106 ALFRED B. RENDLE^ ESQ., D.SC, F.R.S., F.L.S., ON 



includes the Fir tree, which is mentioned now and again in the 

 Bible, as well as the Cypress. 



One of the most interesting trees of the Bible is the Cedar, 

 the Cedar of Lebanon. There is a little confusion about 

 this. The term is applied to trees generally belonging to the 

 forests and mountains of Lebanon. Although the Cedar seems 

 to be dying out on the mountains of Lebanon, there are very fine 

 trees on the Taurus mountains, from fifty feet to eighty feet in 

 height, with enormous horizontal branches. The wood was 

 largely used by Solomon in the construction of the Temple and 

 his own palace. 



Some of the Cedars of Lebanon are very large. It is a 

 very interesting story, the story of the Cedars of Lebanon. 

 We have not time to go through it in detail, but I have one 

 or two notes which I can give you. The age of these Cedars 

 has been a matter of some controversy. In 1550, a French 

 traveller, Belon, found in Lebanon 28 old trees, and it 

 was said that these were the trees which Solomon planted 

 with his own hands. In the years which have elapsed the 

 number has gradually become less and less, and the slowness 

 of their disappearance confirms the fact that they were already 

 of great age in 1550. In 1574 there were 26 of great size. In 

 1696 Mandrell says : " These noble trees grow in the highest 

 part of Lebanon. Of the older ones I could reckon only 16." 

 In 1774 Dr. Pococke found 15 large trees standing. Sir Joseph 

 Hooker in 1860 examined the grove, and found 398 trees in nine 

 clumps, of which there were 15 trees much larger than the others, 

 and apparently these were the trees described in 1550. The 15 large 

 Cedars were measured by Hooker, who attempted to make an 

 estimate as to their age by counting the rings of wood on the 

 section of a branch, and he concluded that the largest tree, which 

 was thirteen feet in diameter, might be 2500 years old ! An 

 estimate has also been made, based on a specimen brought 

 home, which is at Kew. By a similar calculation 2230 years were 

 obtained as an estimate for a tree of thirteen feet in diameter ; 

 so it is evident that these large old trees go back to a very 

 considerable period of antiquity. 



I am afraid I have not got a slide showing the Fig tree, which 

 is interesting, because it is the first mentioned in the Bible, and 

 there are very frequent references in both the Old and New 

 Testaments to this. It is a native of Palestine, and is also 

 generally cultivated there; the land was described as a land 



