60 



LETTERS ON TREES. 



Chapultepec certainly " reaches back (according to 

 De Candole) to the origin of the present state of the 

 world " — an epoch of which (in his view) it is the 

 most indisputable monument." Professor Henslow, it 

 may be observed, estimates the longevity of the Taxo- 

 dium at above 4000 years.* 



10. The Banyan of the East, the Ficiis Indica, is 

 also remarkable for its size and longevity. It has 

 besides certain peculiarities in its manner of growth 

 and extension which demand for it a special notice. 

 Every branch, issuing from the main or primary trunk, 

 throws out aerial roots, in the form of small tender 

 fibres, which gradually elongate and become thicker, 

 and at length, reaching the surface of the ground, 

 strike into the soil. They gradually increase in girth 

 till they form large and distinct trunks. These 

 secondary trunks in their turn send out branches 

 from the top, which in time give off aerial roots that 

 grow downwards into the ground, and become trunks 

 also. The tree thus continues to progress, and inde- 

 finitely to extend itself. One such tree, now growing 

 on an island in the river JSTerbudda, is believed to be 

 identical with one that existed there in the time of 

 Alexander the Great, and which, according to Near- 

 chus, was, even in those days, capable of overshadowing 

 10,000 men. It is not now, indeed, so large as for- 

 merly, portions of it having been carried away by 

 * Sheppard on Trees, their Uses and Biography, p. 89. 



