vol. xiii. p. 784.), says, that in comparing the young dragonniers, which grow near the gigantic foot of this monster, the calculations which he has made on the age of the latter, have more than once filled his mind with astonishment. In 1796, it had, according to Mr. Ledru, 20 metres in height, 13 in circumference at the middle, and 24 at the base. The hurricane of the 21st July 1819, has destroyed a great part of its head. I believe that among the long-lived plants and low shrubs, many are more ancient than we generally believe; no researches, however, have been made on this subject. I shall cite a few incomplete facts, which may incite others to follow up the investigation with more diligence and accuracy. In my Organographie Vegetale, I mentioned the singular willow called herbaceous, which growing on the green turf of the Alps, in places situated beneath the slopes, from which the earth slowly slides, is gradually buried, and every year elongates itself in quantity accurately necessary to enable it to attain the surface; so that it presents the appearance of green turf of several toises in extent; whereas in reality it is the top of a subterraneous tree. I have tried to uproot this singular tree, but never could get down to the base; but the length of stem which I explored, compared to the extreme slowness of its elongation, shows a very great age. It would be curious to reach the bottom of the root of this tree, which by its subterraneous dwelling, avoids the intemperate assaults of that severe atmosphere. I have seen in the dunes (the sands) of the south of France, the erynxiums, and echinophoras, the stems of which elongate, as the sand is elevated. I have often endeavoured to dig them up, but could never get to the bottom of the root, and I almost believe that these plants are contemporary with the dunes themselves. The rhizoms of the nymphæa, of the ferns, of the prêles, also present examples of extraordinary longevity; but I have no means of ascertaining them with exactness. I shall descend to vegetables still more humble. M. Vaucher has kept his observations on a lichen for eighteen years without observing any sensible increase. Perhaps among the taches which cover the rocks there are some whose origin mounts to the time when the rock itself was first exposed to the air. Perhaps among the mosses which carpet the bottoms of certain rivers, there are some that were formed even when these rivers first commenced their course. But if we leave these humble plants, so minute and obscure as not to attract general attention, and confine our plan to trees, the history of which is an object of universal interest, we shall find in the researches which I propose, the solution of a truly curious problem. Let us then solve it, while the time allows us. On one hand, the progress of industry, the calculations on the art of managing forests to advantage; the frequent changes in property; the general developement of civilization; cause the felling, even in remote districts, of trees the growth of centuries (les arbres seculaires). On the other, changes in religious opinions, and the decay of superstitious feelings, have diminished the veneration which certain trees had inspired among the people of ancient times. Let us therefore lose no time in fixing the dimensions and dates of those which remain, and, if possible, preserve these living monuments of the ages which have passed. If my single voice could reach the ears of the proprietors of such trees, or of the governments in which they exist, I would endeavour to persuade them to take immediate measures for their preservation. Is there a town, which if it found a medal or coin reaching up centuries beyond the period of history, would not feel an interest in preserving it? Ancient trees are medals of another kind, which should be saved from destruction. I wish that in every district the most ancient tree should be considered as public property, preserved from outrage and injury, either as an historical monument, or to delight the imagination of those who love to be carried back into the depth of antiquity. I adduce these considerations to those who have the care of Woods and Forests, to travellers, and local authorities of all nations: I request them to measure, in the way I have described, the old trees which are in their neighbourhood; and those who have the means of publishing the results of their labours, will do well to have them printed without loss of time, as thus they will be fixed in an imperishable register. As to those who have not such means at command, I will receive their donatious, and enroll them with the names of the contributors, in a Work which I am preparing on the Age of Trees; and for which I have already collected materials. Those travellers who are not sufficiently botanists to designate a tree by its true name, should join to their account of the measurement a flowering branch, as a specimen; and if some specimens of the wood are added, sufficient to enable us to reckon the amount of its increase, it would give very useful means of verification and comparison. B -ll, I am, my dear Sir, Sincerely yours, J. M. WESTERN GATE OF THE ROMAN LINDUM. MR. URBAN, Lincoln, May 17. A VERY interesting relic of the olden time has been recently brought to view in this city. The Romans occupied this place as one of their military stations, and built their city, the ancient Lindum, on the brow of the hill in the form of a parallelogram, dividing it into four equal parts by the intersection of two great streets at right angles. The four walls faced the cardinal points, and in the centre of each was a fortified gate or entrance. The North gate is a very remarkable structure, and is composed of twentysix large stones put together without mortar and without a keystone. This arch is still entire, and a representatation of it is given in Camden's Britannia by Gough, (Vol. II. Pl. vii.) from a drawing by Mr. Buck. The South gate, which was similar to that just mentioned, was demolished about the commencement of the seventeenth century, and nothing now remains of it excepting the foundation-stones on each side the street. The East gate was taken down by Sir Cecil Wray about seventy years ago; but until within the last few weeks all traces of the West gate, which it was conjectured was destroyed when the Conqueror built the castle, have been lost, and the exact situation it occupied has long been a matter of doubt and inquiry amongst antiquaries. It was conjectured by some that the arch of the old Sally Port of the castle was the western gate of the Roman town; but Sir Henry Englefield seemed to discountenance that supposition, although he considered "the Normans and Saxons found that great arch built to their hands; and so, instead of destroying it, turned it into a postern when they dug out the ditch." (Archæologia, vol. vi. p. 379.) That it was not the work of the Romans, and that it has no claim even to a greater antiquity than the castle, has been since contended by various writers; and there certainly appears every reason to conclude it is of Norman origin: be that however as it may, it is now established beyond a doubt that it was not the entrance to the Roman Lindum, by the accidental discovery of the real western gate. The ditch around the walls of the castle having been suffered to get into private hands, the greater part of it has been filled up for the purpose of being formed into building ground, and the picturesque appearance of the old castle has been nearly destroyed by the erection of a large number of small tenements and other buildings near to its walls. With a view of pursuing this barbarous practice, an individual of the name of Ball has been recently engaged in filling up the ditch at the north-west corner, near to the Sally Port, and has thrown down, to the great danger it is to be feared of the castle walls, a large portion of the earthen bulwark. This, however, has led to a most unexpected result, the discovery of the western gate of the old Roman city, which was found in the bank on Monday the eleventh of April last, where it has no doubt been hid for more than seven hundred years. It will be seen from the Plate, that the long-lost Western gate was near to, and a little north of the Sally Port, and that it was buried in the earth when the fortifications were constructed by our Norman conquerors. This very interesting relic of the great Roman people was, however, no sooner found, than it was again lost for ever, as the square mass of masonry nearest the Sally Port gave way on the Friday after it was first discovered, and the fine old arch, constructed in all probability more than fifteen hundred years ago, fell to the ground. As the workmen had only partly excavated the arch at the time it fell, any account of its dimensions must necessarily be in some respects a matter of conjecture; it appeared however to have been very similar to the North gate, measuring about fifteen feet in the clear, and being composed of about the same number of large ponderous stones four feet deep from front to back, two feet high, and from twelve to eighteen inches broad. On each side, the masonry was carried up above the crown of the arch for about twelve feet, and went, no doubt, originally much higher, forming two pillars or wings measuring seven feet by four; and between these the workmen represent there were the remains of three smaller arches forming as many openings four feet wide over the centre of the great gate. The masonry on the north side was forced over by the workmen, and as the earth in consequence gave way behind it, part of the square return- wall of the gate was then disclosed to view. This showed another opening towards the north, of the same width and on the same level as those mentioned to have been observed in the front towards the west; and as there were the appearances around the inner parts of the wall, above the crown of the arch, of places where floor timbers had once been, there can be no doubt the Romans had a square watch-tower over this gate, standing in advance of the walls of their town, which they used as a place of observation, the situation of it being such as to command a very extensive prospect, not only over the plain north of Lincoln, but also over a considerable extent of country to the west and south. The great Roman road called Ermine Street, intersected the Lindumcolonia, through the North and South gates, and it may still be traced running in a very magnificent manner through the entire length of the county from Stamford to the Humber. A few miles to the north of Lindum was another great military way, branching off at right angles from the Ermine Street, and passing in a westerly direction to the Trent; whilst on the south-west of the town was the Foss-way, stretching across to the sea-coast. The arch had in some degree lost its proper semicircular form, and had become a little flattened towards the north abutment, which had been thrown considerably out of the perpendicular, causing two of the large stones to separate more than four inches at the bottom. The traces of the Roman wall are very apparent in various parts around Lincoln, and as this great gate must have been double, the inner arch may be buried in the earth a little way within the area of the castle, as will appear probable on inspecting the Plan in Camden's Britannia, by Gough, Vol. II. Pl. vii. and drawing a straight line from the marks indicating the remains of the Roman wall on each side of the castle. The crown of the recently discovered arch was about nineteen feet below the castle walls, about thirty-five feet in advance of them, and the entire front occupied a space of thirty-three feet. The posterns, if there were any, have not yet been exposed to view; and it is not now probable any further excavations will be permitted, as the ViceChancellor has recently granted an injunction against Ball, restraining him from doing further damage to the castle walls by removing more earth from the |