( 2o 7 ) 
fir has acquired the name of fcotch, from 
being the only one which grows naturally 
in Scotland. It is found fcattered in many 
places amongft the Highland mountains ; and 
large natural forefts of it are fcen of many 
miles extent in various Lowland diftricts. 
From the cones of this fir a refinous oil is 
extracted, which is faid to poffefs virtues 
fimilar to thofe of the balfam of Peru. This 
tree lives to a great age ; Linneus affirms 
four hundred years. The anther-dufi: in fpring 
has been carried away by the winds in fiich 
quantities, as to have alarmed the ignorant 
with the idea of a fliow T er of brimftone. 
The laft genus of the Cryptogam ia clafs to 
be confidered is mucor, or mould. It would 
fcarcely be fuppofed, that the mould found 
on bread, fruits, leaves, and various other fub- 
ftances in a decaying ftate, w r as a plant fubject 
to all the laws of the vegetable kingdom. That 
it is a plant of perfect form may be feen by 
the affiftance of a microfcope of common 
magnffying powers. It will be found growing 
in chillers ; the flems a quarter of an inch 
high, pellucid, hollow, and cylindrical ; each 
fupporting a fmgle globular head, which at 
firft is transparent, afterwards dark gray; thefe 
heads 
