176 
ARE SOILS ENRICHED, IMPOVERISHED, [Part III. 
anything but its greater density of shade. Phy¬ 
siologists, indeed (if we include the poison of 
the drip), arm this beautiful gem of the chalk 
with a triple poisoning power. For, while they 
do not except it from the general power of poi¬ 
soning itself, inherent, according to them, in the 
roots of all vegetables, they give the excretions 
of the roots of the beech the particular power to 
poison all other vegetation whatever, except the 
holly; while, mirabile dictu! to the holly these 
poisonous excretions are wholesome food. But 
that the beautiful nakedness beneath the beech 
is not caused by its poisoning the ground, is 
apparent from the fact, that when the shade is 
removed, that is, when the beech woods are 
felled and the ground re-planted directly, all 
sorts of trees grow on it luxuriantly, even when 
the roots of the beech have not been grubbed. 
Yet, on the supposition that roots excrete, the 
ground must have been saturated with these ex¬ 
cretions for centuries, perhaps for many thou¬ 
sands of years. This fact may be seen exempli¬ 
fied at this present moment (1853) in Lipping 
wood and West wood, in the neighbourhood of 
West Meon, in Hampshire. The forest between 
Meon and Proutesflod (Privet) bore the name of 
Westan wudu, as parts of it still bear the name 
