the
trunk, which gradually spread outward with a graceful curve into the
roof or dome that crowns the tree."

"I know something else about our elms," said Malcolm: "some of the roots
are on top of the ground. Isn't that very queer, Miss Harson?"

[Illustration: WYCH-ELM LEAVES.]

"Not for old elm trees, as this is quite a habit with them. Indeed, in
many ways, the elm is so entirely different from other trees that it can
be recognized at a great distance. It is both graceful and majestic,
and is the most drooping of the drooping trees, except the willow, which
it greatly surpasses in grandeur and in the variety of its forms. The
green leaves are broad, ovate, heart-shaped, from two to four or five
inches long. You can see their exact shape in this illustration. Their
summer tint is very bright and vivid, but it turns in autumn to a sober
brown, sometimes touched with a bright golden yellow, And now,"
continued Miss Harson, "we will examine the flowers which we have here,
and we see that each blossom is on a green, slender thread less than
half an inch long, and that it consists of a brown cup parted into
seven or eight divisions, rounded at the border and containing about
eight brown stamens and a long compressed ovary surmounted by two short
styles. This ripens into a flattened seed-vessel before the leaves are
fully out, and the seeds, being small and chaffy, are wafted in all
directions and carried to great distances by the wind."

"Where does slippery elm come from?" asked Clara.

"From another American species, dear, which is very much like the white
elm that we have been considering. The slippery elm is a smaller tree,
does not droop so much, and the trunk is smoother and darker. The leaves
are thicker and very rough on the upper side. The inner bark contains a
great deal of mucilage--that, I suppose, is the reason for its being
called 'slippery'--and it has been extensively used as a medicine. The
wood is very strong and preferred to that of the white elm for
building-purposes, although the latter is considered the best native
wood for hubs of wheels. There is a great elm tree on Boston Common
which is over two hundred years old, and another in Cambridge called the
'Washington Elm,' because near it or beneath its shade General
Washington is said to have first drawn his sword on taking command of
the American army. In 1744 the celebrated George Whitefield preached
beneath this tree."

"I'm glad we have elm