of the citizens of Antwerp,
who are supported by the patronage of a sovereign devoted to progress,
Leopold II., King of the Belgians. Among the countries represented
in the exposition, France takes the first rank. She is represented
by over 2,000 exhibits, and her products occupy one-fifth part of the
Hall of Industry and the Gallery of Machinery. The pavilion of the
French Colonies is an exact representation of a palace of Cochin
China.

Belgium is represented by 2,400 exhibits. The French and Belgian
compartments together occupy one-half of the Hall of Industry and
the Gallery of Machinery. This latter building represents a
grand spectacle, especially in the evening, when it is lighted by
electricity. In excavating under this gallery, ruins were brought to
light which proved to be the foundations of the citadel of the Duke
d'Albe, the terrible lieutenant of Philip II. of Spain. Thus, on the
same site where once stood this monument of oppression and torture,
electricity, that bright star of modern times, will illuminate the
most wonderful inventions of human progress.--_L'Illustration._

[Illustration: BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE UNIVERSAL EXPOSITION AT
D'ANVERS, BELGIUM.]

* * * * *

THE STONE PINE.

(PINUS PINEA.)

Although not such an important tree in this country as many other
conifers, the Stone pine possesses a peculiar interest beyond that of
any other European conifer. From the earliest periods it has been the
theme of classical writers. Ovid and Pliny describe it; Virgil
alludes to it as a most beautiful ornament; and Horace mentions a
pine agreeing in character with the Stone pine; while in Pompeii
and Herculaneum we find figures of pine cones in drawings and on the
arabesques; and even kernels of charred pines have been discovered.
The Pinaster of the ancients does not appear to be the same as that of
the moderns; the former was said to be of extraordinary height, while
the latter is almost as low as the Stone pine. No forest is fraught
with more poetical and classical interest than the pine wood of
Ravenna, the glories of which have been especially sung by Dante,
Boccacio, Dryden and Byron, and it is still known as the "Vicolo de'
Poeti."

The Stone pine is found in a wild state on the sandy coasts and hills
of Tuscany, to the west of the Apennines, and on the hills of Genoa,
usually accompanied by, and frequently forming forests with, the Pinus
pinaster. It is