CHAP. CV.

CORYLA'cEiE. FA V GUS.

1967

necessary, nothing answers our purpose like the beech. But, at present, weare not considering the beech in composition, but only as an individual; andin this light it is in which we chiefly conceive it as an object of disapprobation.

“ We should not conclude our remarks on the beech without mentioning itsautumnal hues. In this respect it is often beautiful. Sometimes it is dressedin modest brown, but generally in glowing orange; and in both dresses itsharmony with the grove is pleasing. About the end of September, when theleaf begins to change, it makes a happy contrast with the oak, whose foliageis yet verdant. Some of the finest oppositions of tint which, perhaps, theforest can furnish arise from the union of oak and beech. We often see awonderful effect from this combination : and yet, accommodating as its leaf isin landscape, on handling, it feels as if it were fabricated with metallic rigour.In its autumnal state, it almost crackles: — ‘ Leni crepitabat bractea vento.”For this reason, I suppose, as its rigour gives it an elastic quality, the commonpeople in France and Switzerland use it for their beds. I have dwelt thelonger on the beech, as, notwithstanding my severity, it is a tree of picturesquefame; and I did not choose to condemn it without giving my reasons. It hasacquired its reputation, I suppose, chiefly from its having a peculiar character ;and this, with all its defects, it certainly has. I may add also, that, if objectsreceive merit from their associated, as well as from their intrinsic, qualities, thedry soil and salubrious air in which the beech generally flourishes, give it ahigh degree of estimation.” (Gilp. For. Seen., vol. i. p. 50.)

“ The spray of the beech,” Gilpin continues, “ observes the same kind of alter-nacy as that of the elm; but itshoots in angles still more acute(fig. 1879.); the distance betweeneach twig is wider ; and it formsa kind of zigzag course. Weesteem the beech also, in some de-gree^ pendent tree, as well as the ash; but there is a wide difference betweenthem. The ash is a light airy tree, and its spray hangs in loose elegant fo-liage; but the hanging spray of the beech (fig. 1880.), in old trees especially,is often twisted, and intermingleddisagreeably; and has a perplexed f

matted appearance. The whole ' Jl

tree gives us something of the idea

of an entangled head of bushy hair, ^ 4 ^ 2 / fl ) "'““5'

from which, here and there, hangs a ^

disorderly lock; while the spray of 'n. ■/* / A

the ash, like hair neither neglected {

nor finically nice, has nothing squa- 1880

lid in it, and yet hangs in loose and easy curls.” (Ibid., p. 114.) If an ordi-nary old beech tree gives the idea of an entangled head of hair, the inoscu-lated beech at Westbury (figs. 1881. and 1884.), may be compared to ahead of hair affected with the plica polonica.

On Gilpin’s observations on the beech, Sir T. D. Lauder justly observes,that they afford “ one of the instances in which the author’s love for the artof representing the objects of nature with the pencil, and his associations withthe pleasures of that art, have very much led him astray. We are disposed togo along with him in a great measure, so far as we, like him, draw our asso-ciations with this tree from the same source. But we conceive we have muchthe advantage of him, in being able to indulge in the pleasures arising from thecontemplation of a noble beech as one of the most magnificent objects of6od’s fair creation. Some of the very circumstances which render it un-picturesque, or, in other words, which rendey it an unmanageable subject of“’ghly contribute to render it beautiful. The glazed surface of the leaf,which brightly reflects the sun’s rays, and the gentle emotions of light, if we®®y venture so to express ourselves, which sometimes steal over the surfaceoi its foliage with the breathing of the balmy breeze, although difficult, or

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