140 LETTERS ON TREES. 



this an aspect of its own, they no sooner reach the 

 ground than they part company, and spread hither 

 and thither. Now, when the Thorn has become old, 

 the trunk in some way breaks up into separate stems, 

 — some Thorns, Mr Jesse tells us, having four, or five, 

 or even six stems, which were originally one, — and 

 these stems, as they separate, become regularly barked 

 round, forming to appearance so many distinct trees 

 closely planted together, except that they all meet at 

 the butt of the tree." Mr Jesse mentions that some 

 of the Thorns in Bushy Park are now undergoing 

 this process of separation, having already thrown out 

 one stem, while in other parts they are deeply indented 

 with seams down the whole stem. These gradually 

 deepening (he adds) from opposite sides towards the 

 centre, will at last split the tree into a number of 

 separate stems, which are barked round." * 



9. There is yet another fact bearing on our present 

 subject which demands very special consideration. 

 Under ordinary circumstances no fibres can be seen 

 creeping down from the base of the buds in trees. 

 The fact is, or seems to be, that, under such circum- 

 stances, the bud has no need to do so. It is done for 



^ Gleanings in Natural History, p. 89. The resemblance which 

 this process of separation in the Thorn bears to the woody bundles 

 in the Yew is also pointed out by this writer. " The Yew-trees I 

 have observed are sometimes strongly marked with seams, especially 

 those which have arrived at a great age ; but I have not seen any 

 in which the separation has actually taken place," 



