56 



rays at the summit of which it is situated, and communicates 

 with the woody fibre. It was only in the last century, when 

 Priestley led the way to the discovery of the constitution of 

 the air and other gaseous bodies, that any thing approaching 

 to correct ideas respecting the nature of vegetable substances 

 was entertained. We are in general too forgetful of the air, 

 yet it is of the greatest importance to all our daily occupa- 

 tions, even to life itself, both vegetable and animal. So far 

 from encouraging timber to grow, man does all in his power 

 apparently to prevent it ; he keeps, for instance, all on the 

 ground as they were planted ; and as if that were not suffi- 

 cient, he prunes off all their branches and leaves, and de- 

 prives them of the power to obtain their own living. 



It may not be considered inappropriate if I here mention 

 some of the giants of the forest in England. There is the 

 Cowthorpe Oak, in this county, within eight feet of the 

 ground 16 yards in circumference : when compared with 

 this, all other trees are but children : it is reputed to be 600 

 years old. There is the Queen Elizabeth Oak, at Hunting- 

 field, in Suffolk, which cannot be less than 500 years old. 

 The ash may be styled the Venus of the forest, from the 

 lightness of its foliage, the graceful sweep of its branches, 

 and the silvery appearance of its stem : there is one at 

 Woburn, 90 feet high and 16 feet in circumference, at three 

 feet from the ground. The Tortworth Chesnut, mentioned 

 by Evelyn; above 1000 years have rolled over its green 

 head. There are the fine old remains of a magnificent 

 tree at Cobham, in Kent, 29 feet in circumference, three 

 feet from the ground ; its exact age — a point always of 

 difficult and uncertain determination — is conjectured to be 

 about 1000 years. The Lime tree in Moor Park, Hert- 

 fordshire, whose age is not exactly known, has a circumfer- 

 ence at three feet from the ground, of 17 feet 6 inches. 

 The Chippenham Elm, at Chippenham Place, Kent, is 15 



