CHAP. CV.

coryi.a'ce.i!. fa'gus.

1955

into each other, and, as it were, inosculate; and hence, according to some, itwas this tree that gave the first idea of grafting. A curious example will befound under the head of Accidents and Diseases.

Geography. The common beech is a native of the temperate parts ofEurope, from the south of Norway to the Mediterranean Sea , and fromEngland to Constantinople. It is also found in Palestine, Asia Minor ,Armenia, and Mazanderan. In Norway , it is found as far north as 59°, infavourable situations; and, in Sweden , to 58°. According to Pallas, it isplentiful in the southern provinces of Russia , and in Caucasus ; but it is notcommon in the plains; and it is nowhere to be found in the northern pro-vinces. It abounds in the forests of Poland, and in Lithuania . The line ofbeeches on the Alps rises to the elevation of 5132 ft., between lat. 45 a° and; the snow line being 3848 ft. higher. (Von Buck, as quoted by II. C,.Watson.) In Switzerland , the beech occupies the south sides of the moun-tains, where it rises as high as the Laccinium Litis idafta, and where the silverfir clothes the north side. (Nat. Hist. Jorat., vol. i. p. 9.) In France , it isfound on the sloping sides of mountains, and on calcareous hills; but almostalways on the south side. According to some, the European beech is also anative of America , where it is known under the name of the white beech ; but,as we are inclined to doubt whether this may not be something different fromthe European beech, we have treated it as a variety, and given its geography,when speaking of it, as such. (See p. 1953.) In Great Britain , the beech isfound in forests, supposed to be indigenous, in various parts of the central dis-

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