ASH TREE. 
258 
and impoverished growth point out the condition of the 
plant. 
The notable exertions which vegetables occasionally 
make to obtain nutriment may be instanced by the fol- 
lowing rude drawing of an ash,— a tree which, in con- 
sequence of the profusion of its seed, we find more 
often scattered in wild and singular places than any 
other not propagated by the agency of birds, or con- 
veyed by the winds. This one had originally been root- 
ed in the earth, upon the top of a wall, but nourish- 
ment being required beyoncl what was supplied by the pre- 
carious moisture of the scanty soil, its roots proceeded 
downwards, winding their way through the, crevices of 
the stones into the earth beneath, and remained appa- 
rently incorporated with the masonry ; the materials of 
this wall being wanted for an adjoining work, were so 
pulled out, as to leave the tree with all its roots detach- 
ed, muqh as represented, with all its vegetative powers un- 
injured: the root B had stretched itself along the top 
of the wall, but how far it had extended in perfection, 
is uncertain, being broken away when I saw it first. 
The wood of the ash, when burned in a green state, 
