. The naturalist in Australia. Natural history. VEGETABLE VAGARIES. 271 illustration. This, however, is no case of ordinarily inherited decrepitude and decay, but, as an ancient British jury would have it, it is the outcome of the direct act of Providence. It is, in fact, what must' have been the towering monarch of the surrounding forest, shattered in the full plenitude of its might by a lightning flash. There is no resurrecting, phoenix-wise, as in the previously illustrated instance, from this cataclasmic overthrow. Destruction is thorough and complete. And yet, as though even now the whole
. The naturalist in Australia. Natural history. VEGETABLE VAGARIES. 271 illustration. This, however, is no case of ordinarily inherited decrepitude and decay, but, as an ancient British jury would have it, it is the outcome of the direct act of Providence. It is, in fact, what must' have been the towering monarch of the surrounding forest, shattered in the full plenitude of its might by a lightning flash. There is no resurrecting, phoenix-wise, as in the previously illustrated instance, from this cataclasmic overthrow. Destruction is thorough and complete. And yet, as though even now the whole soul of the living organism had not abandoned it, one. '. , Photo. LIffHTNIXG-SHATTKKEI) JiAOMAB TREK, NKAll l>l:lt]iY, KlXf; S SOUND, WESTERN AVSTKALIA. upstanding angle of the blasted trunk is fashioned into the similitude of a weird monstrous bird that has mounted guard and broods like a disembodied spirit over the desolation wrought. Among the most characteristic and bizarre of the Australian indigenous veo"etable products must l^e included the so-called " Grass-trees," referable to the genera Xanthorrhrea and Kingia. The more popular title for these singular plants is that of "Blackboys," the aspect of the usually more or less incinerated trunks of the aborescent species, as seen from a little distance, being to a considerable extent. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Kent, W. Saville (William Saville), d. 1908. London, Chapman & Hall
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookp, booksubjectnaturalhistory
