinion." Happy the people 

 where such is the case ! prosperous the nation where freedom reigns ! 

 great the arts and sciences where practical men as well as theorists 

 can sail in one boat when fishing for knowledge, and especially so in 

 this department of Natural Philosophy — the arboricultural art ! 



This rare Grecian Pine, then, is, according to the Chronicle s own 

 showing, at best but a quasi-sjyecies of old Strohus, caused by — the 

 granite soil, the two thousand yards' height, the knarled tree, and the 

 climatic effects of ancient Macedonia. Although, therefore, I have 

 here given this much space to this quasi or variety it will serve 

 to show how so many new Pines are foisted upon us, for it is at best 

 but a depapurated form of old Sfrobus. 



PiNUS Pinaster: The Star-like Cluster-Coned Pine. 



This is an old Pine, doubtless coeval with, and extant when Adam 

 was in Paradise, and most certainly one of the original prototypes of 

 this genus Pinus ; though I do not here enter upon its origin, age, 

 or decay ; nevertheless, I may say that its origin was not according to 

 the " Darwinian theory," its age is not yet a settled question, and its 

 decay will, I think, be iclien^ if ever, time is no more. 



Leaves, generally two in a sheath, from three to nine inches long, 

 stout, rigid, broad, slightly serrated, and rich dark green in colour ; 

 disposed in whorls, and thickly set on the branches. 



Cones, from two to six inches long, and from one to three inches 

 broad ; ovate in form ; when young a bright shining green, and when 

 matured they assume a brownish, or ashy colour. Generally found in 

 whorls of from four to eight, disposed horizontally on the stems ; but 

 frequently in large clusters of from ten to fifteen together, sometimes 

 from one to two dozen in a cluster, and not unfrequently singly or in 

 pairs : and the same gregarious disposition of the male catkins is 

 another characteristic of this Pine and its quasi-species, inasmuch as 

 they are generally found in more or less dense and numerous clusters 

 on the branch stems, occupying spaces varying from half an inch to 

 half a foot in length, to the entire exclusion of the leaves from the parts 



