25 



scar might have existed from fifteen to 

 thirty years, being perfectly indm^ated, and 

 in parts turned to touchwood. I tapped 

 the scar in the centre with a very large 

 gimlet. I had not pierced an inch before 

 it ran freely while boring. I bored about 

 three inches in depth. The tree was 

 about nine inches through, in the direction 

 of the bore. The dead surface wood was 

 perhaps a little more than a quarter of 

 an inch in depth. The dropping was so 

 frequent as almost to amount to a stream. 

 This could only have flowed from the heart 

 wood ; since no alburnum, or new wood, 

 had been deposited on the scar for about 

 twenty years. 



After the ascent of the sap, it is sup- 

 posed to be elaborated in the leaves, and 

 in descending between the wood and the 

 bark, to deposit the annual ring of new 

 wood or alburnum round the branches, 

 stem, and roots, and also to furnish the 

 new growth of the roots in length. 



