PINETUM BRITANNICUM. 
Difference 
in hardinefs. 
Nor is the difference loft as the tree advances in years. It becomes more horizontal and tabulated, 
but ftill fomewhat rounded, and never, unlefs in exceptional cafes, fo truncated as the Cedar of Lebanon. 
But what is the value of thefe differences : to what do they amount ? It is a difference in phyftcal conftitu- 
tion, and not in ftrucfture or form. And we apprehend that, although variations in this refpedt may be 
admitted as a firima facie indication that fpecific differences exift, yet they are in themfelves no proof of fuch 
difference; and if a minute comparifon of two fuppofed fpecies fails to fhew any peculiarities of ftru&ure, 
mere fize of parts and mode of growth cannot of themfelves conftitute a diftindt fpecies. 
The three Cedars have' three different degrees of hardinefs. Mr Glendinning foe. cit. fupret) fays— 
“ There is, however, another important faht, of which I have endlefs proof, bearing materially 
on the queftion at iffue. Six years ago I fent a few plants of CAtlantica to Scotland: 
they got diftributed, fome on the eaftern and weftern coafts, others in the interior. At that 
time it was called C. A fricana : the very name, in fpite of my affertion to the contrary, induced every perfon 
to look upon it as tender. It has turned out that, when planted with the Lebanon and Deodar, the 
Lebanon is ftunted and makes no headway; the Deodar gets fcorched, and often lofes parts of its branches 
and foliage ; whereas the A tlantica neither becomes injured nor ftands ftill, but grows away moft vigoroufly.” 
This .ftatement is fully confirmed by fubfequent experience, more efpecially by that of the fevere winter of 
1860-61. An admirable digeft of the effedts of that winter has been made by Mr Charles Palmer of 
Manchefter, a young enthufiaft in conifers, who has accumulated, with great pains and trouble, a large 
amount of information on the fubjedt from every part of the kingdom. The details which he -thus brought 
together he has tabulated with great clearnefs; and with rare liberality has placed the refults of his labours 
(contained in three thick folio ledgers) at our difpofal for this work. Our readers will often profit by his 
materials. From his tables it appears that out of the inftances reported to him, the relative proportions of 
deaths and fevere injuries, as againft total efcape and flight injury, in the cafe of the three Cedars, were as 
follows:— 
“ One in 2^ killed or feverely injured in C. Deodara. 
„ 72 » i) » C. Libani. 
icd 
C. A tlantica.’ 
It is to be noted that thefe proportions are not to be taken as giving any abfolute refults. They are merely 
of ufe as relative refults, for they reprefent an average of thofe data only which Mr Palmer could pick up. 
But as all were taken impartially, and without feledtion, the value of the relative refults remains unaffedted. 
Mr Glendinning concludes the paffage above quoted by afking—“ Now I fhould like to afk one 
queftion of botanifts—viz., Can plants of one fpecies fuftain (all circumftances being the fame) different 
degrees of temperature?” We fhould imagine that no one can doubt it. It is in the vegetable kingdom 
as in the animal. In every fpecies in the animal kingdom there are fome members hardier than others: 
witnefs the differences in this refpedt in the human race, nay, in every man’s own family. So in the vege¬ 
table kingdom: no two peas fown out of the fame pod will have the fame degree of hardinefs. And Mr 
Palmer’s tables furnifh a ftriking illuftration of the fadt in the very fubjebl before us, as it appears utterly 
fatal to the idea that any value can be put upon phyftcal conftitution alone as a fpecific charadter. Of the 
nurferymen’s varieties of C. Deodara , Mr Palmer’s reports fhew that in the cafe of the two extreme varieties 
one in two of the Var. viridis were killed, while in the Var. robnfla only one in fix were fo. 
In the Cedar of Lebanon the leaves are of a middle fize, between the Cedrus A tlantica and the Deo¬ 
dar ; they are alfo lighter in colour, of a greener hue, and thinner than either. The Cedrus 
intfuTleaves ^ tlantica has them fhorter, more glaucous, of a darker green, and fharper than thofe of the 
other two. In the Deodar they are longer than in either of the others, and darker green and 
more glaucous than thofe of C. Libani , but not of fo dark a green or fo filvery as thofe of C. A tlantica. 
The point of the leaf in C. A tlantica is nearly equally pointed on both fides. In the Cedar of Lebanon it 
is bevelled off from behind, that is, from the rounded fide. The greater or lefs filverinefs or glaucous hue 
(although not the darker or lighter colour of the leaf) is due, in a great meafure, to the number of filvery 
ftomata 
