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CEDAR OF LEBANON. 
tions of the globe. Till Pallas discovered it in the north of Russia, in 
1770, it was believed to be peculiar to the mountains of Lebanon, in Asia 
Minor. 
Modern travelers, and among others Mr. Labillardière, who visited that 
part of the East in 1788, inform us that the large forests seen by Belon in 
1550, upon Mount Aman, have disappeared, and that a few of these trees 
only are found upon the highest ridge, where they grow immediately below 
the snow which caps the summit during a great part of the year. He 
computes their number at about 100, of which he observed seven of extra- 
ordinary size, and measured one that was 30 feet in circumference, with 
the primary limbs 9 or 10 inches in diameter. Standing alone, and 
enjoying the free access of the light and air, they were less remarkable 
for stature than for expansion. In massive forests they probably attain 
a height proportioned to their diameter; but this tree has always been 
remarked for the length of its limbs, as is proved by the allusion of the 
Hebrew poet: “ They shall spread out their branches like the Cedar.” 
The ancients ascribed to the wood of the Cedar a duration of many ages. 
The sacred historians inform us that it was chosen for the building of 
Solomon’s Temple ; it was also employed in that of Apollo at Utica. 
Other proofs might be adduced in evidence of the opinion entertained 
by the Greeks and Hebrews of the durability of this wood, which they 
brought at a great expense from Mount Lebanon ; but Professor Martyn 
justly observes that there is great obscurity in the passages of the ancient 
authors, as different species, and even different genera, were confounded 
under the name of Cedar. Their accounts of the Cedar of Lebanon are 
in some respects inapplicable to the tree we are considering, which is an 
inferior kind of deal, soft, inodorous, and of short duration. 
If these remarks detract from the interest which we attach to the Cedar 
of Lebanon, the majestic and beautiful form of this species renders it highly 
deserving of our notice. 
The few remaining stocks upon Mount Lebanon are preserved with 
religious veneration by the Christians of that country. According to the 
missionaries in the East, the Patriarch of the Maronite Christians inhabit- 
ing Mount Lebanon, attended by a number of bishops, priests and monks, 
and followed by five or six thousand devotees, annually celebrate in- their 
shade the festival of the Transfiguration, which is called the Feast of 
Cedars ; and ecclesiastical censures are denounced against those who shall 
injure these consecrated trees. 
About the year 1680, the first stocks were brought to Europe and planted 
in the medical garden of Chelsea, near London ; one hundred years after, 
two of them were upwards of 12 J feet in circumference at 2 feet from the 
ground, and diffused their limbs more than 20 feet in every direction. 
They have yielded seed abundantly for more than half a century, and have 
