40 
THE SCOTCH FIR. 
PINUS SYLVESTRIS. 
“ And higher yet the pine-tree hung 
Ilis shatter’d trunk, and frequent flung, 
Where seem’d the cliffs to meet on high, 
His boughs athwart the narrow’d sky.’’ 
The exact adaptation of every object in nature to the 
situation and circumstances in which it is placed is 
beautifully exemplified in the pine tribe. The texture 
of their timber, the abundant supply of resinous juices 
both in the main stem and the branches, and, above all, 
the rigid, needle-shaped leaf, bespeak at once their des¬ 
tiny, — ‘ to dwell aloft amidst the awful palaces of nature,’ 
to endure the severities of an alpine winter, and to war 
with the elements on the mountain and the rock. The 
acerose leaf (to use a botanical term), common, with 
few exceptions, to those evergreens which usually grow 
in northern climates, or on alpine heights, fits them in 
a peculiar manner for braving the difficulties to which 
their habitat exposes them, as it allows the snow and 
