The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-08-04 00:00:00

ON THE ANTIQUITY OF TREES

The longevity of trees is a subject of interest, to the know-
ledge of which a value must be justly attached., when it is
known that some trees were contemporary with the oldest
generations of mankind. They have, in certain cases, thrown
light on the history of monuments ; as the monuments in re-
turn have reflected the same light of knowledge on those an-
cient trees that grew near them. The specimens of these
patriarchs of the vegetable world are numerous, and if their
immense age be only ascertained with precision, there will
even be found in these facts some means of fixing an approx-
imative date to the last revolutions of the globe.
The Cedars—Those on Lebanon, measured in 1660 by
Maundrel and Pocok, were supposed to be then about 609
years old, and about 800 years old in 1787, when again seen
by. M. Labellordiere.
The Lime is an European tree which, in a given time, ap-
pears able to acquire the largest diameter. That of the
Chateau of Chaille neat( Melles, in the department of the
Deux-Sevres, was in 1804 about 538 years old ; that of Trons
in the Grisons in 1798, must have been about 583 years old ;
that of Depeham, near Norwich, and of Henstalt in Wur-
temberg, were also very aged, last needing props. The large
and small leaved limes must be distinguished: between, as the
formei;griivisTaster than the latter.
The Cypresses, among the trees in the south of. Europe,
live to the most advanced age. Hunter says that, in 1776,
there existed in the garden of the Palace of Grenada, cy-
presses that were celebrated even in the time of the Moorish
kings, and which were named Cupressos de la Regna Sultana
—from a sultaness who was seen under it with th Abencer-
rages. The largest'now known is near the Lago Maggiore.
The immense cypress of Chapultepec, which, it is said, has
attained 117 feet 10 inches round, is probably the most an;
cient vegetable produCtion of the globe.
The Sweet Chesnuts appear to groiv to a great age. Pie-
derte says he saw one in the county of Gloucester, which was
supposed to be nearly 900 years old. (This is the Tortworth
Chesnut at Lord Ducie's.) Bose mentions one near Lan
cerre 30 feet round, and which has for 600 years borne the
title of the " Great'Chesnut.”

The Orange and Lemon are among the European trees of
the slowest growth and the greatest age: It is'stated that
the orange tree in the Convent of Santa Sabina at Rome,
was planted by St. Domenico in 1200, and that of Fondi by
St. Thomas d'Aquinas in 1278.
The Olive is a tree.that can live to an astonishing age, in
any country, where it is not liable to be pruned. M. de
Chateaubriand says, in his " Itinerary," that the eight olive
trees in the garden,of that name in Jerusalem, only pay each
a media to the Grand Seignior, which proves that they ex-
isted at the period of the invasion of the Turks • for those
planted since that time pay a tax of half their produce. The
largest olive tree mentioned in Italy by Pecconi is at Pescio ;
this tree, according to Moschettini, must be 700 years old.
The Yew appears, of all European trees, to attain the
greatest age. Of these venerable trees there are several in
England, whose ages have been ascertained :
Those of the ancient Abbey of Fountains, near Ripon, in
Yorkshire, were in 1770, more than twelve centuries old.
Those of the churchyard of Crowhurst in Surrey, if they
still exist, must be fourteen centuries and a half old.
Those of Fotheringay, in Seotland,ms
_ust
obrerseckoned at
from twenty-five to twenty-six centuri.e .pth gale.
It is possible that these are the oldest
they
of Euro-
pean vegetation. CheenetuarrtyhattlheericretinaligrhytyhneyoulAvshetncoennttir,emdi
aranidn
of men.—Mirror.
at the present day, as
years
monuments of wonder to the generations
their
fallen,u bra
andge umbrageous heads
nowds th
stand,

GIGANTIC OAT.—On Monday a stem of oats was plucked
from a field belonging to Mr. W. Walmsley, of Heaton Moor,
measuring G ft. 6 in. in height, and strong in proportion.—
Stockport Advertiser.

HomE SICKNESS.—One case is recorded in which a Breton
regiment, who were quartered in barracks, I forget where,
lost a considerable number of men by sickness, entirely
brought on by pining for their homes. The hospitals were
crowded, and it was thought that it would be absolutely
necessary to have disbanded the regiment, when some clever
fellow, more capable, probably, of comprehending the na-
ture of the feelings, under the violence of which these men
were perishing, than the other medical attendants, bethought
him of sending for two or three Breton bagpipers, who
were placed beneath the hospital windows, and there
directed to play some of the popular national airs. The
effect was magical. The sick men dragged themselves from
their beds, first to the windows, and soon down to the court
below. In every case health was re-established ; and it was
found that the continued practice of indulging the men, at a
certain hour daily, with the familiar strains of their much-
loved instrument, afforded a sufficient relief to their over-
flowed feelings, to prevent a recurrence of the disastrous
consequences of their total suppression.—Trollope's Sum-
mer in Brittany. •

STATE 01. THE JEWS IN PERSIA .—I conversed repeat-
edly and freely with the Khak ham, or Chief Rabbi, and others
of their chief men, and was struck more deeply than ever
with the terrible fulfilment of prophecy; in their instance.
Their common occupations at Hamadan are as workers in
silver, twisters of silk, and sellers of old coins.. They are ex-
tremely ignorant, and wear that cringing and slavish de-
meanour which is everywhere the badge of oppression. They
know little even about themselves. They dress like thc Per-
sians, and when abroad, speak Persian or Turkish, but at
home Hebrew. I asked the rabbi whether they had any tra-
dition among them of the time when their ancestors came to
this country. He said that they belonged to the tribe of
Judah, and were descended from the Jews who were brought
captive into these regions. "And where are the ten tribes ?"
I asked. " A part of them were in Bokhara, and the rest
are scattered.' " But why do you not return to the land of
your fathers ? " "We are waiting for the Messiah, who
will restore us with all our race." I pointed him to Jesus of
Nazareth, but the old man only hung his head and sighed.
I asked him again, why, if they were so oppressed as he re-
presented, they did not remove into some other country. He
replied that they could not leave the city without a written
permission from the governor, which it was impossible to
procure ; that, if they attempted to escape, they should be
overtaken and brought back, and that their misery could be
greatly aggravated. They have three synagogues in Hama-
dan. A fourth has recently been erected, but was at once
torn down by the Mussulmans.— Southyale's Travels in
Turkey and Persia.
ROYAL POET.—The late Shah was in some respects a re-
markable man. He possessed most of the good and bad qua-
lities of a Persian. He was vain, and fond of flattery, ima-
ginative and devoted to pleasure, yet shrewd, affable, and
dignified ; capable of the most arbitrary acts, yet not cruel ;
excessively proud of his personal appearance ; fond of show
and regal state, yet not an oppressive or tyrannical ruler. He,
professed to be a poet, and I remember to have seen a volume
of his productions in the bazars at Tehran. A Persian related
to me one day the following anecdote, as illustrative of
the character of his efforts in this department of literature.
He had just completed a new performance in metre, which
he flattered himself possessed peculiar excellence. Calling,
therefore, for the court poet, whom, after the manner of the
East, be had constantly attached to his person, he read the
poem before him, and demanded his opinion. The poet, fear-
ing lest his own emoluments should be endangered by this
growing propensity of the Shah to rhyme for himself, and
bring also a man of uncommon honesty, expressed a very un-
favourable criticism upon the piece. The Shah, enraged at
the audacity with which he spoke the truth, ordered his ser-
vants to conduct him to the stable, and tie him up with a
donkey. The poor poet remained in this dolorous situation
several days, when he was again ordered into the royal pre-
sence, and his opinion asked upon another performance which
the Shah had perpetrated during his confinement. The poet
listened in silence, and when it was finished, venturing no
more to express his opinion openly, lie fell upon his knees
before the King, and implored that he might be sent back to
the stable.—Southgale's Travels in Turkey and Persia.
PERSIAN DERVISHES. —We saw also large numbers of
the Persian dervishes in the city. These religions mendi-
cants resemble more the santons and fakirs of India than the
dervishes of Turkey. They are not, like the latter, gathered
into communities, but roam over the country, living upon
charity, and practising villanies of every sort. They carry
with them a horn, which they blow on approaching a town,
and a little wooden vessel, in which they receive their alms.
They are not respected by the peoyfle, and are exceedingly
insolent. They are clamorous in demanding charity, and
sometimes sit down before a houge with the determination
not to quit it until money is given. There they remain, day
after day, and week after week, execrating the inmates, until
their dethand is granted, or they are beaten away. One sat
in this manner more than three months before the British

residency in Bagdad. A-story was told me at Tehran of
another, who placed himself in a niche of the wall in front
of the ambassador's palace. His incessant importunities
becoming troublesome, and it not being thought safe to oust
him by force, a curious expedient was devised. The ambas-
sador gave orders that the niche should he bricked up. The

dervish was warned of the intention, but persisted in main-
taining, his position until the wall had advanced as high as
his chin, when he thought it prudent to ask a release. In
another instance, at Shiraz, a dervish had taken his station
at the foot of the flag-staff, where his clamour soon became
annoying. The agent quietly gave orders that the staff
should be washed every morning, and a man was sent up for
the purpose, who poured down pails full of water, until the
intruder beneath was glad to decamp.—Southgate's Travels
in Turkey and Persia.

TEMPERANCE.—The chief cause of most of the diseases to
which the human body is subject, is a superabundant acid in
the stomach ; and that superabundance of acid is occasioned
by overloading the stomach with food or drink. For the
stomach can digest only a certain portion of food in a given
time, namely, that which is in contact with its sides ; all the
rest must wait its turn , consequently if the stomach be over-
loaded, the superabundant food will ferment and generate an
acid; and the portion of food thus fermented and converted
into acid, when it comes, in its turn, to be spread over the
sides of the stomach. for the purpose of being converted into
chyme, frets and irritates the stomach by the acrid and cor-
rosive qualities, and very often produces inflammation, more
or less violent, which is indicated either by heartburn' eruc-
tation, stomach-ache, or other distressing sensation. Nor is
this the whole of the injury. If the effects of the acid be not
arrested, all the organs which sympathize with the stomach
partake of the distress, in proportion to their previous con-
stitutional strength or debility. Numerous instances occur
in medical annals of death having been occasioned by inor-
dinate eating. Sir Everard Home mentions an instance of a
child losing its life from eating too large a quantity of apple-
pudding. Morgagni relates an account of a like fate happen-
ing to a woman from eating too large a quantity of onions
preserved in salt and vinegar. And Bonnetus, in his Sepal-
chrum, states the case of a boy who died in three hours from
eating immoderately of grapes. In each case, the stomach,
when opened, was quite tense, and consequently its powers
of action perfectly paralyzed.—Hand Book of Health.