Be gracious. Heaven t for now laborious man 
 Haa done his part. Ye fostering breezes, blow 
 Ye softening dews, ye tender showers, descend 
 And temper all, thou world-reviving un, 
 Into the perfect year ! 
 
 THOMSON 

 
 SPRING.
 
 SPRING; 
 
 OB, 
 
 THE CAUSES, APPEARANCES, AND EFFECTS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SEASONAL RENOVATIONS OF NATURE, 
 
 IN ALL CLIMATES. 
 
 BY ROBERT MUDIE, 
 
 AUTHOR OF " SUMMER," " AUTUMN," " WINTER," " THE HEAVEN S,' 
 " THE EAETH," " THE SEA," " THE AIR," &C. 
 
 EDITED BY ADAM WHITE, 
 
 ZOOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT, BRITISH MUSEUM. 
 
 FIFTH THOUSAND. 
 
 LONDON : 
 JAMES BLACKWOOD, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 ( The right of translation is reserved.)
 
 [ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THEBE are three distinct modes of human knowledge, even 
 when the subject of such knowledge remains the same, each 
 of which is both valuable and necessary, but no one of 
 which is perfect, either for use or for enjoyment, without 
 the others. These three modes, or parts, if the word is 
 preferred, are as follows : First, the knowledge of things 
 and events, in their particular or individual characters and 
 appearances. This is the foundation of the others ; and, 
 therefore, it must precede them, in the case of an indi- 
 vidual, of a nation, or of the whole human race, as supposed 
 to be in a state of progressive improvement. It is, as 
 one would say, the foundation of all the rest ; but, like 
 other foundations, though there can be no structure 
 without it, it is still the lowest part of the structure. The 
 parts of it may be ever so many, or in themselves ever so 
 valuable, but there is not connexion among them, and for 
 this reason they are useless. The rolling pebbles on a 
 shingly beach are, in all probability, composed of exactly 
 the same materials as the solid rocks of the caverned shore, 
 
 2091249
 
 Tl PEEFACE. 
 
 which breast or are bathed in the deep water. But while 
 these sturdy rocks are fertile in sea-weed, and peopled by 
 innumerable animals, there is not even a sprout of alga, or 
 the smallest rudimental shell, upon the rolling pebbles of the 
 shingly beach. In like manner, the earth of the fertile valley 
 of Egypt,* in as far as it is mere material earth, which has 
 come directly from the rock, without passing through the 
 action of life either vegetable or animal, is in all probability 
 the same as that which forms the great desert of Sahara, 
 and all the deserts in the north of Africa. But Egypt has 
 from the earliest ages been famed for its fertility ; and 
 these deserts, wherever the name can be fully applied to 
 them, are utterly barren of vegetation. 
 
 Why, where the substantive materials of these places 
 are exactly the same in substance, should there be this 
 exuberance of life and growth in the one, and this perfect 
 and unalterable sterility in the other ? The question 
 answers itself; there is no bond of union, no means of con- 
 nexion between pebble and pebble on the shingly beach, or 
 between particle and particle of the sand on the desert; and 
 therefore it is that the shingly beach and the sandy desert 
 are barren of vegetation, and destitute of life. But, once 
 let there come a connecting matter, a vinculum, or tie, of 
 any kind, which shall unite the loose pebbles or the loose 
 particles, and enable the element to which they are exposed 
 
 * Earth of the fertile valley of Egypt, chiefly brought down from 
 the mountain tracts by the ceaseless waters of the Nile.
 
 PKEFACE. VU 
 
 to act upon them as upon one whole, and then the charac- 
 teristic vegetation and life, which accords with the element, 
 the climate, and the locality, will speedily make their 
 appearance, and attain their perfection. 
 
 In the case of that knowledge which applies only to 
 individuals, it is exactly the same. It is barren of useful- 
 ness, because there is no vinculum no connection between 
 the parts ; and, therefore, it requires something in addition- 
 This brings us to the other two modes : 
 
 Secondly, the relations of the individual subjects of 
 knowledge in their co-existence, or as they are found at any 
 one time, without looking backward for those experiences 
 which, used with judgment, enable us to look forward. 
 This is, in its very nature, indefinite and inexhaustible: 
 indefinite, because the extent of it depends on the number 
 and nature of the subjects of individual knowledge pos- 
 sessed by the party to whom it is intended to be useful ; 
 and inexhaustible, because there is really no end to these 
 subjects of knowledge. All, therefore, that can be done, so 
 as to be adapted to the public generally, is really little 
 more than showing the way by means of a few of the more 
 general examples. This I have slightly attempted in the 
 four small volumes on the " Heavens, Earth, Air, and 
 Sea,." the sale of which leads me to infer that they have 
 been found not merely readable but useful ; and it also 
 encourages me to treat the remaining mode of knowledge 
 in the same general and simple way ; which attempt is
 
 VIII PREFACE. 
 
 embodied in the present volume, and in the other three 
 which I intend shall follow it. This mode of knowledge is : 
 
 Thirdly, the relations of the subjects of"" knowledge in 
 their succession in time, and chiefly as they follow each 
 other as effects from causes. Some metaphysical subtilties 
 have been raised about the relation of Cause and Effect ; 
 but they can hardly be regarded in any other light than 
 that of ingenious mental trifling, the time spent on which 
 would have been much more profitably devoted to some- 
 thing else ; for the parties entertaining them always acted 
 npon the very same principle of cause and effect as other 
 men, which showed that their doubts and disputations on 
 the subject were neither useful nor real. 
 
 Tn this mode of knowledge, as in that of the relations of 
 co-existence, little more can be done than showing the way. 
 In this respect it is, indeed, more indefinite than the other. 
 We can have testimony of much of the absent, and living 
 testimony of not a little of it ; but of the past in succession 
 our living testimony is limited, and of the future we can 
 have none whatever. But all our enjoyment is in the 
 future, the past being irrevocably gone, and the present 
 sliding away from us before we have time to question it. 
 The future is, therefore, the portion of succession, in which 
 all of us have the deepest interest ; and to that in matters 
 of human knowledge, upon which we have no direct revela- 
 tion given we have really nothing to guide us but these 
 very relations of succession, which we can obtain from the
 
 PREFACE. II 
 
 experience of the past, and from that only. The third mode 
 of knowledge, therefore, is really the important one the 
 one especially without which the others can be of no use. 
 It cannot exist without some individual knowledge accord- 
 ing to the first mode, and some knowledge of the relations 
 of co-existence according to the second ; but still the ready 
 application of a limited portion of knowledge in the way of 
 cause and effect, tends to make man more valuable, both to 
 himself and in society, than a much greater accumulation of 
 knowledge without the capacity of applying it. This is 
 proved by the very generally established fact that men of 
 abundant and ready memory, especially in small matters, 
 are generally weak or wavering, and not unfrequently erro- 
 neous, in their judgments. 
 
 That some degree of this mode of knowledge is common 
 to all mankind is proved by the fact, that they all proceed 
 upon it, from the very earliest period of life, and the very 
 earliest stage of society. But this, as is the case with all the 
 faculties and aptitudes of man, only shows that it admits of 
 cultivation not that it does not stand in need of any, but 
 rather the reverse. 
 
 Neither of these modes of knowledge, and not that of 
 the relation of succession especially, can be properly 
 brought home to the mind of the reader in a treatise upon 
 any one particular science or branch of knowledge, how 
 important soever that may be in itself, or how ably soever 
 it may be treated ; because any attempt to blend two
 
 Z PREFACE. 
 
 subjects of equal importance in the work would necessarily 
 confuse both ; and besides, this relation of succession is 
 general, and though almost every subject may be brought 
 in illustration of it, it cannot be properly illustrated 
 by any one subject. Succession of some kind or other 
 must always be the means by which it is brought before 
 the mind. 
 
 The succession must be one which is recognised by the 
 great body of mankind, if the explanation is intended for 
 general use ; and the nature of it must be striking if it is in- 
 tended for the young, or the otherwise imperfectly informed, 
 who are in search of knowledge by inviting, plain, and 
 easy paths. These are the societies for whom chiefly I write, 
 because there would be no small arrogance, and very small 
 thanks, in attempting to school the learned, even if one had, 
 as one at times will have, a slight conviction that they are 
 not altogether without the need of it. I have accordingly 
 chosen the succession of the year, nominally divided into 
 the apparent seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and 
 Winter, as a subject for illustrating the relation of suc- 
 cession, in like manner as I have chosen the allocated 
 departments of material nature, the Heavens, Earth, Air, and 
 Sea, for illustrating the general principles of the relation of 
 co-existence. And, I would have stated this in the preface 
 to " The Heavens " the first published of the former 
 series, had it not been that I wished to try the effect of 
 one part of my attempt before making any specific declara- 
 tion of my general object.
 
 PREFACE. XI 
 
 In alluding to the four seasons, I have made use of the 
 word " apparent ; " and I have done so advisedly : for 
 though this is the conversational mode of speaking on the 
 subject, among those who have their seasons pretty strongly 
 marked, yet it is not descriptive of many parts of the globe, 
 and it is not strictly true of any of them. A season of waxing 
 to maturity and a season of waning to repose, are really the 
 only two seasons which affect the successive states of every- 
 thing seasonal upon the earth ; and they may occupy the 
 whole year, or less, or more, according to circumstances. 
 In some of the insect races, they are probably not a day in 
 length, in some plants they are not a month, in some they 
 are an age ; in a continent, they are beyond our calcula- 
 tion ; and in a planet they are beyond our imagining ; 
 and, to understand any of those, in so far as it is under- 
 standable, would require a very different induction of 
 circumstances. 
 
 These, and many other successions, are constantly blending 
 themselves with each other in nature, so that it is impossible 
 to be natural, and consequently to be popular, if one of 
 them is taken apart from the connexion. Thus, in treating 
 of SPEING, we must see how it arises from WINTEE in the 
 preparations made for it, and also trace its passage into 
 SUMMEE in its results; and we must notice also the 
 varied successions of the causes and energies. A systematic 
 appearances of Spring would probably have a much more 
 scientific air; but in this volume, as in former ones, my
 
 Xll PBEFACE. 
 
 object is but a humble one it is to open the gate, so that 
 all may enter, to assure them that the way is pleasant and 
 profitable ; to bid those be of good cheer, and to wish them 
 good speed ; well knowing that if I succeed in this, my 
 labour, though unentitled to distinction among the learned, 
 will not be everywhere wholly in vain. 
 
 EOBEET MTJDIE.
 
 ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS AND REFLECTIONS. 
 
 General definition Spring of the air Springs of a watch Day- 
 spring Spring-time of life " Day-spring from on high" Nature 
 and spread of revelation pp. 1737 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SPRING. 
 
 Complication of the subject Observation and thought Nature and 
 revelation General definition Influence of the sun Sources of 
 error Errors of assumed learning Nature of the earth, and its 
 influence Sun's influence invariable in itself Plane of the earth's 
 motion The hemisphere Seasons, in the hemispheres General 
 influence on nature pp. 38 58 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 ADAPTATION OF THE EARTH TO THE SOLAU INFLUENCE. 
 
 Adaptation of the earth Of the atmosphere Atmosphere at 
 different heights Resistance of the earth a means of action
 
 XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 Resistance of gravitation Effect of this on the air Influence of 
 heat and light Of water Of nature Of wetting and drying 
 Of mountains Of evaporation Of different surfaces Of reflec- 
 tion from surfaces Of coloured surfaces Second Spring 
 
 pp. 5979 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SPRING IN DIFFERENT HEMISPHERES, LATITUDES, AND LOCALITIES. 
 
 Relative Spring of the North and South Spring in the northern 
 hemisphere Peculiar time and character of Spring in Southern 
 Africa Turn of the monsoon Formation and influence of 
 clouds Of winds Tropical Spring, and other seasons Polar 
 Spring, and seasons Example of Canada Winter in Canada 
 Resistance to Spring in cold latitudes Spring after snow 
 Spring action in the polar regions Weather there Reflections 
 Spring in the middle latitudes Its variable character, and the 
 general causes of its variations On high mountains The vicis- 
 situdes there, and their influence on plants Polar plants, and 
 their adaptations pp. 80 115 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ADAPTATION AND PREPARING OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM FOR 
 THE SPRING. 
 
 Necessity of a proper adaptation to every agency Different adapta- 
 tion of places and their plants Distinctions of plants Their 
 adaptation to places and soils Modes of germination Modes of 
 growth Modes of annual increase Localities and number of 
 species Vast number of individuals Plants of different localities 
 Of dry places Of moist ones Lichens and mosses Prepa- 
 ration for Spring, by nature and locality Seeds Active parts 
 Action in common trees In palms, and other perennial endogena: 
 Action of Spring on perennial exogenee Qualities of timber as 
 depending on this action Cellular tissue -Action of roots 
 Preparation and action of buds Leaves Flower-buds Flowering
 
 CONTENTS. Xr 
 
 Once flowering Second flowering Preparation of herbaceous 
 roots Of tubers Natural habitats and modifications of this 
 
 pp. 116158 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SPRING FLOWERS. 
 
 Summer the proper season of flowers Fondness of children for 
 flowers They themselves are flowers Often spoiled in the 
 nursery Consequences through life The strong man in sickness 
 and death Utilitarian abominations Cottage child on the 
 common Limited number of Spring flowers in Britain The 
 snow-drop, and its message Flowers of the forest Elm 
 Different kinds of elms Alder Hazel The sloe The daphnes 
 The willows Their several kinds Poplars The abele The 
 Lombardy poplar The trembling poplar The yew The greater 
 Blair Daffodil Cinquefoil Colt's-foot Equisetums Water 
 marigold Ranunculaceae pp. 159 192 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 INFLUENCE OF THE SPRING UPON ANIMALS. 
 
 Breath and music of Spring Fashionable seasons Different adap- 
 tations of plants and animals Their reciprocal uses Small 
 animals Mammalia and birds Hybernation and migration 
 Spring birds, local, from the shores, from other countries Songs 
 of birds pp. 194 225 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SPRING-VISITANT BIRDS, AND THEIR FOOD. 
 
 General movement northwards, and its cause Departure of Winter 
 birds Food of Summer birds Uses of these birds Hosts which 
 they vanquish Air birds Grain birds Field birds Labours of 
 animals Great production of insects. . . pp. 226 246
 
 XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 INFLUENCE OF THE SPRING ON MAN. 
 
 Man peculiar Mind and body Senses of man and animals Feeling 
 of the Spring Snow-storm Thaw Early labours Early birds 
 Lambs Cottage gardens Family evening Spring not de- 
 scribable Conclusion ... . . . pp. 247 265
 
 SPRING. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS AND REFLECTIONS. 
 
 " Thy beams are sweet, beloved Spring ! 
 
 The \viiiter-shades before thee fly, 
 The bough smiles green, the young birds sing 
 
 The chainless current glistens by 
 Till countless flowers like stars illume 
 The deepening vale and forest gloom." 
 
 From the Danish of Thaarup. 
 
 THEBE is not, we believe, in the English language, or in 
 any language now spoken, or ever spoken by the human 
 race, a word which calls up more varied, or more delightful 
 emotions, than the word SPRING. On the present occasion, 
 we are to use it with reference to that season of the year 
 of which it is so beautifully expressive. But when we take 
 a word with us, and attempt to use it as the key of know- 
 ledge, it is not only desirable, but necessary, that we should 
 clearly understand the nature and power of this word. 
 
 The same season of the year which we call " Spring," is 
 differently named in other languages ; and, in several of 
 them, the greenness which comes upon the face of nature 
 during this delightful season, is made the foundation of the
 
 18 SPRING, AND ELASTICITY. 
 
 name, and, by necessary consequence, the descriptive 
 attribute of the season. The greenness, however, is a mere 
 consequence ; and though the emerald buds upon the hedge 
 and the reviving grass on the meadow, are in themselves 
 delightful, they are not the Spring, they are merely some of 
 its most ordinary effects. 
 
 The word Spring is not the name of any one production 
 or appearance of nature, however delightful, instructive, or 
 gratifying that production or appearance may be in itself. 
 It is the name of the action that emanation of almighty 
 power, which, working by laws which God has ordained, 
 and upon variously constituted matter which he has reated, 
 produces all the beauty and all the renovation which are 
 embodied in this little word. 
 
 There are few words in the language which have so many 
 and so appropriate applications as this same word Spring ; 
 yet it in all its varied uses, there is one general meaning 
 which it always carries along with it. It always means a 
 beginning something done of which we cannot further 
 trace the cause and nature ; and thus it brings us im- 
 mediately to the footstool of the throne of our God, and 
 shows us where human knowledge ends, and the worship of 
 the Eternal begins. 
 
 The " spring " of the air causes that element to bear 
 upon and to support everything on the earth's surface. In 
 the air and in many other substances, this spring or springi- 
 ness is known by the name of elasticity, which means 
 that which can of itself (elatio) rise up, recover its state 
 again, after that state has been changed by external circum- 
 stances. Still, however, this is true to the general meaning 
 .)f the word spring, even as we apply it to the year. The 
 Spring, wherein nature returns to its vigour and its verdure, 
 a fter the desolation of the "Winter, is literally a rising up or 
 uplifting of those principles of life and of growth with
 
 SPBING OF THE AIE. 19 
 
 which the Creator has so bountifully endowed his creatures ; 
 and though we use the word spring as the general name for 
 the season, yet the peculiar and proper meaning of it is, 
 the exertion of those powers wherewith plants and animals 
 are endowed.* 
 
 When we look around us, and give our calm and serious 
 consideration to everything that we see, we cannot fail to 
 discover that spring, or elasticity, is the grand source of all 
 material action ; and that our contemplation of it is final as 
 regards created things, and brings us immediately to the 
 acknowledgment and the adoration of our Grod. 
 
 Let us return to the spring or elasticity of the atmo- 
 spheric air, which air is the breath of life to us while we 
 are in the body, and consider very briefly the part which it 
 performs, under God, in the grand economy of terrestrial 
 nature. So delicate is this spring of -the air, that it yields 
 to the gentlest pressure, and returns to its former state the 
 instant that this pressure is removed. Heat makes it 
 vibrate far more sensibly than the most delicate balance 
 Avhich can be constructed by mortal hands ; and, as we shall 
 afterwards have occasion to notice, those vibrations are the 
 immediate causes of those changes of seasons which make 
 
 * The fine old poet Giles Fletcher has well expressed this in 
 his poem of " Christ's Triumph and Victory," even although we now 
 know that swallows do not hybernate, as in liis time they were 
 supposed to do. 
 
 " The engladdened Spring, forgetful now to weep, 
 
 Began to eblazou from her leafy bed ; 
 The waking swallow broke her half-year's sleep, 
 And every bush lay deeply purpured 
 "With violets; the woods' late wintry head, 
 Wide flaming primroses set all on fire, 
 And his bald trees put on their green attire, 
 Among whose infant leaves the joyous birds conspire." 
 
 B 2
 
 20 SPBING OF THE AIB. 
 
 the year BO delightfully varied. The air presses as a spring, 
 and at the same elevation from the earth's centre, and 
 under the same action of light and heat, it presses equally 
 in all directions, upwards, downwards, and laterally. Its 
 average rate may be estimated at about fifteen pounds of 
 our common avoirdupois weight upon every square inch of 
 surface ; so that the body of a man of ordinary size is 
 supported by a spring or pressure of about thirteen tons. 
 This pressure acts so equally upon all sides, that it always 
 ministers to protection. On this account, when a man 
 falls, the spring of the air lets him down gently ; and were 
 it not that he is surrounded by this all-yielding, yet all- 
 resisting substance, one tumble to the earth would break 
 him like a potsherd. 
 
 Everything else is supported in a similar manner by the 
 spring of the air; and were it not for this spring, the 
 plants, and even the buildings would fall prone upon the 
 earth no winged creature could make its way through the 
 air and the world, and all its kingdoms, would be motion- 
 less, and, by necessary consequence, dead. 
 
 Without this spring of the air, we could have no well- 
 spring of water from the rock ; and our pumps, our steam- 
 engines, and our furnaces, by which the stubborn earth is 
 converted into metal, and civilised man turns the contents 
 of the deep-seated mine into the ploughshare, the pruning- 
 hook, and every tool of the artificer, would be in vain ; for 
 in all these, and in countless other cases, it is the means 
 which we possess of winding up the spring of the air, and 
 a^ain allowing that spring to recoil and unbend itself, 
 which enables us to carry on our working. 
 
 The spring of a watch, a clock, or any other moving 
 instrument, is another remarkable illustration of the use of 
 this extraordinary word. In all such springs, there is a 
 power inherent in the spring itself, capable of performing
 
 SPEINOS OF A WATCH. 21 
 
 its operations without the immediate intervention of man. 
 The two principal springs of the watch are not only curious 
 in themselves, but they are capable of being made the 
 means, or the memorials, of some useful instructions. 
 They are both made of steel, and steel acquires its springi- 
 ness by being hammered on the anvil, thereby shadowing 
 forth to us that the more the spirit of a man is hammered 
 on the anvil of adversity, the more elastic it should become 
 in returning to the true line of rectitude. God hath been 
 graciously pleased to give us the steel when he " breathed 
 into our nostrils the breath of life," the very emblem of 
 elasticity, or the rebounding or recovering power of a spring. 
 That he hath seen meet to try us in the furnace of worldly 
 affliction, and to beat us on the anvil of worldly care, should 
 only teach us to be grateful to Him for having implanted in 
 us that which can be purified in the fire, and gain strength 
 and elasticity under the hammer. 
 
 Of the two springs of the watch or clock for the 
 principle is the same, whether the instrument is portable or 
 not the one is called the main-spring. It is a narrow 
 ribbon of steel, coiled up in a little brass box. The axis or 
 arbor of the box is fixed in the frame-work of the watch, so 
 that, though the box turns round upon it, it does not itself 
 turn round. One end of the spring is fastened to this, 
 and the other end is fastened to the circumference of the 
 box. In winding up the watch, the box is turned round 
 by the chain being coiled upon another piece of the 
 machinery, which is called the fusee, and the efiect of this 
 is to wind the spring tightly round the arbor, and so 
 treasure up its elasticity to be used as a power during all 
 the interval between the windings of the watch. When 
 the key is withdrawn, the spring reacts, pulls the chain 
 again from the fusee, puts the whole wheelwork of the 
 watch in motion, and would run it down in a little more
 
 22 SPRINGS 
 
 time than is occupied in winding, were it not for the counter- 
 acting influence of another spring. 
 
 This last is the balance-spring, and there is a beautiful, 
 and by no means an uninstructive moral, in the effect which 
 it has in restraining the impetuosity of the other. The 
 balance-spring is usually seen on that side of a watch which 
 is opposite to the dial. It is a small steel wire, very elastic, 
 and coiled round and round the balance with a number of 
 turns, at some distance from each other. In fine watches, 
 it is an exceedingly delicate piece of mechanism, and in order 
 that it may vibrate to an equal extent in the smaller coils as 
 in the larger ones, it has to be fashioned with a degree of 
 nicety which no instrument can measure, but which must 
 depend alone upon the hand of a workman of the utmost 
 skill and experience. There is something worthy of remark 
 in this ; the hand is an instrument of God's making ; and, 
 worthy of its maker, it can perform operations far more 
 delicate than can be performed by the nicest instruments 
 that man can construct. Hence, as God has bestowed upon 
 us the glorious gift of this hand, a gift which is quite unri- 
 valled among the things of this nether world, surely we 
 ought to employ it, and that with all diligence, in pro- 
 moting his glory, and the good of his creatures. 
 
 This balance-spring does not, like the main-spring of the 
 watch, exert one continued influence. It is acted upon and 
 overcome, and it again reacts and overcomes the power 
 which overcame it ; and this is that which regulates the 
 motion of the watch. In a common watch, for we need not 
 fatigue ourselves with those of more elaborate construction, 
 there are two little levers, called pallets, projecting from 
 the arbor of the balance, and forming an angle with each 
 other. These lock into the tooth of the balance-wheel, and 
 were it not that from the form of these teeth they bear 
 more on the one side than on the other, they would hold it
 
 OF A WATCH. 23 
 
 fast. But in consequence of the unequal pressure produced 
 by this means, the tooth of the balance-wheel, urged on by 
 the train of the watch, from the moving power of the main- 
 spring, presses the one pallet, and coils up the balance- 
 spring, so that the tooth escapes from the pallet. The 
 instant this takes place, the balance-spring is free, and it 
 recoils, by the force of its elasticity, and seizes and stops 
 another tooth of the wheel with the opposite pallet ; and it 
 is not till the power of the main-spring has accumulated 
 some effort upon the train, that the wheel cau pass another 
 tooth, or the watch make another beat, as it is called. Thus, 
 between the constant action of the main-spring, and the 
 alternate bending and unbending of the balance-spring, the 
 watch goes regularly, according as it is constructed and set ; 
 and if either of these springs should fail in the performance 
 of its office, the watch would become a useless toy. "We 
 have entered somewhat at length into the explanation of the 
 springs which move and regulate this most useful little 
 instrument, because they are not without their moral lesson 
 to us in some points of our conduct as men. We have 
 seen in the watch, that if the main-spring were left to its 
 own action, without control, the watch would run down in 
 little longer time than what is required to wind it up, and 
 thus it would be perfectly useless as a time-keeper. But 
 the balance-spring, duly adjusted and properly applied, 
 prevents this, and distributes regularly over the twenty- 
 four hours that action of the other spring which, but for 
 this regulation, would exhaust itself in a few seconds. The 
 desires and passions of mankind bear some resemblance to 
 the main-spring of the watch : they are wound up by various 
 excitements ; and, left to themselves, they would run down 
 in vanity and dissipation, and derange the whole machine. 
 But reason, and still more revelation, is the balance-spring, 
 by the proper application of which, the life of man should
 
 2-J. DAY-SPBING. 
 
 and can be regulated ; and under the proper government of 
 religion, it may go regularly, and keep time during the 
 appointed time of human life. It is thus that dumb 
 things admonish us as to what is our duty; and the 
 goodness of the Creator plants a tongue in everything 
 about us, so that if we have wisdom to profit by it, " day 
 unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night pro- 
 claimeth knowledge ; " and there is no shadow or turn- 
 ing where the willing ear may not hear the voice of 
 instruction. 
 
 Such is one simple instance of the application of the 
 word spring; but though we have purposely taken this 
 as purely mechanical, and wholly under the control of man, 
 the word has far more numerous and extended meanings. 
 In all of these it alludes to the origin. "When we say a 
 spring of water, we always allude to that primary source 
 which supplies the fountain ; and when we would more 
 emphatically describe the purity of a brook or rivulet, 
 we call it "the daughter of springs," thereby implying 
 that its waters are pure and original. The early dawn is 
 the "day-spring;" youth is the spring time of human 
 life ; and all growth or increase, whether in corporeal 
 volume or in mental acquirements, is aptly described as a 
 springing. 
 
 The day-spring is new to us every morning, and such 
 is its beneficial effect upon the human feelings, that they 
 who are apt to meet it the most frequently, always 
 have the liveliest sense of its freshness. This is a very 
 every-day matter, and, as is apt to be the case with 
 every-day matters, we generally pass it unheeded; but 
 were we wise, and did we take proper heed of what 
 constitutes our real happiness upon earth, we should 
 prize the day-spring above every worldly enjoyment of 
 the day.
 
 DAY-SPRING. 25 
 
 Even those who have been travelling, or watching and 
 weary, during the night, find the breaking of the dawn 
 come upon them as a spring-time of life. The head may 
 previously have been heavy, the hands folding for sleep, and 
 the whole body inactive and drowsy, and thought entirely 
 at a stand ; but the first pencil of light which the coming 
 sun throws on the upper air, tells upon every nerve of 
 the body, and every feeling of the mind, before it is visible 
 to the eye ; and one starts unconsciously into vigour and 
 capacity of action, in the same manner as though roused 
 from a sound and healthful sleep. They who are strangers 
 to the early dawn, and who slumber till the sun has arisen 
 in his strength, do not know how delightful a world God 
 has made for those who are up betimes, and enjoy the 
 morning. There are some situations in which the morning 
 view is very superior : but there is no situation where the 
 cheering influence of the day-spring cannot find out and 
 refresh those who are awake, and alive to its impression. 
 Even in the dungeon where the captive is confined, and on 
 the cold earth without a pallet of straw, or even a stone 
 on which to rest his head, the morning finds him out, and 
 brings a new ray of hope to cheer his drooping spirit. 
 
 Unquestionably there is something in this refreshing 
 influence of the day-spring, which human philosophy cannot 
 explain. It is not the light falling on the eye, or anything 
 which produces a specific effect upon any one sense. It is 
 like the Spirit, one cannot tell " whence it cometh ;" but its 
 passage is to the heart, and its effect there is most reno- 
 vating, and most delightful. There is even matter for much 
 philosophical reflection in it, though it refers to points of 
 philosophy all too deep for our common understandings ; 
 but which strongly tempts us to inquire into it. as one of 
 the most extraordinary displays of Almighty wisdom and 
 power. Every one in the least conversant with the moat
 
 26 COLOURS OF LIGHT. 
 
 simple principles of natural philosophy, is of course ac- 
 quainted with the decomposition of the solar beams by 
 means of the well-known instrument, a triangular prism of 
 glass ; and the seven primitive colours, reduceable, however, 
 into three, red, yellow, and blue, into which the spectrum, 
 or image of a beam of solar light, is divided by that prism. 
 Many must also be aware, that when the coloured spectrum 
 is obtained, there is a different distribution of solar heat 
 over the various colours which compose it. The prism 
 refracts the beam of light, or turns it into a different 
 direction and each part which is differently coloured yields 
 differently to the refractive power of the prism. The 
 red light is the most stubborn, and the others pass away 
 through the orange, the yellow, the blue, the purple, and the 
 violet, until the margin is an indescribable grey, to which 
 no descriptive name can be given. Now at the end of the 
 spectrum, and absolutely without the red colour, the heating 
 power is the greatest, and it diminishes along the spectrum, 
 at the margin of the grey it vanishes, and a power of an 
 opposite character appears to occupy its place. This is too 
 fine for common observation, and too shadowy for being made 
 matter of ordinary philosophy; but there seems no doubt 
 that beyond the purple and the grey there is an energy in 
 the solar beam, which is the very opposite or antagonist of 
 the energy of heat. It is the grey which first comes to us 
 a visible signal of the day-spring ; and before this visible 
 sign, there is no doubt a viewless emanation from that chosen 
 instrument of God in the earth's economy, the glorious 
 sun comes down to prepare nature for his appearance 
 
 "I saw the glorious sun arise 
 O'er yonder mountain grey " 
 
 and that, could we so write it in words, and so demonstrate 
 it by experiments, this is that voice of the morning which,
 
 COLOUBS OF LIGHT. 27 
 
 though inaudible to the ear, and untranslatable into the 
 words of ordinary language, brings renovation and refresh- 
 ment to every living thing. 
 
 There is another ground for this belief, which must be 
 familiar to every one that loves the country, (and who is 
 there in nature that knows the country and does not love 
 it r 1 ) The night may have been dewless, and the drought 
 of day may have continued upon nature during the hours 
 of darkness ; but just at the day-spring, and before visible 
 light has tinged the east, there shall be dew upon every 
 bud, and every blade of grass, as if the earth were anointed 
 in preparation for the appearance of that mighty creature 
 which God has appointed as the regulator of its economy ; 
 so that when the sun at last beams forth, and light and 
 shadow give to the morning landscape that power and that 
 beauty which are unknown at noonday, all nature is fresh 
 and sparkling ; and he who has the good fortune to be 
 a-field betimes, beholds, reflected from the dew-drops, 
 colours far more radiant and more rich than are to be 
 found in all the cabinets of jewels of all the monarchs 
 upon earth. 
 
 A single dew-drop, however small, furnishes in turn gems 
 of all imaginable colours. In one light it is a sapphire ; 
 shifting the eye a little, it becomes an emerald; next a 
 topaz ; then a ruby ; and lastly, when viewed so as to 
 reflect the light without refracting it, it has all the splen- 
 dence of a diamond. But to obtain this beautiful display 
 of natural colours, it is necessary to take advantage of the 
 morning, when the beams of the newly-risen sun are nearly 
 level with the surface of the earth ; and this is the time when 
 the morning birds are in their finest song, when the air and 
 the earth are in their greatest freshness, and when all 
 nature mingles in one common morning song of gratitude.* 
 
 * Our poets often allude in their descriptions to the dew at this
 
 28 FBESHXESS OF THE MOBBING. 
 
 There is something peculiarly arousing and strength- 
 ening, both to the body and the mind, in this early time 
 of the morning ; and were we always wise enough to 
 avail ourselves of it, it is almost incredible with what ease 
 and pleasure the labours of the most diligent life might 
 be performed. It is true that we require sleep to recover 
 the tone of the body, so that it may perform its duty 
 without wearinesa. But sleep, like everything else, may 
 be indulged in to excess ; and, like all excesses, the extra 
 quantity counteracts and destroys the effect of that portion 
 which would in itself be wholesome. But besides this, 
 there is an awakening of the mind in the morning, which 
 cannot be obtained at any other time of the day; and 
 they who miss this go heavily about their employments, 
 and an hour of their drawling day is not equal to half 
 an hour of the energetic day of one who sees the sun 
 rise. When, too, we take the day by the beginning, we 
 can regulate the length of it according to our necessities ; 
 and whatever may be our professional avocations we have 
 time to perform them, to cultivate our minds, and to 
 worship our Maker, without the one duty in the least 
 interfering with the other. 
 
 Such are a few very simple considerations connected 
 With that day-spring which every individual of the human 
 race may enjoy, and improve by, three hundred and sixty- 
 time; take for example either Burns, or the Ettrick Shepherd, when 
 singing of the lark 
 
 " Alas it 's no thy neebor sweet 
 The bonnie lark, companion meet ! 
 Bending thee 'mang the dewy weet 
 
 \Vi' spreckled breast 
 When upward springing, blythe to meet 
 
 The purpling East."
 
 SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 29 
 
 five times in the course of every common year; and no 
 enjoyment is more pure, and no improvement more fertile 
 in the seeds of future improvement. The subject is, 
 however, far better adapted for contemplation than for 
 description, only we should do well to bear in mind, 
 that time once lost is never found, either in itself or in 
 a substitute; and therefore every morning which we 
 neglect is an utter loss to us, and an abridgement of our 
 usefulness and our enjoyment. 
 
 The day-spring of the morning leads us, by an easy and 
 very natural transition, to the day-spring of human life, 
 the morning of our sojourn upon earth ; and the parallel 
 between the commencement of the life itself, and of those 
 successive days by which it is numbered, is a parallel the 
 most striking. There is a freshness in young life, which no 
 experience can acquire for us at any future time ; and there 
 is a newness in every object, which is not felt after years 
 have passed over our heads. Our bodies are light, flexible, 
 easily moved, and not liable to be injured. Our minds, 
 too, never become wearied or listless ; and although the 
 occupation and the thought are necessarily different 
 from those of persons of mature age, they are far more 
 energetic, and what is learned or done takes a more 
 permanent hold of the memory. 
 
 There are many circumstances which render the morning 
 of life of far more importance than the morning of an 
 individual day. It is a morning to which no to-morrow 
 morning can follow ; and therefore, if it is neglected, all 
 is inevitably and utterly lost. "We cannot exactly make 
 up the loss of even one morning, though we can repair it 
 a little by our diligence on future mornings. We must 
 bear in mind, however, that the means of doing this is a 
 mercy to us, and not a privilege that we can command as 
 our own. We never " know what a day may bring forth ; "
 
 30 SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 
 
 and as there daily occur around us instances in which 
 the young and the strong are at once levelled to the dust, 
 we never can be certain that the demand shall not be 
 made on ourselves " this night is thy soul required of 
 thee." But if it is thus perilous to neglect one morning 
 out of many, how much more perilous to neglect the one 
 morning of a life a life granted by a beneficent God, in 
 a world full of the wonders of his power, capable of 
 enjoyment, and doing him service while it lasts, and in the 
 fulness of time entering, through the atonement of the 
 eternal Son, a life of bliss which shall have no end ! 
 
 If there is peril in human life it is here ; if there is 
 warning in the condition of man, it here speaks to the 
 conscience in voices of thunder. But to the individual 
 this morning of life is a time of feebleness and inexperience, 
 so that if left to himself in the early stages of it, the 
 individual would perish of bodily helplessness ; and at a 
 more advanced stage of it, mental helplessness would be 
 equally fatal. We find, however, in this, as in everything, 
 that the goodness of the Creator is suited to the 
 weakness of the creature ; and that the rearing of the 
 young body, and the education of the young mind, are 
 given in charge to parental affection, which, in well 
 regulated minds, is perhaps the strongest and the most 
 continually operating propensity in human nature. The 
 natural propensity is fortified by the express commandment 
 of God, and that commandment is rendered endearing by 
 the promise with which it is accompanied : " Train up a 
 child in the way that he should go, and when he is old 
 he will not depart from it." 
 
 It would be foreign to our purpose to point out any 
 special mode of training, because the training of human 
 beings must always depend on the circumstances in which 
 they are placed, and those circumstances are continually
 
 ADMONITION. 31 
 
 varying, both with place and with time. There are one or 
 two points, however, which it is impossible entirely to 
 overlook. The training is to be in the way he should go, 
 not in the way he should be led. Hence the training 
 should be that of an independent being, one who has to find 
 his subsistence in the world, discharge his duties well in 
 society, and seek his own salvation and eternal life through 
 faith in Jesus Christ. Those are the three grand points 
 which lay the foundation of the general character, inde- 
 pendently of all education or training for special purposes ; 
 and if parents, and they who have the charge of the young, 
 neglect these, or perform them partially or carelessly, they 
 stand before the judgment-seat of an all-seeing and all- 
 searching God, as guilty of perilling the temporal, aud the 
 eternal security of his helpless and innocent creatures. 
 There is a short passage in the twelfth chapter of the book 
 of the Ecclesiastes, which gives so urgent a view of the 
 necessity of improving the morning of life, that we shall 
 quote it as a conclusion to our brief remarks on this 
 application of the word Spring: "Remember now thy 
 Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come 
 not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have 
 no pleasure in them ; while the sun, or the light, or the 
 moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return 
 after the rain : In the day when the keepers of the house 
 shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, 
 and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that 
 look out of the windows be darkened, and the doors shall 
 be shut in the streets when the sound of the grinding is 
 low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all 
 the daughters of music shall be brought low ; also it-hen 
 they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be 
 in the way, and the almond-tree shall nourish, and the 
 grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail 1
 
 32 THE DAY-SPRING FROM ON HIGH. 
 
 because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go 
 about the streets : or ever the silver cord be loosened, or 
 the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the 
 fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall 
 the dust return to the earth as it was ; and the spirit shall 
 return unto God who gave it." 
 
 There is one other metaphorical sense of the word Spring 
 which it may not be irrelevant to notice previous to our 
 entering upon the appearances peculiar to the spring of 
 the year, and the causes of those appearances. The spring 
 of the morning is for every day individually in itself; the 
 season of Spring comes round every year that a man lives ; 
 and though the spring time of youth is single and unre- 
 peated, still it is personal to every individual of the human 
 race. There is, however, a spring more general, more 
 mighty in its application, and more lasting in its nature, 
 than any or than all of these : " THE DAT-SPRING FROM 
 ON HIGH," has visited the nations; and "THE SUN OF 
 EIGHTEOUSNESS has arisen with healing under his wings," 
 shedding a radiance which purifies and warms, and which 
 shall never be extinguished. This is the glorious spring, 
 the dawn of immortality, the triumph over the last enemy 
 of mankind. And as the Spring of the year is welcomed 
 in by flowery garlands, and the songs of the choristers of 
 the grove; so is this Spring celebrated by casting the 
 emblems of cherubic power before the footstool of the 
 Heavenly Throne, and by the quiring songs of the angelic 
 host, and of the saints, washed from their sins in the blood 
 of their Eedeemer, in multitudes which no man can 
 number. "And I heard," says St. John, "a voice from 
 heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a 
 great thunder: and I heard the voice of many harpers 
 harping with their harps : And they sung as it were a new 
 song before the throne, and before the four beasts and the
 
 THE PROMISE AND ITS FULFILMENT. 33 
 
 elders : and no man could learn that song but the hundred 
 and forty and four thousand which were redeemed from the 
 earth." These are the mysteries of the celestial abodes 
 into which we are unable to look, further than is declared 
 unto us in the words of revelation. But the good tidings 
 did not rest here ; for the same inspired apostle proceeds, 
 "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, 
 having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that 
 dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and 
 tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God and 
 give glory to him ; for the hour of his judgment is come : 
 and worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, 
 and the fountain of waters." And again in another place, 
 " The seventh angel sounded ; and there were great voices 
 in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become 
 the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ ; and He shall 
 reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders 
 which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, 
 and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, Lord 
 God Almighty, which art and wast, and art to come ; 
 because Thou hast taken to Thee thy great power, and 
 hast reigned." " And the temple of God was opened in 
 heaven." 
 
 Those passages which have been quoted, contain in brit-f, 
 though figurative description, an embodiment of the three 
 grand epochs or events in the plan and promulgation of 
 the gospel dispensation : First, there is the declaration in 
 heaven delivered to the heavenly host only, and not to be 
 learned by any others, except through the means which 
 God saw meet to appoint. Next comes forth the other 
 angel, flying in the midst of heaven, to preach the ever- 
 lasting gospel to men of all kindreds, and tongues, and 
 nations. This embodies all the predictions of the prophets 
 from the time of the first promise of Divine grace to fallen 
 
 c
 
 34 SPREAD OF 
 
 man, that " the seed of the woman shall bruise the head 
 of the serpent." It goes on to the fulness of time, when 
 the Saviour was born in Bethlehem, follows him in all his 
 ministry upon earth, and includes the glorious institution 
 of the Christian Sabbath, on the day-spring of that ever 
 memorable morning, when he rose, triumphant over all the 
 powers of sin and death, leading captivity captive, to the 
 right hand of the Father in the highest heaven, and giving 
 evidence of the finished work of human redemption. Nor 
 does it stop here, for it accompanies the church of Christ 
 in all her vicissitudes, and remains to this day, and will 
 remain to the end of the world, to all those who are saved 
 by grace, through faith, of the gift of God. 
 
 The third epoch is, in human contemplation, far from the 
 least delightful of the whole : the voice of the trumpet pro- 
 claiming in heaven, that the kingdoms of the world had 
 become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ ; and that 
 he the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, one mighty 
 and mysterious God should reign for ever and ever ; and 
 every race of men, of whatever clime and whatever colour, 
 should know his law and obey it, and partake in his salvation. 
 
 And it is delightful to think, that in these latter times 
 there is not a zone or a climate where the word of salva- 
 tion has not been proclaimed ; and they who aforetime sat 
 in the region and shadow of death, have seen the glorious 
 light, and are rejoicing in it. Yes, everywhere the idol is 
 mouldering within its temple, and the people are journeying, 
 with jubilation and with song, to the heavenly Zion, with 
 their faces thitherward. JS"or must we forget to be grateful 
 that the goodness of God has made our little isle of the 
 sea so effective an instrument in the spread of the ever- 
 lasting gospel ; or that wherever the Sabbath sermon, and 
 the morning and evening hymn have been heard, " there 
 have fallen, as it were, scales " from the eyes of the erewhile
 
 THE GOSPEL. 35 
 
 blinded nations ; and the promise of the Saviour has been 
 gloriously fulfilled : " Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven, 
 and all other things shall be added to it." For whither- 
 soever the light of the gospel has come in its purity, it 
 has been followed by an increase in all the arts, and 
 sober enjoyments of human life, unknown under any other 
 circumstances. 
 
 All this is exceedingly delightful, and it is refreshing to 
 the mind, to " stand still and see the salvation of Grod." 
 Yet, notwithstanding, man is naturally the same fallen and 
 frail creature as ever ; and hence it becomes necessary, not 
 only that the hand of diligence in proclaiming the truth 
 should not be slackened, but that it should be exerted more 
 than ever. The field has increased most extensively; so 
 that millions are now thirsting for the bread of life, where 
 only thousands thirsted a few years ago ; and it is not only 
 desirable, but it is the bounden duty of every Christian, 
 and must be the labour of love to every one upon whom 
 the truth is come in demonstration of the Spirit and with 
 power, to take his proper share in this good work. 
 
 And there is a field for every labourer, however high or 
 however humble ; and they who are not called upon to 
 speak the word with their voices, may still administer the 
 written word in such a variety of forms, as to adapt it to 
 the ability and capacity of every one. A volume, a little 
 tract, a single page, nay, even one text of Scripture, may 
 awaken the conscience of some one, and bring them to the 
 truth ; and the value of a brand plucked out of the burning, 
 will return and bless the donor, in his person, his household, 
 and all that concerns him. 
 
 For the furtherance of this most important and highly 
 desirable end, it were to be wished that every book which 
 addresses itself to the general reader, and aims at con- 
 tributing its part to the formation of the general character, 
 
 o 2
 
 36 NATURE AND 
 
 should contain its admixture of religion ; not of the mere 
 acknowledgment of a creating God, which is inseparable 
 from a rational view of any of the works or workings of 
 nature, but of the gospel doctrine of salvation through the 
 atonement of Christ, and the impossibility of being saved 
 by any other means. No doubt there are some works upon 
 special subjects, alluding entirely to the civil occupations 
 of mankind, their conduct to each other in civil society, in 
 which this might seem out of place ; though, perhaps, even 
 in these it might appear to advantage more frequently than 
 it does. But when the book is intended to speak to man, 
 in his general conditions and relations, as one of God's 
 creatures, it seems very imperfect, and very improper, not 
 to address him as one conversant with the truth of God's 
 revealed word. Christian charity always leads us to desire 
 that every one may feel and conduct himself as impressed 
 in his heart with the knowledge and importance of divine 
 things ; and, therefore, any lesson p^porting to be given 
 to him, which does not reach this part_/of his character as 
 well as the rest, is clearly imperfect ; and because of the 
 omission, the other parts of it cannot fail to be less palat- 
 able and less pleasing to him than they otherwise would be. 
 
 There are many other reasons why books for the general 
 reader should address themselves to him, not merely as a 
 rational being, but as immortal ; and if there are any 
 subjects upon which this mode of address is more desirable 
 than others, they are the productions and the appearances 
 of nature. All that grows or lives, all that shines in the 
 heavens, and all that occurs in the natural succession of 
 days and years, are not only more open to the observations 
 of people generally, than any other subjects, but they are 
 more inviting. We live in nature, and we are part of 
 nature ; for everything connected with our mortal being is 
 dependent upon natural causes. It is, therefore, next to
 
 BEVELATIOX. 37 
 
 impossible, for even the most dull and illiterate of the 
 human race, to keep the thoughts of nature entirely absent 
 from his mind. Those, too, who have learned to observe 
 and to think, even though slightly, find much of their 
 meditation and pleasure in natural subjects ; and we inva- 
 riably find that, in favour with the intelligent part of the 
 community, books on such subjects are second only to those 
 which are necessary for pointing out the way of salvation. 
 
 Now it is not possible to devote much time to nature, with- 
 out having the thoughts turned to the God of nature ; and 
 under these circumstances, if the student of nature is not 
 informed respecting the character and attributes of the God 
 of revelation, and the doctrine of salvation through the 
 cross of Christ, he stands in much peril of falling into a 
 certain species of idolatry, which is both pernicious and 
 difficult to be got rid of. Sublime and delightful as the 
 study of nature is when pursued aright, it is not in itself 
 capable of furnishing any knowledge of the true God as 
 revealed in his word. It does, however, as has been said, 
 necessarily and strongly impress the mind with feelings of 
 a God ; and if there is no guidance of the truth, that God 
 can be thought of only after the manner of men, and is in 
 reality as much an idol of man's making, as if molten in 
 brass, or chiselled in stone. 
 
 We have judged it expedient to offer these few remarks 
 as prefatory to a brief notice of the leading appearances of 
 the Spring, with their causes and effects ; their influence 
 upon man, and the demonstrations which they afford of the 
 wisdom and goodness of the Creator. "We have done so, 
 not with a view of formally explaining the doctrines of the 
 Christian religion, but simply of showing, that one who is 
 ignorant of that religion is in no fit condition for studying 
 nature ; and having done so we proceed to the details of 
 our subject.
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SPRING. 
 
 THE earth is so extensive, the surface of it so varied, and 
 all the changeable parts of nature in a state of such con- 
 tinual change, that it is impossible to give any general 
 account of a season, that will apply to that season at almost 
 any two places, on any two days, or for any two years. 
 This is a difficulty which meets us in the study of every 
 department of nature. All the parts are so linked together, 
 and each of them receives so much of its character from the 
 others, that we cannot take them apart, study each by itself, 
 and make our knowledge of it a complete and definite 
 treatise, as we can do in the case of human inventions and 
 human works. But this difficulty, so far from being a 
 disappointment, is fraught with encouragement and with 
 wisdom. It is encouraging to feel convinced that any one 
 department of nature will remain as fresh, new, and inviting 
 to us in the fiftieth year of our study as in the first. It is 
 instructive in the highest degree, to feel at every glance 
 and every thought, that creation is one system, the work- 
 manship of one God. 
 
 If we look upon natural productions and natural appear- 
 ances, merely in their individual characters, we can neither 
 feel this encouragement nor profit by this instruction. For 
 this reason, the connexion of substance with substance, and 
 event with event, is the portion of the history of nature 
 which leads to general wisdom, and which is, therefore,
 
 OBSEBVE AND THI>"K. 39 
 
 useful to all men, without any reference to their stations or 
 employments in life. If we do not attend to this, it is all 
 in vain, for the purposes of enlightenment, that the lines of 
 our life are cast in even the most pleasant places of the 
 earth. The fairest prospects and the most lovely produc- 
 tions may be constantly before our eyes, and yet we may 
 not see one of them as rational beings, who are accountable 
 to God for all his goodness, ought to see them. It is the 
 same with every other sense of the body ; all the wild notes 
 of nature may fall in succession upon the external ear, and 
 yet the ear of the understanding may be perfectly deaf to 
 them. So the sweetest perfumes of nature may be wafted 
 to the nostril on the purest and most refreshing breezes, 
 and yet they may leave no more impression than the wing 
 of a butterfly leaves on the summer air. 
 
 That this is the condition of but too many, a very little 
 observation may teach any one ; and yet this indifference is 
 so completely destructive of our very best enjoyments, that 
 it should be our constant and our strenuous aim to avoid it. 
 "Whenever we have acquired this means of avoidance, so as 
 to be able to make the mind accompany the senses, we have 
 mastered the grand point of education ; and to help the 
 young and the ignorant in this, ought to be an object in 
 every book, and every means of instruction. But nature, 
 the creation around us, in its charms and its changes, is the 
 general subject of everybody's observation, and therefore 
 we are especially bound to take good heed, that the mind of 
 the reader should be aroused and carried along in all that 
 is written upon natural subjects. To the more isolated 
 facts, the senses of the most unlettered peasant are as new 
 as those of the most profound philosopher, only the mind 
 of the former takes no hold on them, and their memory 
 perishes like that of the beasts. If, indeed, we could sup- 
 pose a total stillness of the mind, a state in which there
 
 .{0 LANGUAGE OF NATTJBE. 
 
 were no thought produced by the impression on the senses, 
 the party would be reduced to the constitution of a mere 
 animal. It is not merely our temporal pleasure, our 
 rational enjoyment of this wonderful world ; for it perils 
 our eternal condition more than the unthinking are aware. 
 " God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship 
 him in spirit ; " but if the spirit is not called forth in all 
 matters in which the body is exercised, we can have no 
 certainty that it is awake and interested in devotion itself ; 
 and if this is not done, the mere words of the lip, whatever 
 be their strain or their amount, are but as " a sounding 
 brass, or as a tinkling cymbal." 
 
 And we have the highest and holiest example and autho- 
 rity, for blending the study of nature with that of religious 
 knowledge ; making " the law," not the moral law, as given 
 from Sinai only, but every law of God as revealed in crea- 
 tion, " a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ." Take up the 
 gospels, read them with that attention which their sacred 
 import demands ; and mark if the Saviour himself does not 
 make nature the constant subject to illustrate those divine 
 truths which he taught. The constancy with which this is 
 done, is of itself one of the strongest proofs of the truth 
 of his sacred mission. Well may it be said of him, that he 
 " spake as never man spake." He spoke the whole God- 
 head God the Creator, God the Redeemer, and God the 
 Sanctifier, in one unbroken and unbreakable harmony. 
 Man, however God has endowed him, and implanted in his 
 breast desire, and afforded to him opportunity for the 
 acquirement of knowledge, must necessarily fall short of 
 this glorious example, but the commandment to all of us is 
 " that we should follow his steps," how great soever may be 
 the distance. 
 
 A very little reflection will show that the language of 
 nature is the only language in which a general address
 
 DEFINITION OF SPRING. 41 
 
 could be delivered to the human race, in every age, every 
 nation, and possessing every degree of mental acquirement. 
 Addressed to fallen man for the purpose of bringing him to 
 God, it is necessary that the words of invitation should be 
 not only intelligible, but inviting to those who have yet no 
 spiritual discernment. This could not be done by anything 
 merely human ; for the habits, the tastes, and the occupa- 
 tions of men are so continually varying, and also so varied 
 at different places, that illustrations drawn from them could 
 have no permanent or general effect ; and, consequently, the 
 only subjects of illustration which remain, are the produc- 
 tions of nature, and the laws or general principles, in virtue 
 of which they put on their several appearances. 
 
 Bearing these few remarks in mind, and they are neces- 
 sary to be carried along with us in all our contemplations, 
 we shall turn to the leading phenomena of the Spring, and 
 the substances and agencies engaged in the production of 
 those phenomena. 
 
 The phenomena, as we have said, do not admit of general 
 description in such a manner as to be useful ; and therefore 
 we must come to the details of them, prepared with some 
 general principles which shall enable us to link them to our 
 memories, and use them for pleasure and for profit. The 
 most general description that we can give of the Spring, is 
 that it is a revival of nature in all those parts of it which 
 have growth or life, or any way minister to one or to both 
 of these. But the revival is so grand, and so different in 
 its results at different stages of it, that it will not describe, 
 but must be observed. This gradual passage from one state 
 to another is found in every movement of nature, whether 
 that movement lasts for a season, a moment, or a long 
 period of years. In every case where it is not too rapid for 
 our observing it as anything like a continuous duration, its 
 individual steps are always too fine for our observing, or
 
 42 DEFINITION OF SPBING. 
 
 our counting. Some plants will shoot up to the height of 
 several inches in the course of twenty-four hours ; but were 
 we to watch them every moment, we should not find the 
 slightest difference between the two consecutive momentary 
 states. It is the same with ourselves. Our mirrors, our 
 friends, and, as life ebbs away, our infirmities, admonish us 
 that we are getting old ; but we never have a spontaneous 
 feeling to the same effect ; so far from it, we attempt to 
 drive age onward before us, and within ourselves, we 
 question or doubt the truth of the monitors. Life, in 
 short, is our passage from the cradle to the grave, the 
 details of which must be sought in our daily conduct. In 
 like manner Spring finds the world in the gloom of Winter, 
 and conducts it to the full-blown beauty of Summer ; but 
 steps of this progress must be observed by everyone for 
 himself in his own locality. This revival of the Spring, 
 shows itself to us only in the result of motion of some 
 description or other, whether the successive steps of that 
 motion, or the actual progress of it, be or be not discernible 
 by our senses or our instruments. 
 
 The leading motions, or more strictly speaking, the lead- 
 ing substances which are moved, for we can observe motion, 
 or the effect of motion, only in a moving or moved sub- 
 etance, form the simplest parts into which we can analyse 
 or separate our very vague and general notion of the revival 
 of the Spring. The doing of this is attended with consi- 
 derable difficulty ; because we hardly know anything of 
 some of the elements, and our knowledge of some of them 
 is partial. There is one fact, however, which limits our con- 
 sideration to its proper sphere. The appearances and 
 phenomena of the Spring, and of every season of the year, 
 are entirely terrestrial, taking place on the earth itself, and 
 not in any way affecting or influencing the sun, the moon, 
 the planets, the stars, or any other celestial bodies. It is
 
 SOURCES OF DECEPTION. 43 
 
 true that the light and heat of the Sim are the grand 
 stimuli to the revival of the Spring, but the sun is not 
 lighted up anew, in order to prank our meadows with 
 flowers, clothe our groves with verdure, delight our ears 
 with songs, and sinew our frames with vernal breezes. The 
 sun is in itself exactly the same at every period of our 
 year ; and for aught that we know, it has not undergone 
 any change since the Almighty set a tabernacle for it in the 
 heavens, and will not undergo any change until the same 
 power shall quench it in utter darkness. 
 
 How, then, some may ask, is the varying action of the 
 sun the cause of all the vicissitudes of the changing year ? 
 The answer is a short one ; but as there is some general 
 instruction in it, it may be well to dwell a little upon it, 
 and consider how much of the appearance of things depend* 
 on the things themselves, and how much on our position 
 with regard to them. This page, we shall presume, is- 
 legible at a moderate distance, varying with the age of the 
 reader, or the natural form of the eye. Lay it close on 
 the nose and forehead, or remove to the distance of a yard 
 or two from it, and not a single word will be made out or 
 a letter seen. But the page is all the while exactly and 
 identically the same, and if you bring it back into the 
 original position it is just as legible as at the first. Hold 
 your finger upright, and as close to your eye as you can 
 distinctly see it, and look towards a tall tree, a high steeple, 
 or even a lofty mountain, and the finger will appear to 
 outmeasure each and all of them, and to outmeasure them 
 the more as they are further distant. Walk up to any of 
 them and apply the finger, and see how different the felt 
 reality is from the visible appearance. Now, the eye, the 
 finger, the tree, the steeple, or the mountain, are exactly 
 the same in the one case as in the other ; and the only thing 
 that has shifted is the relative position of the observer.
 
 44 SOURCES OF EEEOH 
 
 This faculty of the eye, by means of which it tells us a 
 different story with every change of our position, is a 
 necessary result of the structure of the eye as a material 
 organ, and of the properties of that light which is the 
 medium of vision. This led the late Dr. Edward Young to 
 place in his garden a very striking, though somewhat 
 quaint, lesson. There was an object placed there, painted 
 so skilfully, that, seen from a distance, it appeared an 
 arbour with a most inviting seat ; but upon walking up to 
 it, it proved to be nothing but a painted board, inscribed 
 with words to the following effect : " Unseen things never 
 deceive us." 
 
 We need not multiply instances, or give any in the case 
 of the other senses, or of the action of any other natural 
 causes, of whatever kind they may be : The effect which 
 any one body or substance in nature produces on another 
 may be changed, either by changing the relative situation 
 of the object, or the power of the actor. Upon this prin- 
 ciple the changes of the seasons can be just as readily 
 produced by changes in the situation of the earth, as by 
 changes in the sun ; and that they are so produced, may be 
 found demonstrated in any work on astronomy to which 
 the reader pleases to refer. 
 
 This, as we have hinted, very much lessens the range of 
 our inquiry into that general action which produces and 
 characterises the Spring. It enables us to regard the sun 
 as a constant power, which not being changed in any sea- 
 sonal or other changes upon earth, may be left entirely out 
 in our investigation of the causes of those changes. 
 
 In what manner this constant power of the sun acts upon 
 the earth, and by what means, in the earth itself, its varia- 
 tions, which cause the Spring and the other revolving 
 seasons, we shall be better able to see afterwards. But we 
 may mention, in the meantime, that there is no action of
 
 VULGAR AND LEARXED. 45 
 
 the sun, and much less can there be of any other celestial 
 body, except by means of natural causes, which are as 
 completely part of the regular system of laws by which 
 God governs the material creation, as the falling of a rain- 
 drop, or the growth of a plant. All these bodies are 
 known to us simply as matter, and not in anywise as mind ; 
 and, consequently, all their properties, and all their action, 
 must be material. 
 
 Hence, that pretended science known by the name of 
 Judicial Astrology, once one of the most powerful fears 
 and fetters of the human mind, and still not altogether 
 exploded, even by those who have some claims, at least to 
 the appearance, of scientific information, cannot, in the 
 very nature of things, be anything else than a delusion and 
 a cheat. 
 
 The foundation of this false science consisted in this, 
 that certain positions of the planets, with regard to each 
 other, and to their apparent places, as seen against the 
 fixed stars at the time of a man's birth, not only contained 
 an exposition of the future character and conduct of the 
 man, but could be read as legibly as a printed book, by 
 adepts in the astrologic mysteries. In the judgment of 
 reason, this is impossible and absurd ; but it belongs to a 
 class of absurdities, by means of which the crafty and 
 unprincipled have, in all ages, practised upon the credulity 
 of the weak, for purposes the most disreputable. On thia 
 account, it ought to be held up to that scorn which it 
 merits ; and exploded by the only means adequate to such 
 a purpose the careful exposition of the true laws of 
 nature, according to unprejudiced observation, and the 
 revelation of holy writ. , 
 
 After we clearly understand that the action of the sun 
 upon the earth, and all its productions, is a natural action, 
 and that, in so far as the suu is concerned, it is an
 
 40 MOTIONS OF 
 
 unvarying action, we are in a proper condition for studying 
 the seasons in a useful manner. We have said, that all 
 changes in plants, in animals, or in anything else, within 
 the scope of the material creation, are results of motion of 
 some kind or other ; therefore, the revival of the Spring 
 must be the result of motion, as well as the rest are. Thus 
 our inquiry is reduced, in the next step of it, to an answer 
 to the question, " What moves ? " 
 
 In the first place, the whole earth moves, without any 
 reference to the particular character of the parts of its 
 surface, or of what grows or lives upon them. The motion 
 here is twofold; the one part belonging entirely to the 
 earth, without any regulation of its whole volume by the 
 sun; and the second restrained by, and obedient to, the 
 force and influence of solar gravitation. This is the diurnal 
 or daily rotation, in which the earth turns round upon an 
 imaginary line or axis passing through its centre every 
 twenty-four hours in the direction of from west to east. 
 As this motion depends upon the whole mass of the earth, 
 we have no reason to believe that it is not perfectly uni- 
 form, or that every twenty -four hours, as measured by the 
 earth itself, is of exactly the same length. We have, 
 however, no means of ascertaining this, because we dwell 
 upon the earth, and cannot stand apart from it, so as to 
 take note of its motions. We are thus reduced to judge 
 of the length of time from the interval between the sun's, 
 or some other luminary's, appearing successively in a certain 
 direction, say in the south. This is not quite uniform, 
 though in the case of the sun it is nearly so ; and we know 
 that the causes of its variation have nothing to do with the 
 rotation of the earth upon its axis, but belong to the earth's 
 other and more complicated motion. 
 
 This other is the " annual " motion of the earth, so called 
 from the Latin word, annulus, which means a ring which
 
 THE EARTH. 47 
 
 surrounds, and, metaphorically, the operation or process 
 of sun-rounding. Our word " year," has exactly the same 
 meaning, and yearly is the name of the operation of 
 enclosing. 
 
 The daily motion formerly noticed, does not necessarily 
 imply that the earth moves a hair's-breadth from its place, 
 considered as a whole, or alters in the least the earth's 
 general position or situation witli regard to the sun ; and 
 this is the reason why it has nothing to do in bringing 
 about the revival of the Spring, or any other change of the 
 seasons. But it is very different with the annual motion. 
 This is performed in the direction of from west to east, as 
 well as the other. But it is impossible that one body, of 
 whatsoever dimensions, can move yearly, or round about 
 another, without travelling in space. Ninety-five millions 
 of miles is the average distance of the earth from the sun, 
 as nearly as such a distance can be measured ; and this 
 makes the length of its yearly path, taken in round numbers 
 for the sake of easy remembrance, about six hundred 
 millions of miles, or not very much less than two millions 
 of miles in a day. The circumference of the earth, or the 
 measure round it, is about twenty-five thousand miles, 
 which is only about the eightieth part of its average 
 daily travel in space ; and yet the latter, taken at the 
 equator of the earth, is more than a thousand miles in 
 the hour, and, consequently, the earth's hour motion in 
 its annual path is at the rate of more than sixty thousand 
 miles. 
 
 We speak of twenty, or even ten miles in the hour, as a 
 rapid motion ; and if the rate is more than twenty, objects 
 near at hand pass us so rapidly, that we have no clear dis- 
 cernment of them. But if an object, a mile breadth, were 
 to travel past us as rapidly as the earth travels in its 
 annual path, it would pass our field of vision in less than
 
 48 80LAB INFLUENCES. 
 
 the sixth part of a second, which is too short a time for 
 giving us any information of it by the same. 
 
 It might seem at first sight, that this has nothing to do 
 with a proper understanding of the Spring, or of any other 
 season. Such, however, is not the case. The effect pro- 
 duced by material causes, diminishes as the motion of that 
 which is acted upon increases in rapidity ; and all the means 
 of action with which we are acquainted upon earth, would 
 not have the slightest visible effect upon any body or sub- 
 stance whatever, if moving at even a tenth part the rate 
 at which the earth moves. But notwithstanding this 
 astonishing rapidity of motion, the beams of the sun not 
 only tell upon the whole organisation of the minutest thing 
 that grows or lives, but they tell upon every particle of the 
 viewless air, and upon those germs of life, which no eye 
 and no instrument is able to trace. lS"ot only this, but 
 those wonderful beams are obedient to every variation of 
 the surface of the earth, or of its position ; and if even one 
 leaf is moist and another dry, the sunbeam will find out the 
 difference and produce the corresponding effect in each. 
 This extraordinary property is briefly but beautifully 
 expressed in the nineteenth Psalm ; and this is one instance 
 in which the words of inspiration are in remarkable 
 accordance with the fact in nature. The Psalmist savs, 
 " There is nothing hid from the heat thereof; " and this is 
 literally true, as far as observation can be carried ; nor is 
 there any doubt that this great influence of the sun strikes 
 through and through the globe of the earth, and influences 
 every particle of its mass, in the performing of that office 
 to which God has appointed it. Thus we have abundant 
 evidence of the immensity of that power which produces 
 the revival of the Spring, and how competent it is to the 
 performance of its great and varied office. 
 
 Our next step, therefore, is to consider those peculiarities
 
 PLAKJfi OF MOTION. 49 
 
 of the earth's annual motion which so diversify the action 
 of this immense and constant power, as to cause Spring and 
 the other seasons to come round at their appointed times, 
 and in their appointed degrees in different regions. In 
 doing this, we shall be under the necessity of introducing 
 one or two words of more technical character than we could 
 have wished to use, but we shall be as sparing in their use 
 as possible. 
 
 When a body rotates on an axis, as the earth does in its 
 daily motion, and also when it revolves, as the earth does in 
 the course of a year, there is always what is called a "plane of 
 motion." The meaning of plane is, a surface perfectly flat 
 or level, not applied as meaning the surface of any material 
 body, but as simply a surface, length and breadth, without 
 any thickness. "When we speak of the plane of motion of 
 the earth, or of any celestial body, we never think of the 
 limits of the plane, but regard it as having position in 
 space, and not any boundaries. 
 
 This position in the case of a body turning round on an 
 axis, and not necessarily changing its position in space, 
 always has reference to the axis of motion. It is at rigid 
 angles to it, which means that the axis does not lean 
 toward the plane, in one direction more than another, 
 which is but another means of saying that it does not lean 
 to the plane at all. Perhaps it may render the expression 
 a little clearer to those not conversant with such subjects, 
 if we say, that when a body rotates on an axis, no part 
 of it either rises above, or descends below the plane of 
 motion. 
 
 There is another circumstance, to which it is desirable to 
 attend here, in order to get a clear view of those simple and 
 beautiful motions of the earth, to which we are indebted 
 for the Spring and the other seasons of the year. We 
 mentioned that, by the very definition, a plane has no 
 
 D
 
 50 PLANE OF MOTION. 
 
 thickness, and therefore it is not fixed to any absolute 
 position in space ; but that if we suppose the axis which 
 it crosses to be upward at the one end, and downward at 
 the other, the plane may be understood to be raised in the 
 first of these directions, or lowered in the second, as far as 
 can be named, provided that it is not understood to lean 
 to one side more than another. 
 
 This is, perhaps, as simple an explanation as we can give 
 of the earth's daily motion and its plane. But we may 
 further remark, that the earth's axis, though it changes its 
 situation in space, changes its direction very little ; so little 
 and so slowly indeed, that it has no traceable effect upon 
 the seasons, and therefore we may pass it by as too nice for 
 our purpose. And we may say, that the earth performs its 
 three hundred and sixty-five and a quarter rotations, with 
 its axis always in the same position, and its plane of motion 
 always the same ; and this is the first and simplest branch 
 of those motions of the earth, which we must well under- 
 stand, taken singly, before we can be prepared for under- 
 standing their joint effect. Let us now proceed to the 
 other motion. 
 
 The annual motion of the earth is round the sun, at an 
 average distance, as we have said, of about ninety-five 
 millions of miles; but as the sun has no motion cor- 
 responding to this, and as none of the other planets move 
 at the same rate as the earth, there is no axis of motion in 
 this case. The path which the earth would describe, if 
 there were anything on which it could leave a trace, is 
 called the orbit of the earth, which also simply means that 
 it is round, or nearly so. This orbit of the earth is not a 
 perfect circle, though it does not differ much from one, and 
 the difference in this respect has but a slight influence upon 
 the seasons. With the exception of some disturbances, 
 which are also too slight for requiring us to notice them,
 
 ANNUAL ROTATION. 51 
 
 the orbit of the earth lies in one plane ; that is, if a 
 perfect level surface were applied to it in any three points 
 of its path, this surface would touch the earth in every 
 other point of the orbit. This is, of course, the plane of 
 the orbit, or the plane of the annual motion ; and it is by 
 the difference in position between this plane, and the plane 
 of the daily rotation, that the Spring and all the seasonal 
 changes are produced. If the direction of the major axis 
 or longest diameter of the earth's orbit is taken, then the 
 plane of the annual motion is inclined to that of the daily 
 rotation, at an angle of about twenty-two degrees and 
 twenty-eight minutes of a degree, so that the axis of the 
 earth's rotation is inclined to the plane of the earth's orbit, 
 at an angle of sixty-six degrees and thirty-two minutes, the 
 one way, and at an angle of a hundred and thirteen degrees 
 twenty-eight minutes, the other way. 
 
 The influence of the sun comes to the earth in straight 
 lines, and always in the direction of the plane of the 
 orbit ; because, as the sun is the centre round which the 
 earth revolves, the sun is necessarily in the plane of the 
 orbit. 
 
 The extremities of the major axis, or longest diameter of 
 the orbit, are those in which the earth is situated at mid- 
 summer and midwinter ; and as there are two of these 
 points, with half of the orbit between them both ways, the 
 fact of the earth's being in them, tells in an exactly 
 opposite manner upon the two hemispheres, or halves of the 
 earth's surface, divided on the plane of its rotation, and of 
 course having a pole or extremity of the axis of rotation in 
 the centre of each. We distinguish these poles as north 
 and south, and each of them is the remotest point from the 
 equator, or circle upon which the hemispheres are supposed 
 to be divided, in its own hemisphere. 
 
 The action of the sun, not taking notice of any effect that 
 
 j> 2
 
 52 THE HEMISPHERES. 
 
 may be produced on it by the earth or the atmosphere 
 which surrounds the earth, always falls upon half the 
 earth's surface, and no more. The consequence is, that 
 when the earth is at one extremity of the major axis, the 
 solar influence falls for the twenty-four hours upon twenty- 
 three degrees twenty-eight minutes, in latitude as measured 
 upon the earth, around the pole which is inclined to the 
 sun, or where the axis makes an angle of only sixty-six 
 degrees thirty -two minutes of the orbit. 
 
 At this time, however, the opposite hemisphere is very 
 differently situated. Its pole is turned a hundred and 
 thirteen degrees twenty-eight minutes of the earth's latitude 
 from the centre of the solar influence ; and as the hemi- 
 sphere of that influence is only ninety degrees from centre 
 to boundary, twenty-three degrees twenty-eight minutes 
 around that pole must be without the sun's influence for 
 the whole twenty-four hours. 
 
 But, as the plane of the orbit, and direction of the axis, 
 remain with little or no change, the pole, which is inclined 
 toward the sun at the beginning of the one half of the 
 revolution, must be inclined from the sun at the beginning 
 of the next half-year ; and so on alternately the midsummer 
 of the one, and the midwinter of the other, happening at 
 the same time. 
 
 In order that the explanation may be as plain as possible, 
 let us suppose that we begin our consideration at the point 
 where the pole of the northern hemisphere, or hemisphere in 
 which Britain lies, is directed from the sun ; and this will of 
 course be our time of midwinter. This being understood, 
 if we take the earth at the opposite extremity of the axis, 
 it will be midsummer in our northern hemisphere and mid- 
 winter in the southern one. As years roll on, these extreme 
 differences of season between the two hemispheres alternate 
 with each other at half-yearly intervals, whether we reckon
 
 CAUSES OF THE SEASONS. 53 
 
 from the northern to the southern, or from the southern to 
 the northern. 
 
 In passing from the one extreme of twenty -three degrees 
 twenty-eight minutes around either of the poles, having 
 continual day, or presence of the sun, to the same space 
 round the same pole, having continual night, or absence of 
 the sun, all the intermediate states must be gone through ; 
 and the mean between them must be a state in which no 
 portion of the earth's surface has either day or night for the 
 whole twenty-four hours, but when these hours are equally 
 divided between the one and the other throughout the 
 whole earth. As we said of all natural changes from one 
 state to an opposite one, this change must pass through 
 intermediate degrees far too delicate for our observation, 
 though there are some circumstances, which can be more 
 effectively explained afterwards, that render the rate of 
 change variable at different stages of its taking place. 
 
 What we have stated will, we trust, be sufficient to 
 explain to those who are not conversant with such subjects, 
 that application to each other of the two motions of the 
 earth, which brings about the sun and all the other seasonal 
 changes. At the medium points between the extremes of 
 alternation, which are called equinoctial points from the 
 equality of day and night in every latitude at those times, 
 the momentary influence of the sun is the same upon 
 both the northern hemisphere and the southern one ; and 
 were it not for the continued operation of the former 
 inequality, these would be the times of mean season in both 
 hemispheres. 
 
 The equinox which happens on the twenty-first day of 
 March, is called the vernal equinox ; and from the time 
 of this to our midsummer the influence of the sun upon the 
 northern hemisphere is increasingly greater than on the 
 southern. This happens about the 21st of June. From
 
 54 SEASONS OF 
 
 this time the influence of the sun upon the northern 
 hemisphere continues diminishing till the autumnal equinox, 
 about the twenty-third of September ; at which time the 
 momentary influence upon both hemispheres is again equal, 
 though the modified influence which results, is affected by 
 the previous state of things. 
 
 From the autumnal equinox, the sun's influence becomes 
 greater on the southern hemisphere than on the northern, 
 and continues to do so till our midwinter, which is about the 
 twenty-second of December, and after this it continues to 
 lessen on the southern hemisphere, and to increase on the 
 northern one, until the vernal equinox is again arrived at, 
 and the momentary influence upon the two hemispheres is 
 again equal. These motions, in their regular succession, 
 produce all the seasons, of which our conventional distinc- 
 tion, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and "Winter, is more 
 imaginary than real. In as far as the sun is concerned, 
 there is a waxing of solar influence upon the northern 
 hemisphere, and a waning the same upon the southern, 
 during the half-year from December to June ; and in the 
 other half of the year the waxing is upon the southern 
 hemisphere, and the waning upon the northern. 
 
 Whether the changing position of the earth to the sun, 
 arising from the change of the angle which the plane of the 
 rotation makes with the plane of the orbit, produces a 
 return of solar influence to the one hemisphere or to the 
 other, some time always elapses, not only before the effects 
 of the change begin to be apparent, but before the previous 
 effects have ceased. In like manner the energy upon either 
 hemisphere does not begin to slacken exactly at its mid- 
 winter ; nor are the mean temperatures at the astronomical 
 times of the equinoxes. These differences between the 
 observed states and the astronomical times, do not depend 
 upon any difference whatever in the solar influence taken
 
 THE HEMISPHERES. 55 
 
 upon the earth as a whole. We have no means of 
 estimating this originally and in itself; for a sunbeam 
 is so exceedingly swift, that it will not linger till the 
 most expert of the human race is able to make a single 
 experiment upon it. We can judge of the action only from 
 the effect produced upon terrestrial substances ; and this 
 is so different on substances of different kinds, and there 
 are so very many substances differing from each other in so 
 many ways, that it is impossible to state anything with 
 precision on this part of the subject. We are in consequence 
 reduced to actual observations, in places differently situated 
 and circumstanced ; and these are so complicated, that no- 
 body has yet been able, or in all probability will ever be 
 able, to generalise them in a systematic and satisfactory 
 manner. 
 
 Still, the real seasons of each hemisphere are reduced to 
 two a season of increasing action, and one of decreasing. 
 It is when the former has acquired a certain degree of 
 strength, and produced certain effects upon the susceptible 
 parts of nature, that we call it Spring. A greater degree 
 of strength we call Summer. The first marked decrease is 
 Autumn ; and the last one Winter. But none of these is 
 distinctly marked from the other ; they diifer in different 
 latitudes and countries, and even in the same country, during 
 different years, in their various lengths and characters. 
 
 Spring is unquestionably the most variable of the whole ; 
 and the one most difficult to characterise. It is easy to 
 make calculations as to what should be the character, the 
 time, and the duration of the season in all latitudes, if 
 there were no element in the calculation but the unvarying 
 action of the sun, and those changes of the earth's position 
 with regard to the sun, of which we have given some 
 account. But such calculations are never near the observed 
 truth ; though they are a sort of approximation, and serve
 
 56 ACTION OF TTATTJEE 
 
 as a general framework on which to arrange our observations 
 of particular places. 
 
 One reason why Spring is more variable and less manage- 
 able in this respect than any other season, arises from those 
 parts of nature, upon which the sun has the chief influence, 
 having most work to do in the Spring. Cultivation must 
 in some measure be put aside, if we would understand the 
 seasons ; for a skilful cultivator is always able to work to 
 the weather, at least in some of his labours. Putting this 
 aside, Spring is the season of toil both with wild plants and 
 wild animals ; and the more marked the seasons are in any 
 country, this toil is the more severe. 
 
 Almost all our natural plants, except the fungi, which 
 are in a great part autumnal, and those plants which keep 
 growing at all seasons, if they have enough of moisture and 
 not too much cold these excepted, our wild plants make 
 the greater part of their growth in the Spring. They also 
 have the beginning of their annual growing then. In every 
 case it is more difficult to start, than to proceed after start- 
 ing. There is also more danger to plants at this season than 
 at any other. The young bud is always tender ; because 
 the different parts of which it is composed have just come 
 out of their winter hiding-places, and are not inured to the 
 weather. They are not hurt by cold alone, but also by too 
 severe exposure to heat or to drought ; and the weather is 
 generally so unsettled at this time, that though its changes 
 are evidently healthful upon the whole, they are severe and 
 even fatal in many instances. 
 
 Spring is also the busiest time of the year with the 
 birds; because they have their nests to build and their 
 broods to rear. It is true that the waste left by the winter 
 furnishes the materials of the nests ; and that many insects 
 and other small animals are, especially during the advanced 
 part of the Spring, in that condition in which they serve
 
 I>* THE SPBIXG. 57 
 
 best for the food of birds. But notwithstanding this, the 
 labours of the winged creatures are exceedingly severe; 
 and many of them fly thousands of miles for the purpose of 
 finding breeding places for their young. It is clearly shown, 
 however, that^^s, without whose knowledge not even a 
 sparrow can fall to the ground, extends^s fatherly care to 
 all his creatures, and strengthens each of them in propor- 
 tion for every labour they have to perform. 
 
 The effects which the Spring produces upon all the tribes 
 of the vegetable and the animal kingdoms, are among the 
 most striking and instructive features of the season. Their 
 dependence on the solar influence is secondary, however, 
 and comes to them through the medium of those more 
 general portions of terrestial nature, upon which the sun 
 produces seasonal changes. They can therefore be more 
 clearly, and also far more briefly noticed, after we have cast 
 a passing glance upon the others. In the mean time let us 
 bear in mind, as the summing up of this chapter, that there 
 is always a hemisphere of the earth acted upon by the sun ; 
 and that the solar influence is greatest at the centre of this 
 hemisphere, and vanishes away to nearly nothing at the 
 sides, slowly in the parts near the centre, and more rapidly 
 afterwards ; the height of sun above the horizon of every 
 place, being measured by the distance of that place from the 
 nearest point of the boundary of the light. In the daily 
 rotation of the earth eastward, this enlightened hemisphere 
 shifts westward, so as apparently to make a complete revolu- 
 tion every twenty-four houra. It also shifts northward, 
 from our midwinter to our midsummer, over forty-six 
 degrees and fifty-six minutes of latitude the degree of 
 latitude meaning a distance of about seventy British miles 
 in the direction of north and south. During the other 
 halt-year, from midsummer to midwinter, the hemisphere 
 on which the sun acts, moves southward to the same
 
 58 ILLUMINATED HEMISPHERES. 
 
 extent and at the same rate. In this shifting northward 
 and southward, the sun is said to shift in declination; 
 and the rate of this shifting is slowest at the times of 
 turning, whether northward or southward, and quickest 
 midway between them, or at the equinoxes. It will also 
 be recollected, that the time of the greatest northing 
 is the midsummer of the northern hemisphere ; and at the 
 time of the greatest southing the midsummer of the 
 southern one ; while the equinoxes are the times when the 
 hemispheres are both equally exposed to the solar influence, 
 though the effect upon them is not equal. It thus appears 
 that during the midsummers, when there is continual day 
 over a certain space round the poles, the sun lingers in the 
 respective hemispheres, and thereby exerts its benefical 
 influence for a longer period. On the other hand, the solar 
 influence hurries at the equinoxes ; and this is one cause of 
 the greater action of the Spring.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ADAPTATION OF THE EARTH TO THE SOLAB. INFLUENCE. 
 
 IK the preceding chapter we have endeavoured to show 
 how that constant and invariable influence which the beams 
 of the sun exert upon the earth, is seasonably distributed 
 by means of the angle which the planes of the earth's two 
 motions make with each other. This is to be understood 
 as not in any way increasing or diminishing the total action 
 of the sun, at one time more than at another ; because, 
 though the earth, and its clothing, its inhabitants, and its 
 accompanying atmosphere, are very powerfully afl'ected by 
 the beams of the sun, the earth exerts no known action 
 back again upon that luminary, having the slightest re- 
 semblance to the beams. There is a reciprocal action 
 between the earth and the sun, in the way of gravitation ; 
 but this belongs to matter in its general and simple form, 
 and has nothing to do whatever in those changes of matter 
 which are produced by the sunbeams upon the earth. In 
 order to show that this solar action, to which we owe the 
 appearances of the year, and pre-eminently those of the
 
 60 ADAPTATIONS TO 
 
 Spring, is not without power, so vast as to be altogether 
 bewildering to our understanding, we mentioned the rate of 
 the earth's motion ; and that of the sunbeams is vastly 
 more rapid, being at the astonishing rate of nearly two 
 hundred thousand miles in one second. The reader who 
 reflects on the immense power and the extreme simplicity 
 of this part of the system of creation, can hardly fail to 
 pause in dumb reverence at the impression which it gives 
 him of the Creator ; and if he joins the reflection, that the 
 same Godhead suffered on the cross to redeem mankind 
 from eternal misery, the just and necessary reward of their 
 own offences, he will at once confess that " the love of God 
 passeth all understanding." 
 
 If those adaptations of the several parts of the earth and 
 its accompaniments to the sun's influence, which occasion 
 the Spring, and the subsequent succession of the year (for 
 the Spring in the one hemisphere is really the cause of the 
 Autumn in the other), are not so simple and sublime as the 
 adaptation just adverted to, still they are exceedingly 
 beautiful in their way ; and when once we understand the 
 most apparently trifling of them, it rises far, not in degree 
 merely, but absolutely in kind, above all the works of the 
 whole human race, and proclaims the glory of its author 
 in terms not to be misunderstood. 
 
 This part of the subject is very complicated ; and in 
 order to go into anything like an investigation of it, we 
 would have not only to draw largely upon every science of 
 physics (that is, of material nature), which man has 
 cultivated, but the whole volume of human knowledge would 
 carry us only a little way. We must therefore content our- 
 selves with hastily pointing to the direction, and bidding 
 the willing traveller " God speed." 
 
 The first point in this branch of our inquiry is, " what 
 parts of the earth, that is, what substances and surfaces
 
 SOLAR INFLUENCE. 61 
 
 presented by it to the sun, are most susceptible to the solar 
 influence ? " The next point is the mode in which this 
 influence operates, or, more strictly speaking, the effect which 
 it produces ou some of the leading substances. The 
 answers to these questions are, however, all obtained by 
 observation ; and therefore they are both obtained at the 
 same time. For this reason it is desirable to take them 
 together, because neither of them is so complete as to 
 amount to useful knowledge without the other. The atmo- 
 sphere, or air the one of which names means that it is the 
 place of vapours in an exceedingly minute state of division, 
 and the other means that it is the breath of animal life is 
 the substance connected with the earth, upon which the 
 sunbeams exert their first and their most powerful influence. 
 It is the latter, for two reasons ; first, its great quantity, 
 and secondly, its great susceptibility. 
 
 The sunbeams, as we have said, always fall upon half the 
 surface of the earth ; and they may also penetrate into and 
 influence its mass to very great depths ; but on this point 
 our knowledge is very limited. "With the atmosphere it is 
 very different ; for the sunbeams always pass through and 
 exert their influence upon a great deal more than half 
 the atmosphere. As this is a point of some interest, we may 
 mention the proportion in a rude way. The earth can at 
 no time prevent the sun's light from reaching any portion 
 of the atmosphere, except a circular portion, directly oppo- 
 site to the sun, and of the same breadth as the section 
 of the earth. We do not know the height of the atmo 
 sphere, and therefore cannot state the quantity ; but from 
 the properties of a sphere, the portion of the atmosphere 
 always acted upon by the sun is very considerably more 
 than half of it. 
 
 When the sunbeams act as a heat upon the atmosphere, 
 they always expand it, or swell into greater bulk, and make
 
 62 ATMOSPHERIC ACTION. 
 
 it lighter. When made lighter, it ascends, for the same 
 reason that warm air escapes with a simmering noise from 
 hot water. Being made lighter, it ascends higher above the 
 earth's surface; but as it ascends, it gets colder. The 
 atmosphere is all over a spring, and therefore, when 
 any cause disturbs its balance, it instantly reacts, and 
 endeavours to return to its former state. 
 
 This great susceptibility of change in the atmosphere, by 
 any disturbing cause, however slight, and its equally 
 great tendency to revert back again, in proportion as the 
 disturbing cause slackens, and to assume the same condition 
 as at first, is the first and greatest means of the revival of 
 nature in the Spring. It should therefore be thoroughly 
 understood by every one who endeavours to obtain a 
 rational knowledge of the beautiful operations of nature. 
 If the air of the atmosphere has perfect freedom to obey 
 the action of heat, it exhausts that action in the expansion 
 of its substance, and never becomes sensibly warmer. On 
 the other hand, if the expansion is by any means resisted, 
 the air is sensibly heated, because its own condition does 
 not occupy the whole action of the heat which is applied to it 
 
 Atmospheric air is a very light substance as compared 
 with most others with which we are conversant ; still its 
 weight is considerable, amounting to about fifteen pounds 
 on every square inch of the earth's surface at the mean 
 level, or supporting on the average a column of about 
 twenty-nine inches of mercury in the common barometer. 
 This weight diminishes at such a rate, that, if heights are 
 taken in the proportion of 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on, the diminu- 
 tion of weight is in the proportion of 1, 4, 9, 16, and so on. 
 
 It is the resistance offered by this weight of the atmo- 
 sphere which is the valuable part of it, and enables it to 
 apply to the earth generally, and to animals and vegetables 
 particularly, that warmth which is the most essential
 
 DIFFERENT ELEVATIONS. OO 
 
 element of their Spring revival. At the mean level of the 
 earth, which is about the same as the surface of the wide 
 and free oceans, this resistance is greatest ; and it diminishes 
 at that rapid rate which we have mentioned, as greater 
 elevations are arrived at. In consequence of this, the places 
 which are lowest are the first to obey the reviving influence 
 of the Spring. As we ascend, the obedience to this influence 
 becomes less and less ; and at every point of the earth's 
 surface there is a certain height at which Spring, Summer, 
 and Autumn are never known, but where Winter holds the 
 surface mantled up under a covering of perennial snow. 
 
 There is no portion of the British islands where the snow 
 can be said to be perennial, that is, where the average 
 temperature of the hottest day is as low as that at which 
 water freezes. But on the top of Ben Nevis, and that of 
 several other mountains in Scotland, there are very few 
 nights entirely without frost ; and in the horseshoe-formed 
 precipices which are very generally found on the north-east 
 or shaded sides of such mountains, snow, and also ice upon 
 the small lakes at the bottom of the snow, are found 
 throughout the year. These are small miniatures of the 
 snow-clad summits, and the glaciers which are found at the 
 foot of them, on a far more splendid scale, on the Alps. 
 
 This property of the atmosphere, by means of which its 
 obedience to the action of heat decreases so rapidly, as the 
 elevation above the mean level of the earth increases, is a 
 very important point in the seasonal economy of the earth, 
 and in all those appearances and results to which the 
 seasons give rise. For, in consequence of it, a country 
 under the equator, whose plains or valleys, at the mean 
 level of the sea, are constantly exposed to a high summer 
 temperature, enjoys, if its mountains are high enough, 
 every degree of climate, from the equator to the pole. 
 Equatorial countries, possessing lofty mountain ridges, are
 
 64 ACTION AND RESISTANCE. 
 
 thus a sort of miniatures of the whole globe ; and valley 
 and mountain work to one another in the Spring and other 
 seasons, in the same manner, though not of course to the 
 same extent, as the equatorial and polar regions of the 
 
 whole globe. 
 
 What have bean now stated are the leading properties of 
 the atmosphere, which are so beautifully the ministers of 
 Almighty goodness in bringing about the Spring, and 
 carrying the action of the Spring forward to the full 
 maturity of the year, so that all the children of nature may 
 be fully supplied with the bounty of their beneficent 
 Creator. There are many minor circumstances, essential 
 to a complete understanding of this most instructive and 
 most extensive subject. They would, however, require 
 more space than we can aiford for the whole subject. 
 
 The susceptibility of the air to solar action, as we have 
 endeavoured to explain it, consists of two distinct kinds : 
 the one, motion in the air, or a transfer of it from place to 
 place, both upwards and downwards, and laterally ; the 
 other, a heating of its substance when the solar action is 
 increased, and a cooling of the same when that action is 
 diminished. The first of these is the modification of the 
 influence which tends to produce that revival of plants and 
 excitement of animals to which their Spring actions are 
 owing. We have seen, that the first of these results from 
 the extreme susceptibility of the air to alter its volume 
 with every variation of temperature ; and that the other 
 results from the resistance which the weight, or gravitation, 
 of the air offers to the former property. 
 
 The gravitation, though it is the measure of the abstract 
 quantity of matter in the air, cannot be said to be exerted 
 by the air itself. It results from the mass of the earth ; 
 and in this way those solid parts of the earth, not only 
 deeper than mines ever dug, but really all the way to the
 
 ACTION AND RESISTANCE. 65 
 
 centre, perform a portion and by no means an unimportant 
 part in the economy of the earth's surface. 
 
 In order to show the value of the great mass of matter 
 in the earth as affecting its surface economy, it may be 
 proper to state the relative gravitation, or absolute quantity 
 of matter in a section of the earth, having a base of a 
 square inch at the surface, terminating in a point at the 
 centre, and being in fact a square pyramid, having an inch 
 for its base, and four thousand miles for its length or 
 height. This four thousand is about the mean distance 
 from the surface to the centre. The average weight of the 
 matter of the earth is four and a half times that of water : 
 and a cubic foot of water weighs one thousand ounces. 
 We have thus the elements of a very easy calculation ; and 
 the result is, that, making allowance for the fraction which 
 the radius, or distance from the surface to the centre of the 
 earth, is less than four thousand miles, the weight of this 
 section of an inch from the surface to the centre, is thirteen 
 millions of pounds. 
 
 We stated already that the pressure of the atmosphere 
 upon an inch of the earth is fifteen pounds, which is only a 
 nine-hundred-thousandth part of the weight of that portion 
 of the earth on which it rests. Nine hundred thousand to 
 one is an immense proportion ! and yet this is the power 
 by which the attraction of gravitation in the earth restrains 
 the atmospheric air, by controlling its elasticity. But the 
 air remains elastic, and therefore its elasticity must be more 
 powerful than the earth's attraction, or to its weight in a 
 greater ratio than nine hundred thousand to one. 
 
 Thus we see that though the atmospheric air is completely 
 and instantly obedient to those variations of heat upon 
 which the seasons, and to a great extent the weather, 
 depend, yet the air is kept in its place upon the earth, and 
 prevented from being dissipated through space, by a
 
 66 BALANCING FOECE8. 
 
 controlling power nine hundred thousand times greater 
 than its own weight. In this, as in all the other grand 
 adaptations of nature, we find that the powers are absolutely 
 beyond all comprehension by the human mind as matters 
 of ordinary measurement ; and yet they are balanced with 
 such perfect nicety, that the slightest imaginable thing will 
 turn the beam the one way or the other. But, in con- 
 sequence of the immensity of the powers, any change which 
 local action, or indeed any species of action with which we 
 are acquainted, can make in this way, is exceedingly limited. 
 The greatest disturbing cause is soon exhausted ; and the 
 effect which it produces upon that part of the balance on 
 which it acts, very much resembles the bending of a spring, 
 which spring at last recoils, and returns not only to its 
 original position, but beyond it in the first instance, in 
 consequence of the momentum, or accumulated power 
 which it acquires during the time of its return. 
 
 This is one of the most general principles in nature ; 
 though it is one seldom adverted to in common conversa- 
 tion, or in ordinary books upon natural subjects. It is 
 found everywhere ; and it is the grand principle of stability, 
 upon which the Almighty Creator has seen meet to support 
 all the systems of created things, in all the variety of their 
 parts, and every appearance and change of appearance 
 which they assume. " He hangeth the earth upon nothing," 
 is the sublimely accurate expression of Holy Writ; but 
 still the earth is in the balance ; and though not hung upon 
 anything, it is suspended between the exactly equal forces 
 of the sun's attraction of gravitation, and the momentum 
 which itself acquires by that motion on its orbit, the rate of 
 which we ha,ve already noticed. 
 
 In the case of everything in the universe there is a 
 similar balance; and wherever there is what we call a 
 principle of action, there is invariably set against it a
 
 BALANCING FORCES. 67 
 
 principle of resistance. This last principle gives way, and 
 allows the active one to work, to the extent, and for the 
 time which the great Governor has ordained ; but when 
 this measure is full, the resisting principle takes its stand, 
 and says in a voice not to be resisted, " Hitherto shalt thou 
 come, and no further." 
 
 One of the simplest illustrations of this principle is a 
 pendulum. This instrument, as seen in a common clock, is 
 not a perfect illustration ; because, at every beat of the clock, 
 it receives a new impulse, conveyed to it from the weight or 
 the spring through the train of the wheelwork. This is 
 therefore a compound instrument, made up partly of the 
 natural action of the pendulum, and partly also of the action 
 of the machinery. To understand it simply, suspend a bit 
 of string on a nail by a loop at the one end, and let it hang 
 freely ; take hold of the lower end of the string, draw it a 
 little to one side, and let it go, and it will swing to the other 
 side, and back again, a few times, but it will very soon 
 stop. Fasten a little weight to the end of it, and draw 
 that to the same distance aside ; let it go, and it will con- 
 tinue to swing, or vibrate, much longer than the unloaded 
 string. Increasing the weight, and drawing to the same 
 distance aside, and letting go, will increase the time that 
 the weight keeps swinging. It is the descent of the weight 
 from the one side here which carries it up to the other 
 side; and though the resistance of the atmosphere, the 
 friction of the loop of the string on the nail, and the gravi- 
 tation of the weight to the earth, all counteract the 
 swinging, and make every swing less than that before it, 
 yet the heavy weight is always the more powerful, and the 
 longer in being overcome. 
 
 We might carry this illustration of the pendulum 
 throughout the whole of nature, and make it our inter- 
 preter in almost every phenomenon ; for, in active nature 
 
 E 2
 
 6$ ACTION A>~D BEACTIOJf. 
 
 there is always an alternation of two principles. That 
 which is begun in Spring and carried to the maturity of 
 Summer in the one hemisphere, brings the Autumnal decay 
 and Winter repose of the other ; and when, from the com- 
 bination of the two motions, to which we alluded in the 
 former chapter, the angle of the axis to the plane of the 
 orbit changes, the decay comes on in that hemisphere 
 which has just completed its Summer, while Spring calls 
 forth the plants and enlivens the animals of the opposite 
 hemisphere. 
 
 It is the same everywhere ; there is a principle, which, 
 follow it through a series of whatever length we may, leaves 
 us as much in the dark at the thousandth step as at the 
 first one. This principle, acting upon matter in a won- 
 derful but mysterious manner, originates every species of 
 creature. If the species has growth as a vegetable, or 
 growth and life as an animal, the principle of its origin, if 
 no casualty ensue (and we say casualty merely when on 
 account of our ignorance the cause is unknown to us), 
 brings it gradually to the full development of its species. 
 Here, however, there is a limit ; the principle, in every 
 known individual case, exhausts itself, and the opposite 
 power against which it worked gets the mastery of it, and 
 brings the fabric which it had elaborated to the common 
 storehouse of mere matter. Some of the small flies which 
 are hatched in the mud by the banks of rivers, and get on 
 the wing during the night or the early dawn, do not live to 
 enjoy one blink of sunshine. Man numbers his threescore 
 and ten years ;^ some other animals, as the eagle, the 
 elephant, and especially those larger cartilaginous fishes 
 which do not die in the bones like hard-boned animals, have 
 a longer duration ; and there are some peculiar species of 
 trees which can exist for five hundred years, and probably 
 for a thousand or more ; but in every case there is a limit ;
 
 HEAT AND LIGHT. 09 
 
 and there is not in nature one production, be it magnificent 
 or be it minute, which, does not proclaim that it is a mere 
 work, and not the original Worker. Nor is this confined 
 to those temporary productions to which we have alluded, 
 for we have it on the record of eternal truth, that " the 
 earth shall wax old as doth a garment, and the elements 
 shall melt with fervent heat." But it is not said even here 
 that these elements shall return to that original nothing 
 out of which they were called by the voice of creative 
 Power. All is in his keeping, and, visible or invisible, not 
 one atom can perish without the exercise of the same power 
 which originally called it into existence. The heavens may 
 " pass away as a scroll when it is rolled together," and suna 
 and systems, more than mortal tongue can number, may be 
 blotted out from the ken of all created beings ; but his 
 eye is upon them, the right hand of his working can find 
 them out ; and if he shall say, " EETUEN ! " they must 
 return in all the freshness of young beauty, and all the 
 vigour of young life, before the quickest eye shall have 
 had half time to twinkle. This, if the words of human 
 speech could do it justice, is the line wherewithal to 
 measure, and the balance wherein to weigh, the glories of 
 creation, so as to feel their effect with improvement of the 
 mind, and with growing veneration for the Creator, and 
 love for the Saviour. Our voices are all too feeble for 
 the mighty task ; for who but one inspired of God can 
 declare the counsels of G-od, as spoken by the voice of 
 universal nature ! 
 
 Next in importance to the heating influence of the sun- 
 beams, is that influence which the same beams shed as 
 light. The displays of this are equally remarkable for their 
 beauty and their usefulness ; but it has not so much effect 
 in bringing about the Spring, and the effect which it has 
 is less easily explained and understood. It in fact belongs
 
 70 LIGHT. 
 
 more to the investigation of particular subjects in nature, 
 than to the general phenomena of the seasons. There are 
 some vegetables which grow only in the dark, such as those 
 which are found on the roofs and walls of mines and caves, 
 and it is probable that in its first origin, the first spring of 
 its being as it were, no plant and no animal can bear the 
 light. Afterwards, however, by far the greater number of 
 vegetables require light, otherwise they do not acquire the 
 requisite enjoyment of this influence. A geranium or other 
 plant trained fan-wise in the window of a room which is 
 not very light, turns the whole of its shoots, and even its 
 leaves, away from the room, and toward the window, and if 
 it is turned round, after a time they will all bend over the 
 other way. In the tower of the old cathedral of Dunkeld, 
 in Scotland, now in great part a ruin, we once witnessed a 
 remarkable effort after light in a common potato. This 
 potato had been left among the rubbish on the floor, and 
 the only light which found its way into the tower was 
 through a small window at the height of forty or fifty feet. 
 The potato had found its way to the angle of the tower, and 
 climbed up there until the topmost shoots had reached 
 within a few yards of the window at the time when we 
 observed it. If this potato had been planted in the open 
 fields, the stem of it would not in all probability have 
 exceeded a foot or a foot-and-a-half ; but here the eflfect of 
 the light upon it had been such, that it shot up full twenty- 
 five times as much as it would have done in the open air. 
 How much of this was owing to the potato itself, and how 
 much to the light, is not easily determined ; but it shows 
 that in the economy of the vegetable world light is a very 
 important element. 
 
 We have said already, that, considered as light, the beams 
 of the sun are much more easily refracted, or turned into a 
 new direction, than the same beams considered as heat.
 
 WATER. 71 
 
 This quality has not much seasonal effect, but it is exceed- 
 ingly useful in nature. Were it not for this, every shadow 
 would be absolute darkness, and both the rising and the 
 setting of the sun would be so sudden and so striking, as 
 hardly to be borne ; whereas the scattering of light by 
 atmospheric refraction, often renders the shade more agree- 
 able to the sight than the direct sunshine, and makes the 
 day and the night pass gradually into each other, through 
 the evening twilight and the morn in g dawn. There is, 
 however, as we have said, little seasonal influence in the 
 light ; only the twilight of morning or evening is always 
 longest when the sun's apparent daily path makes the 
 smallest angle with the horizon. Consequently it is longer 
 at midsummer and midwinter than at the equinoxes, and 
 longer in high latitudes than in places near the equator. 
 
 The waters are, next to the atmosphere, the portion of 
 the earth and its appendages upon which the solar influence 
 has the greatest though not the most palpable effect. The 
 sunbeams have more direct influence in sensibly heating 
 the waters, than in producing the same effect on the air ; 
 because water is a body of much greater weight and con- 
 sistency than air is, and therefore cannot escape so readily 
 from any agent which tends to alter its condition. Water 
 is also much less susceptible of changes of bulk from 
 different degrees of heat than air is, and below a certain 
 temperature, at which it is still liquid, it begins to expand. 
 There is therefore much less transfer of water from place 
 to place, by the returning of the Spring, and the declining 
 of the Autumn, than there is of the air, though the influ- 
 ence of the celestial bodies, the sun, and more especially the 
 moon, does occasion a small motion of the waters, season- 
 ally, monthly, and daily. 
 
 When we look at a correct representation of the earth, 
 at an artificial globe or a map, for instance, we perceive,
 
 72 WATEB. 
 
 that, independently altogether of fresh-water lakes, rivers, 
 and marshes, which in some countries occupy a considerable 
 extent, full seven-tenths of the earth's surface is covered by 
 oceans and seas, all connected with each other, and forming 
 one vast expanse of water. From the great extent of 
 this more than double that of the dry land we must 
 conclude that water performs a most important part in the 
 economy of the earth : and when we examine the facts, 
 they show us clearly that such is the case ; for there is 
 scarcely any operation carried on amid all the varied works 
 and workings of nature, in which water, or one of the 
 elements of water, is not concerned. As it is thus general 
 in its distribution and its use, we would naturally conclude 
 that water must be in some way or other far more obedient 
 to the varying degrees of heat in the different seasons, than 
 it is in mere transfer from one place to another. 
 
 "When we come to examine the matter with a little care, 
 we find that this action of the solar influence on water is 
 equally essential to the labours of the Spring, and to all 
 the seasonal labours of the year, as the effect of the same 
 influence on the air. The two are, however, very different 
 in their mode of operation. The air, as we have already 
 stated, expands in volume with increase of heat, and 
 diminishes in volume when the heat is diminished, when 
 it does this only to a very limited extent. But the water 
 is dissolvable into very minute portions by the action of 
 heat ; and in consequence of this, there is constantly 
 ascending into the air from the surface of the waters, and 
 from that of every moist substance,, that supply of vapour, 
 which again descends in showers, liquid or frozen, without 
 which showers the Spring would return in vain. Water 
 is just as essential to growing and living nature as air is, 
 and indeed it is more so ; for humidity reaches plants and 
 animals in that very early stage of their being when the
 
 WETTING AND DBYINGK 73 
 
 light, and generally speaking the air, is excluded from them, 
 as being inconsistent with the tender state in which they 
 then are. 
 
 The air is the vehicle into which this vapour of water is 
 received ; and when it is once there, it is of course carried 
 upon the currents of the air, or, as we say, the wings of the 
 wind, in what direction soever those currents may set. 
 
 It will be borne in mind, that we stated that the ten- 
 dency of the currents is from the colder place to the 
 warmer ; and thus the air, laden with refreshing moisture, 
 must accompany the sun's apparent declination northward 
 in the Spring, and southward again in the Autumn. 
 
 It does not follow, however, that the times when those 
 currents set most strongly either way, are those at which 
 there are the greatest discharges of water from the atmos- 
 phere, whether in the liquid or the solid state. It is not 
 the quantity of water which may happen to be in the air at 
 any time which, of itself, determines the quantity of rain or 
 snow. The disposition of the air to part with it forms an 
 element of this ; and an element to which it is of the utmost 
 consequence to attend. The warmer that air is, it can 
 retain the more ; and it can do the same the rarer that it is, 
 or the less of it that there is in an equal volume. 
 
 These are beautiful provisions. The season of springing 
 and growing is the season when watering is most required ; 
 and yet long-continued rains, during this season, would 
 defeat the purpose of wild nature, and also that of him who 
 cultivates. Therefore, at this season, the air is more abun- 
 dantly charged with moisture, and also in the best condi- 
 tion for taking up moisture by evaporation. In this state 
 of things, changes of heat produce more immediate effects, 
 both on the vapour in the atmosphere and on the moist 
 surface of the ground than they do at any other season. 
 Nature is, as one may express it, sooner wetted, and sooner
 
 74 MOU1TTAIK8. 
 
 dried ; and this alternating action of wet and dry at com- 
 paratively short intervals, is by no means the least impor- 
 tant part of nature's action during the Spring. 
 
 There is still another beautiful result of this adaptation 
 to each other of atmospheric air and the vapour of water. 
 This enables the atmosphere to deposit the great part of 
 that drink which it brings to all nature, upon those places 
 where it is most serviceable. The upper air that of the 
 mountain tops is considerably colder than the air lower 
 down ; and, on this account, it has less capacity for moisture. 
 But, as it is pressed by a much shorter column of superin- 
 cumbent air, its greater expansion makes up, and indeed 
 more than makes up, for its inferior temperature. For this 
 reason, the elements of a shower are always to be met with 
 on a mountain-top, if that mountain-top is not above the 
 range of working or seasonal nature ; and, generally speak- 
 ing, even though it is. Indeed, there is not, in any known 
 portion of the world, a mountain peak so high, as not to 
 carry a load of snow as a store for the supplying of springs 
 and rivers ; and at inferior elevations, where there are only 
 winter snows, or hardly any snow at any time of the year, 
 mountains are always showery, and enjoy a sort of Springs 
 weather during a great part of the season of growth ; for, 
 when the heat of the season becomes extreme, when all is 
 parched and languishing on the plains, and when not a drop 
 of water can get down to refresh nature there, upon the 
 adjoining mountains there shall be the alternate shining 
 and showering of an April day ; and the same vigour and 
 greenness in the plants as appear at the active time of the 
 vernal season. 
 
 It is impossible, however, so to frame any general descrip- 
 tion as to make it tell how, on all places of our globe, that 
 heat, and that moisture, which are essential for the revival 
 of nature in the Spring, are distributed. There are some
 
 EVAPOEATIO5". 75 
 
 general causes and many local ones, without which the esti- 
 mate is imperfect ; and some of these are of so indetermi- 
 nate and shadowy a nature as "to defy all investigation. 
 They may be generally named as the effects of the solar 
 influence upon different kinds of surfaces ; and to these we 
 shall now very briefly advert, as the last general branch of 
 terrestrial adaptation to the seasons. 
 
 How the beams of the sun, or any other heating cause, 
 shall effect any kind of surface which the land presents to 
 it, is a matter of observation. The several characters of the 
 surface are so many, that it would be impossible to enume- 
 rate them all ; and therefore all that we can do, is to men- 
 tion one or two of the leading ones, merely to illustrate the 
 principle. 
 
 Evaporation is always a means of cold ; for it invariably 
 requires a portion of the action of heat to distribute water 
 through the atmosphere in a state of vapour. From this 
 we get two classes of surfaces, differently affected by the 
 solar influence. Drv places, under the same circumstances 
 of latitude, elevation, and season, are always warmer than 
 moist places ; and consequently, a very rainy country is 
 almost invariably a cold country, and the same applies to a 
 rainy season. There is, however, one circumstance con- 
 nected with this, which must not be overlooked ; places 
 easily heated are just as easily cooled ; because, that which 
 readily receives the impression of sensible heat, parts with 
 that impression just as readily. 
 
 The specific modes of the action of heat, whether of the 
 sun's rays or of any other cause (for all heat appears to be 
 the same in kind, and differs only in degree), belong to the 
 science of chemistry, rather than to such simple description 
 as is meant to be intelligible to every class of readers. We 
 may, however, remark, that, with the exception of very 
 transparent bodies through which the action of heat can
 
 76 DIFFERENT STJBFACES. 
 
 pass, the effect of that action upen any body is in propor- 
 tion to the readiness with which that body admits the said 
 action of heat into its substance. This depends partly 
 on the surface, and partly on the nature of the substance. 
 
 In respect of surface, there are two particulars to be 
 attended to, the colour, and the form of the surface. White 
 is the reflection of the entire light that falls on a surface, 
 and black is the absence of reflection ; while the interme- 
 diate colours reflect more in proportion as they are light, 
 and absorb more and reflect less in proportion as they are 
 dark. Then as to the form of surfaces, a smooth surface 
 always reflects more light, and a rough one absorbs more, 
 supposing that they are not only of the same colour, but 
 actually belong to the very same substance. Thus, for 
 instance, if there is exposed to the heat of the sun or of a 
 tire a piece of black marble, or a piece of steel, one part of 
 which is highly polished, and another part is left in the 
 rough ; if, after a little time, two fingers of the same hand 
 are applied, the one to the polished portion, and the other 
 to the rough one, the first will feel cold and the latter will 
 feel warm. There is a still more striking illustration ; if a 
 smooth white glove is drawn on the one hand, and a black 
 one of leather of the same thickness, but having a velvety 
 surface, is drawn on the other, and both hands are held to 
 the fire at an equal distance from it, it will be found that 
 before the hand in the white glove is at all sensible of any 
 increase of heat, that in the black glove will feel painfully 
 hot ; and if the experiment were continued long enough, 
 the one hand might be blistered all over, before the other 
 sustained the smallest injury. 
 
 These simple experiments can be made by any one who 
 is not a chemist ; and those who do understand the prin- 
 ciples of that science require no information on that point ; 
 they are decisive, and so we need say no more on this
 
 REFLECTION FBOM SURFACES. 77 
 
 branch of the subject, than to point out one or two of the 
 simplest applications. 
 
 A ploughed field, where the surface is composed of loose 
 mould, must feel the influence of the Spring sooner than 
 one which has the surface compact ; and such a field of 
 black loam must feel the same influence sooner than one 
 of pale coloured clay. Something must always, however, 
 be allowed for the direction in which the sunbeams fall ; 
 because, the more directly or perpendicularly that this 
 takes place, the effect is always the greater. This is the 
 reason why, in our latitudes, the southern slopes of hills 
 are much more early in their vegetation than the northern 
 slopes or levels of the same elevation. There is, however, 
 in this case one of those consequences which invariably 
 follow an increased degree of action. The growing and 
 warm season is most severe upon those sunny sides of the 
 hills. If such a soil is in pasture, it will be burnt up, 
 while the other slope is green ; and though a field on such 
 a slope will produce earlier and better crops than a northern 
 slope, it is more expensive in manure. Upon a larger scale 
 these observations apply to countries ; and so indeed does 
 every observation which can be made with reference to the 
 action of the sun in stimulating the fertility of the earth ; 
 and this is the grand problem of practical usefulness to 
 man, in every inquiry and speculation relating to the season 
 of growth, or the means by which growth may be promoted 
 or regulated. 
 
 Surfaces which reflect the heat of the sun, of course, 
 throw it upwards into the air more directly in proportion 
 as the sun is higher above the horizon. This heats the air 
 a little, and consequently makes it ascend ; but this heat 
 continues only while the sunbeams continue to fall on the 
 surface. Surfaces which absorb the sunbeams, and become 
 heated by them, also give out a portion of their excess of
 
 78 COLOUBED STJBFACES. 
 
 heat to the air over them ; but they do it by radiation, and 
 this radiation continues after the direct action of the sun 
 has ceased ; so that a ploughed field, when it is so dry as 
 not to consume much of the sun's influence by evaporation, 
 is a source of warmth during the Spring nights to its 
 neighbourhood. Anyone who chooses to take notice, will 
 find that the hedges come sooner into bud, and the early 
 flowers open sooner around such a field, than they do 
 around a meadow of grass, or an unploughed stubble field, 
 even though all the three have the same exposure. From 
 moist surfaces there is comparatively little of this radiation 
 of heat ; from the surface of water there is less still, and 
 from snow and ice there is very little indeed. 
 
 Such are some of the principles of local adaptation, in 
 the surface of the earth, to that solar influence which pro- 
 duces the Spring, and all the beauty and wealth of the year. 
 They do not, however, admit of any rigid application, 
 because the general heat or cold, and the relative duration 
 of Summer and Winter, always produce modifications. If 
 heat is the predominating character of the year, a dark 
 surface is, upon the whole, a source of heat ; but if cold is 
 the predominant character of the year, a black surface is as 
 certainly a source of cold. Independently of their being 
 dressed and manured, clean fields and gardens act as hot- 
 beds, in tempting an early Spring in countries which 
 incline to warmth ; but in cold countries, the dark upland 
 heaths, and especially the expanses of peat, with scarcely 
 any vegetation upon it, as taken on the average of the 
 whole year, are sources of cold, though, during the long 
 Summer day, the heat upon them is often oppressively 
 great. 
 
 There are many other circumstances of a local nature 
 connected with the subsoil the soil itself, the surrounding 
 places, the nature of the vegetation, and in all probability
 
 TWO-FOLD SPUING. 79 
 
 the age of the country, or at least the degree to which it 
 has been worn by winds and floods ; all of which it is 
 necessary to take into the account, before we can properly 
 explain the time and extent of the Spring revival of the 
 vegetable kingdom. One thing, however, is worthy of 
 remark ; early vegetation in the Spring is accompanied by 
 early activity on the part of the resident animals, of what- 
 ever class, and early arrival of such as migrate from other 
 climes. In as far as cultivation by man is concerned, at 
 least in the case of corn, which has always been, by way 
 of eminence, the crop, early Spring is followed by early 
 harvest. It is not, however, followed by a corresponding 
 early fall of the wild vegetation, or an early suspension of 
 the activity of animated beings. In such places the season 
 is partially doubled. The farmer gets an Autumnal or 
 Winter crop, many of the trees produce a second shoot, 
 and those birds which rear only one brood in bleak places, 
 rear two in these more favoured spots.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SPRING IN DIFFERENT HEMISPHERES, LATITUDES, AND LOCALITIES. 
 
 THE word Spring, in our understanding of it, as applied 
 to a season of the year, has always the same general 
 meaning ; namely, that period at which vegetation, and all 
 that feeds upon vegetation or its consumers, are called into 
 activity from a previous state of repose, more or less 
 profound and prolonged, according to the situation and 
 circumstances of the place. 
 
 In order to understand fully this part of the subject, it 
 is necessary to know something of what are called the 
 physical geography and the natural geography of all 
 countries. These include the form and composition of 
 them, considered merely as land ; the vegetation with 
 which they are clothed; the prevailing winds that blow 
 across their surfaces ; the times and durations of the 
 various periods of broken and settled weather; and, in 
 short, everything which can be learned respecting their 
 natural history, both topographically in its distribution, and 
 historically in the influence of the year upon it, and the 
 effects of that influence. 
 
 This, though a most instructive subject, is a very wide 
 and varied one ; and therefore the beginner in the study of 
 it must commence with those broad and comprehensive 
 points, of which a general idea can be best obtained, and 
 most easily kept in memory. In doing this practically, it 
 is absolutely necessary to spread out the map of the world,
 
 COMPARISON OP THE HEMISPHERES. 81 
 
 which, if a good one, is far better than a globe, as it shows 
 the whole surface of the earth at one glance. 
 
 This being done, the first point of comparison is that of 
 the two hemispheres not the two hemispheres displayed 
 in the two circles of the map, and named western and 
 eastern ; but the two hemispheres as divided on the 
 equator, marked by a straight line crossing the map from 
 right to left, one half of each of which is contained in the 
 western hemisphere of the map, and the other half in the 
 eastern. In the few words which we can aftbrd to say, 
 it would be impossible to enter into the details, or state 
 any comparative proportions in numbers. This is not 
 necessary, because the general principles ought to be first 
 known, and the details would only perplex our under- 
 standing of these. 
 
 This being understood, and looking at the hemispheres, 
 no one will fail to observe that the land nearly equals the 
 water in the northern hemisphere, but bears a compara- 
 tively small proportion to it in the southern. The land in 
 the northern hemisphere, also, ranges high into the polar 
 latitudes, while, with the exception of the narrow extremity 
 of South America, and a few trifling islands, there is no 
 land in the southern hemisphere beyond its middle latitude, 
 or that which lies half-way in northing and southing 
 between the equator and the pole. 
 
 When it is recollected how much more the land is heated 
 by solar action than water is heated by the same, it will be 
 perceived that the difference of seasons in the northern 
 hemispheres must be much greater than in the southern ; 
 that the Spring there must act with far greater energy, and 
 have a correspondingly greater resistance to overcome. So 
 much of the polar part of the southern hemisphere is sea ; 
 or at all events, if there be any extent of unknown land 
 within it, that land is so near the south pole, and so cut off 
 
 F
 
 82 THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHEBE. 
 
 from the other lands by the intervening seas, that it can 
 have comparatively little effect upon the seasonal economy 
 of the earth, either one way or another. The vast extent 
 of sea in the south can never be hotter than the sea is 
 with us in the same latitudes ; and over great part of it 
 there can be but little difference between the Summer and 
 Winter temperature. The air over any surface does not 
 become much hotter than that surface, speaking generally ; 
 and therefore there cannot be, even in the height of the 
 southern summer, any very great ascent of heated air from 
 the surface of this great expanse of water. 
 
 A very large portion of the southern hemisphere is thus 
 not in a condition for answering to the stimulating call of 
 the energies of the Spring ; and as the surface of the water 
 does not become nearly so cold as that of the land, being 
 always above thirty-two degrees of the common ther- 
 mometer, until the water begins to curdle into ice, it follows 
 also that the influence of "Winter, the antagonist against 
 which Spring has to contend, must be comparatively weak 
 in the southern hemisphere. Here, again, we have an 
 instance of that beautiful balancing of work to be done 
 and agent to do it, which runs through the whole of creation 
 with such perfect economy that there is neither want nor 
 waste in any one part of it. If that which is to be done is 
 of light amount, the strength of the agent is withdrawn, 
 to be employed at some other place ; and in like manner, if 
 the severity of the labour is greatly increased, the labourer 
 is girded with a corresponding degree of strength. This 
 displays itself so perfectly and so universally throughout 
 the whole, that we cannot lay our finger, with knowledge, 
 upon a single point of the map, or think with knowledge 
 upon a single event, without feeling in our hearts that 
 there and therein are evidences of the being and the 
 attributes of a Creator, all-wise, all-good, and all-mighty ;
 
 THE yOBTHEHK HEMISPHEEE. 83 
 
 " who sitteth on the zone " of this mighty system, and who 
 governs all its movements, great and small, with knowledge 
 and perfection which are beyond our admiration, and far 
 beyond the scope of our most exalted thoughts: so that 
 we can only exclaim with the Psalmist, " How manifold 
 are thy works, O Lord ! in wisdom hast thou made 
 them all." 
 
 The widely different character of the northern hemi- 
 sphere, in respect of sea and land, the great breadth of 
 land which occurs in the high latitudes there, and the 
 physical character of those lands, both in the eastern 
 continent and in the western, produce effects of a seasonal 
 nature, far more intense and striking than those in the 
 south. Central Asia is in great part a desert, up to within 
 a short distance of the Arctic Ocean ; and though the cor- 
 responding part of North America is not absolutely a 
 desert, there are many places where very little rain falls 
 during the Summer months. 
 
 In those high latitudes, the Summer sun is above the 
 horizon for the greater part of the twenty-four hours ; and 
 even where there is not perpetual day at midsummer, the 
 night is so short that the earth has no time to cool, till the 
 sun again beats upon it in the morning. By this means the 
 Summer temperature on the deserts, and the dry plains, 
 and the rocky hills, is brought up to an intensity fully 
 equal to the average of the warmest tropical climates. This 
 does not continue merely for a day or two, alternating with 
 showers, but for a succession of months, or at all events of 
 many weeks ; and during this time the heated atmosphere 
 ascends from the surface of a great extent of land, as if it 
 were vapour rarefied by a great furnace. 
 
 At this time, the southern hemisphere has its greatest 
 seasonal cold ; but from the extent of unfrozen sea, that 
 cold is not very great. The other effect which the air 
 
 F 2
 
 84 VIOLENCE OF THE WIND. 
 
 produces on water, is therefore carried on to a great extent, 
 and the air is loaded with vapour. Thus loaded, it moves 
 northward, to restore the equilibrium deranged by the 
 rarefication iu the northern atmosphere. At first this is of 
 course slow ; and as the motion of the air from the south 
 is the eifect of the ascent of it in the north, a considerable 
 time elapses before it assumes its seasonal violence. 
 
 The effect which this has upon the season, is much 
 modified by the circumstance of its having to pass over seas 
 or over lands, and also by the character of the latter. The 
 great southern lands are Africa, New Holland, and America. 
 The last of these is narrow and mountainous toward its 
 southern extremity, and of course has its seasons much 
 modified by local action. Southern Africa is the country 
 upon which the south wind tells with the greatest eifect. 
 Though not exactly in a tropical latitude, that country gets 
 exceedingly hot and parched during the southern Summer. 
 After the heat has dried up the vegetation (and it has 
 begun to do so before the wind shifts to the south), this 
 wind often blows with excessive violence, and its drying 
 and parching qualities are extreme. It begins with what 
 is really the vernal equinox in that country, namely, in 
 September; but the vernal equinox there, as regulated 
 astronomically, is anything but a spring-time upon the 
 earth. The violence of the wind is often terrific ; the 
 waves off the Cape roll in congregated ridges, mountain 
 upon mountain, almost as high as the topmasts of a ship.* 
 
 * Dr. Scoresby calculated the waves off the Cape to be occasion- 
 ally 40 feet from the hollow trough to the summit, so that, as Mrs. 
 Somerville remarks in her "Physical Geography," p. 203, it is the 
 sublimity of the scene, united to threatened danger, which naturally 
 leads to an over-estimate of the magnitude of the waves, and has 
 given rise to the proverbial expression, that they appear to rise 
 " mountains high."
 
 SOUTH AFBICA>~ SPKIKG. 83 
 
 This is the " south-easter off the Cape," so well known to 
 navigators. 
 
 It comes from the sea, not at all deficient in moisture ; 
 but it comes from over cool water, to sweep along a dry 
 and heated land. The heat is imparted to it ; and it 
 speedily dries up all the remaining moisture, withers every 
 herbaceous plant to the ground, and shrivels every leaf. 
 The heat is excessive, and the clouds of dust during the 
 squalls are most annoying ; so that the people of Cape 
 Town are obliged to close their doors and windows, and shut 
 up every opening of their houses, until its fury abates. 
 But, notwithstanding the desolation which it spreads over 
 the fields, and the annoyance which it gives to the inhabit- 
 ants, it is still the healthy wind of that part of the world, 
 and they term the part of the year during which it blows, 
 ' : the good monsoon." It is not a constant wind, but rather 
 springs up in the forenoon, just as the sea breezes do in 
 some parts of Britain, and many other countries ; and the 
 intensity of its drought bears away every species of noxious 
 vapour ; so that its effect is healthy. 
 
 The Spring in this part of the world really takes place 
 about the middle of the Winter ; that is, it is at its greatest 
 action in June or July, varying a little in different years, 
 as the changes of the seasons do in all countries. 
 
 The turn of the monsoon from the season of vegetation 
 to that of drought, begins in September ; but it does not 
 acquire its full character till near the middle of the astrono- 
 mical Summer there, which answers to that of our Winter. 
 By this time, the southern waters have acquired the maxi- 
 mum of their Summer temperature ; which, however, differs 
 so little from that of the opposite season, that the dry and 
 heated land draws from it a constant current of air. This 
 monsoon, or season (for that is the meaning), continues till 
 March, at which time the opposite one begins ; but, like
 
 g(J TURN OF THE MONSOON. 
 
 the other, mildly at the first. It comes with a north-west 
 wind from the Atlantic, which wind is in itself hotter and 
 more charged with vapour when it leaves the ocean, than 
 the opposite monsoon is when it leaves the South Sea. It 
 meets the colder air from the south ; a contest ensues, and 
 the lightning and thunder are sublime, while the rain falls 
 in torrents, which are often so heavy as to sweep away, not 
 merely the cattle and the crops, but the very soil itself, on 
 the banks of those water-courses which but just before were 
 dry. This is the real Spring of Southern Africa; and 
 perhaps it is the most violent Spring anywhere to be met 
 with on the surface of the globe. The resistance which it 
 has to overcome is very strong, and the power of this 
 Spring inverted, in as far as the astronomical year is con- 
 cerned, is correspondingly great. 
 
 It has to contend, not with snow and ice, as in the 
 northerly part of the hemisphere, or with the humidity of 
 Winter, as in our own milder latitudes, but with the very 
 extreme heat and drought. As in every case in nature, 
 however, the very intensity of this heat and drought con- 
 tains in itself the elements of its own correction, and of a 
 return to the opposite state of things. Whenever the effect 
 of the sun upon the great Antarctic Ocean, during the 
 southern Summer, has, by raising the temperature, caused 
 the tendency of a current of air from that ocean, the 
 parched surface of Southern Africa is at the very maximum 
 of its power of rarefying the air over it, making that air 
 ascend, and thus demanding a supply along the surface.* 
 The state of the Southern Ocean, as just explained, renders 
 it incapable of granting the full amount of this supply ; but 
 
 * Sir John Herschel, Bart., who spent some years making 
 astronomical researches at the (/ape, observed the temperature of 
 the surface-soil there to be as high as 150 deg. Fahrenheit.
 
 BAIN-CLOUDS. 87 
 
 the general elasticity of the atmosphere, which pervades its 
 whole mass, and produces an equilibrium around the whole 
 globe, never fails to send from some quarter or other every 
 supply of air that may be necessary. It is this which brings 
 the Atlantic wind, or north-west monsoon, upon the arid 
 karoos, or dry plains, of Southern Africa ; and it is because 
 the southern current still comes there in part and the two 
 currents are of different temperatures, as the south one 
 comes from the direction of the pole, and the north from 
 the direction of the equator that such torrents of rain are 
 poured down at this season. 
 
 The general principle upon which the formation of rain- 
 clouds is simply and satisfactorily explained, is this ; when 
 two currents of the air having different temperatures 
 mingle together, both of them fully charged with moisture 
 up to their temperature, which of course is the case with all 
 winds blowing from extensive oceans, the compound which 
 results is not capable of retaining the same quantity of 
 water in vapour as the two component parts separately; 
 and the necessary consequence is, that the difference is 
 formed into clouds, and precipitated to the earth in rain. 
 
 The fact of this operation has been established by direct 
 experiments, repeated again and again in the most careful 
 manner. There is thus not the least ground for doubting 
 its truth. It also has the advantage of explaining all the 
 appearances of rain-storms, in a manner more simple and 
 more satisfactory than they can be explained in any other 
 way. It is, therefore, a very necessary portion of the 
 general knowledge of nature ; and it is especially necessary 
 for every one who wishes rightly to understand the 
 Spring, enjoy its beauties, and profit by the many lessons 
 of instruction which it is so well calculated to afford for 
 Spring is in an especial manner the time of showers, alter- 
 nating with fair weather in rapid succession ; and they who
 
 88 CAUSES OF WINDS. 
 
 do not understand why this should be the case, cannot but 
 feel a want when they endeavour to make themselves 
 acquainted with the season. 
 
 The agencies by which natural appearances are brought 
 about are always best studied through the medium of those 
 cases in which the action is most powerful ; because there 
 the attention is most strongly excited, and the working 
 most clearly seen. 
 
 This is the reason why we have introduced the present 
 subject, while noticing the very violent and peculiar Spring 
 of Southern Africa, rather than in some other place, where 
 it might have had the appearance of being more systematic. 
 System may be both desirable and necessary for professional 
 students ; but to the public generally, with whom study is 
 the sweetener of other labours more than anything else, 
 information ought to be given just when it is wanted, 
 whether it happens to be strictly systematic or not. 
 
 It is to be understood, then, that the two currents which 
 meet and mingle over the country of the Cape, at the 
 extreme heat and drought of its surface, come there from 
 two causes. They are drawn by the rapid expansion and 
 ascent of air, from the dry and warm surface ; and they are 
 driven, by the more condensed air, over the surface of the 
 oceans. "We need hardly explain, that as air which is 
 expanded by heat invariably ascends, that being the direc- 
 tion of least resistance, it takes off part of the pressure 
 from the spring, or elasticity, of the denser air around. 
 We have already hinted, that were it not for an antagonist 
 force, this spring would in all probability act without limit, 
 and scatter the air through space more wide than the dis- 
 tance of the smallest star which the telescope reveals. But 
 notwithstanding this vast power of its spring, and the 
 extreme minuteness of the particles of which the atmosphere 
 is composed, it is still matter, not spirit ; and therefore it
 
 CAUSES OF WINDS. 89 
 
 is bound in that grand connecting chain wherewith 
 Almighty wisdom has seen meet to link all matter together. 
 The " iron fetter " of the earth's gravitation is upon it ; 
 allowing it to perform every work for which it has been 
 ordained, but keeping it to its place, and compelling it to 
 do its duty. 
 
 When any such ascent of the air from a heated surface as 
 that of which we are speaking, takes place, the equilibrium 
 on the surface is destroyed, the deficiency at the heated 
 place takes off the lateral restraint on the surrounding air, 
 and it necessarily, by the very constitution of its nature, 
 comes to restore the equilibrium with an energy pro- 
 portionate to the demand. 
 
 There is another circumstance ; air in itself is what is 
 called a non-conductor of electric action ; that is, if two 
 substances, in different electric states, are separated by a 
 column of dry air beyond a given thickness, they have no 
 tendency to restore the electric equilibrium, but will 
 preserve each body in its particular state. Water, on the 
 other hand, is a conductor of electricity ; and so good a 
 conductor, that no two bodies can have different electric 
 states if there is a water communication between them. 
 
 While water remains dispersed through the air in 
 invisible vapour, there is no disturbance of its electric 
 state ; for electricity, as we understand it, is an action of 
 surfaces, and the particles of water are then so exceedingly 
 minute, that their surfaces are of no expressible dimensions. 
 When, however, two currents of air, having different 
 temperatures, and each fuDy charged with humidity, rub 
 against each other, and deposit their surplus moisture, not 
 in rain-drops, but in a ha/e, which is at first barely per- 
 ceptible, " gumming " the sky, the state of the atmosphere 
 is altered. The air remains as before, an electric, or non- 
 conductor of electricity ; but the infant cloud, even in its
 
 90 CAUSES OF 
 
 very earliest stages, is a conductor, and thus that portion of 
 the atmosphere contains an apparatus similar, with regard 
 to electricity, to that of a common electric machine ; and 
 this machine in the air has only to be worked much in the 
 same way as we work the artificial machine, in order to 
 obtain a display of electric action. 
 
 It is the friction of the rubber against the non-conducting 
 glass, which excites electric action in the common machine ; 
 and it is the insulation of the conductor which enables the 
 action to be treasured up so as to produce a spark, or other 
 electric display. The two currents of air produce the 
 requisite friction, and also supply the conductor in the 
 humidity which they deposit ; and hence, if the change 
 from heat and drought to rain is very great, atmospheric 
 electricity, displayed in lightning and thunder, is almost a 
 necessary consequence. 
 
 But this electric action of the atmosphere does not take 
 place at the surface of the ground. The air there keeps 
 ascending until the rain comes, and evaporation cools the 
 ground ; and of course the greater the heat, and the extent 
 of heated surface, the higher up is the beginning of the 
 electric working, and the greater the display of lightning 
 and thunder when it comes. The comparatively tame 
 character of our thunder-storms is owing to the limited 
 extent of dry surfaces, and the slight degree to which even 
 these are heated. In Southern Africa, in India, and in 
 tropical America, the contending currents of the atmo- 
 sphere tell another tale, and their lightning blazes, and 
 their thunder peals, until the earth rocks and trembles 
 beneath the majesty of the sky. The Bible is often a 
 wonderfully instructive book in natural history, as on all 
 other subjects, if we would read it with hearts seeking the 
 truth, and eyes of supplication directed to him who alone 
 can open the seals of his own book. It is probable that
 
 LIGHTNING AND TH.UNDEE. 91 
 
 this very contest of the winds is alluded to in the seventh 
 chapter of the book of Daniel: " I saw," says the prophet* 
 "and, behold, the four winds of heaven strove upon the 
 great sea ; " and though the strife to which we allude is 
 over the land, the one may throw light upon the other. 
 
 The ascending current from the dry surface at the Cape 
 does not allow the Antartic and the Atlantic currents to 
 meet each other, until at a great elevation, probably several 
 miles above the surface of the earth ; but as the action 
 proceeds, this meeting descends lower and lower, and more 
 and more of the vapour of water accumulates, though still 
 in small drops, and this resistance of the air from the hot 
 surface continues until a canopy of vapour is formed over 
 it. One reason for the prolongation of this resistance, is 
 the drying quality of the air from the parched surface. It 
 dissolves the forming clouds at their lower part, and it 
 resists the passage of electric action. It therefore keeps 
 the powers which are to elaborate the coming rain, in their 
 places in the upper sky, until they have acquired strength 
 to do their work. As they strengthen, it weakens, and the 
 constant formation of visible vapour, and the continued 
 friction oi that vapour and the air, increase the electric 
 action, which cannot yet be discharged to the earth. But 
 when the clouds become dense they interrupt the beams of 
 the sun and thus lessen the resistance of the dry surface. 
 When one power continues increasing, and its antagonist 
 diminishing, it is easy to see what must be the result ; and 
 that, sooner or later, the contending winds will conquer, 
 and triumph over the parched soil. 
 
 It is generally during the night that the onsets of these 
 mighty battles of the elements are made ; because naturally 
 the clouds descend lower in the absence of the sun than in 
 its presence. Some mountain peak, or even some tuft of 
 planting on a hill-top, stands up above the general level of
 
 92 HEAT OF LIGHTNING. 
 
 the country ; the night is exceedingly dark from the mass 
 of cloud; and the air feels intolerably close and murky. 
 A gleam which illuminates the horizon, and is felt by a 
 thrill in the nerves of the spectator, darts toward the peak, 
 or the turf of trees, and probably shatters the one to pieces, 
 or sets the other on fire. This is the signal of nature, to 
 which speedily follows the note of preparation from the 
 tongue of the thunder, and this is the attack and the 
 beginning of victory ; and when once, under such circum- 
 stances, the lightning strikes, and the thunder roars, the 
 hope of a Spring revival is as certain to the parched plains, 
 as a continuation of G-od's protecting providence is to the 
 human race, when they behold the bow of promised mercy 
 in the cloud. 
 
 By this single communication between the earth and 
 the upper sky, the clouds are literally rent asunder. The 
 intense heat of such a lightning flash expands a large 
 space of air to almost an absolute vacuity. But as the 
 cause is momentary, so is the eifect ; and the air, loaded 
 with clouds, instantly closes in, and thereby produces the 
 sound of the thunder. Larger drops of water, and 
 increased electric action, are the results of this violent 
 disturbance and restoration of the equilibrium, and new 
 lightning and thunder are the consequence ; and by means 
 of them the rain soon descends, often with that destructive 
 violence to which allusion was formerly made. 
 
 The great heat of the surface produces a corresponding 
 evaporation of the moisture, even though the rain con- 
 tinues to fall in torrents. The vegetation is in possession 
 of both elements of Spring revival, in a very high degree 
 of intensity. The ground is watered, while there is a 
 copious supply of heat. Thus all nature springs, and 
 expands, and blooms, with a rapidity which is unknown in 
 temperate places; and when the rain-storm has so far
 
 EEYIVAL OF YEGETATIOX. 93 
 
 abated as that the people can venture out, they find 
 luxuriant vegetation where, only a short time before, there 
 was not a green thing.* 
 
 The adaptation of the vegetable races to a Spring of so 
 singular and energetical a character as that which is 
 experienced in South America, is a point well worthy of 
 attention; but we shall not enter upon it here, as we 
 purpose to devote a short chapter to the general adaptation 
 and preparing of plants for the Spring, after we have 
 noticed its more remarkable characters in a few more places. 
 We may say, however, that whatever may be the difference 
 between the characters of Spring in one region and in 
 another, we may rest assured, that the native vegetation is 
 equally well adapted in all. In one place, the Spring finds 
 the fields parched to a desert ; in another, it finds them 
 covered with a stagnant flood ; in a third, they are buried 
 under snow ; in a fourth, bound up in ice ; and in a fifth, 
 vegetable action has been only partially suspended ; but in 
 all, there is the same harmony between what the season has 
 to perform, and the powers with which that season is 
 furnished. 
 
 In Southern Africa, the vast evaporation occasioned by 
 the heat of the ground, which sends up the water in a sort 
 of stream, ultimately produces a very considerable degree 
 of cold. The air is then damp and chilly, and exceedingly 
 disagreeable, as well as injurious to the health of the 
 European settlers. On the high grounds the cold is severe, 
 and on some of the mountains, snow falls ; and, generally 
 speaking, there is frost almost every night upon elevated 
 
 * Travellers, from Burchell to Livingstone, describe the sudden 
 effect of rain on the parched karoo plains as being like magic. Tbc 
 country, which, but a few days before, was apparently an arid 
 waste, is covered with a garniture of the gayest flowers. These 
 flowers are for the most part from bulbif'erous plants.
 
 94 AFRICAN SPRING. 
 
 places. This spring of vegetation is really the midwinter 
 in the southern hemisphere, because its height is near the 
 time of our summer solstice. As we proceed northward in 
 Africa, the commencement of the rainy season is later, and 
 corresponds more nearly with our winter half, or their 
 summer half of the year. In Congo, and the other 
 countries eastward of the Gulf of Guinea, for instance, the 
 dry season begins about the end of March, and lasts till 
 the end of October. These countries are very near the 
 equator, and therefore may be said to have very little 
 difference of seasons as depending upon astronomical 
 causes ; for there is very little difference in the length of 
 the day or the influence of the sun, all the year round. 
 Accordingly, when Spring begins to exert its heating influ- 
 ence equally on both hemispheres, or, so to express it, when 
 the hold of the one hemisphere on the other, as resulting 
 from solar influence, is the least possible, the dry season 
 sets in in Central Africa. During this time, the winds are 
 from the south and south-east, and they bring no rain ; 
 and were it not for the night dews, vegetation would be 
 completely destroyed. These, however, in a great measure, 
 prevent this effect, so that, though the heat is extreme, the 
 low parts of the country do not become parched and 
 desolate. As long as the temperature of the northern 
 hemisphere continues higher than that of the southern, the 
 south winds and the drought continue. But, by the time 
 that our hemisphere has begun to cool, that is in September 
 or October, the south wind begins to abate, the north-west 
 wind to set in, and rains fall in great abundance, accom- 
 panied by lightning and thunder. These rains bring an 
 excess of vegetation ; but they at the same time render the 
 climate very unhealthy, and they last till about the month 
 of April, after which the country begins again to experience 
 the long-continued heat of the dry season.
 
 TKOPICAL SEASONS GENERALLY. 95 
 
 As it is not our object to give an account of all the 
 seasons and the weather in the different parts of the earth, 
 but merely to point out the characters of the Spring, and 
 to notice why it should be about the vernal equinox in some 
 countries, and the autumnal equinox in others, we shall not 
 allude particularly to any other country, further than to 
 notice that in Southern Asia the dry season, which is the 
 winter there in respect of vegetation, coincides with the 
 astronomical winter, and not with the summer, as in 
 Southern Africa. In India the south-west monsoon, which 
 is the rainy one, begins to blow in March, April, or May, 
 according to the situation of the place ; and the fall of rain, 
 upon some parts of the coasts especially, is very heavy, 
 though there are times at which it does not reach the interior 
 of the country. There, also, the commencement of the 
 rains is really the spring-time of vegetation. 
 
 This is the case in all tropical countries, situated so near 
 the equator as to have little variation of solar influence in 
 the course of the year, though the time at which this 
 happens depends upon local circumstances. The drying of 
 the surface of the ground by the action of the sun may 
 always be considered as the cause which puts in motion 
 those currents of air that ultimately bring rains, and renew 
 vegetation. Sometimes these happen only once in the year, 
 and sometimes they happen twice. Thus, for instance, 
 there are some parts of India which have rain at the setting 
 in both of the south-western monsoon and the north- 
 eastern ; and there are some of the West India islands also 
 which have two rainy seasons in the course of the year, 
 though generally not of equal duration or severity ; and 
 there are others, such as the island of Jamaica, which have 
 the severest rains upon the one side at one season, and upon 
 the other side at the opposite. In all countries which are 
 warm, though not tropical, there is a tendency to this. It
 
 96 TROPICAL SEASONS GEITEBALLY. 
 
 is mentioned under the name of " the former ai^d the latter 
 rain " in the Bible. "We can trace it slightly in our own 
 country ; only the weather of Britain is so much affected 
 by the Atlantic on the one side, and the continent of 
 Europe upon the other, and also by its own insular 
 situation, and irregular shape and surface, that the general 
 principles which apply to the weather of large and uniform 
 continents will not apply to that of Britain. 
 
 The tropical spring, resulting from rain and the subduing 
 of the extreme heat of the surface, as we have attempted 
 to give an outline of it, may be regarded as the one 
 extreme of all the variations of Spring in different places. 
 This forms one point, and that a sort of fixed point, in 
 studying the vernal season in the different latitudes. There 
 is another fixed point, namely, the opposite extreme, where 
 the Spring is produced by the subduing of the greatest 
 degree of cold. 
 
 This, of course, must be sought for in the high latitudes, 
 and from the distribution of land and water there, and 
 what has been already stated with regard to the Spring in 
 that hemisphere, it must be evident that we shall not find 
 this other extreme to the southward of the equator. 
 Unless as produced by drought and rain, there is very little 
 variation of seasons in the southern lands, so that, when 
 they are so situated as to have a constant and not excessive 
 supply of humidity, they may be said to be verdant, and 
 vegetation to be in a state of activity, all the year round ; 
 so that the cultivator of the soil may choose for his Spring 
 almost any season of the year that he pleases. The little 
 isles which spot the vast expanse of the great Pacific Ocean, 
 to which all the winds that blow are humid winds, as blowing 
 from the sea, have very much of this character. The 
 boughs are never without fruit, for there are three suc- 
 cessive crops in progress at the same time ; the fields and
 
 POLAB SPBING. 97 
 
 tlie gardens need never be without vegetables, and every 
 day furnishes food for the people. Those little spots are 
 among the gardens of the world ; and it must be cheering 
 to every real well-wisher of the best interests of mankind, 
 that, along with this daily supply of the bread which 
 perishes, the natives of those little lovely places are now 
 supplied with the bread of life ; that the idol is cast 
 down, the unseemly and the cruel rite abolished, and that, 
 at the very point opposite to this country, from which 
 the means of this divine instruction was sent, the people 
 " Give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise in the 
 islands." 
 
 It is, therefore, in the polar latitudes of the northern 
 hemisphere that we must seek that opposite kind of Spring 
 which is produced by overcoming the extreme of cold. "We 
 need hardly remark, that to overcome the extreme of any 
 kind of action, demands the extreme of the opposite, 
 because it is obvious, that in all cases that which overcomes 
 must be the stronger. We have already said that the 
 contest of the two currents of air from the sea meeting 
 over the plains of Southern Africa with the ascending 
 current from those dry and sandy currents, is a long one. 
 It begins in March, but its beginning is not perceptible 
 until some time afterwards. In like manner, when we turn 
 to the regions of the extreme north, we find that no effect 
 worthy of the name of Spring, and, indeed, no visible effect 
 at all, takes place till long after the astronomical turning 
 of the year. This astronomical turning is our winter 
 solstice in the end of December ; but even with us, in 
 these comparatively mild latitudes, the Spring cannot be 
 said to be confirmed till between two and three months 
 after this, or even till four in the northern and upland parts 
 of Britain. 
 
 With us the winter is comparatively mild, owing to our
 
 08 CANADIAN SEASONS. 
 
 insular situation, as well as our latitude; and in the 
 southern parts of the island snows are not very frequent, 
 and of not very long continuance upon low and warm 
 grounds. But if this is the case in a comparatively mild 
 country, both in latitude and in physical situation, we may 
 be sure that the winter is far more protracted in the icy 
 regions of the north ; and those who have visited those 
 regions, and have been compelled to winter in them, all 
 bear witness to the length of the winter, and the complete 
 dominion of cold while the rigour of the winter lasts. Even 
 in Canada, which is not in a higher latitude, the cold of 
 the winter, as compared with the heat of the summer, is 
 excessive, and the duration of the cold season is long. The 
 renovating powers of the Spring have to overcome this 
 before they can produce any vernal effect upon the vege- 
 tation, or any vernal excitement in the animals ; and, 
 therefore, it is necessary that we should know what the 
 Spring has to do before we can have any correct under- 
 standing of its character. We never, indeed, can fully 
 appreciate that power and goodness which are displayed in 
 the renovating influence of nature's revival, unless we are 
 fully acquainted with the obstacles against which it has 
 to contend, and also the means of assistance which are 
 prepared for it. The strength of the enemy is a necessary 
 element in estimating the true value of any victory ; and 
 while there is little merit in a great victory over a slender 
 foe, there may be much in a small success over one which 
 is powerful. 
 
 There is, perhaps, scarcely any part of the world in which 
 the seasons of heat and cold are in greater extremes than 
 they are in the northern parts of the American continent. 
 In Canada, and that not in the hottest parts of it, during 
 the summer season, the thermometer rises to about one 
 hundred and two degrees, which is about six degrees above
 
 CANADIAN SEASONS. 99 
 
 the greatest heat in the dry season in Southern Africa. 
 But on the plains in the latter country the temperature 
 rarely sinks below fifty-seven degrees, which is a pleasant 
 state of the atmosphere, not very different from that which 
 we call temperate, and supposed, in dry states of the air, 
 to be the most conducive to health and comfort. In 
 Canada, on the other hand, the thermometer sinks to at 
 least six-and-thirty degrees below zero, or of Fahrenheit's 
 scale, which is sixty- eight degrees below the temperature at 
 which water freezes, and a degree of cold of which the 
 inhabitants of Britain have but little conception. One 
 hundred and thirty-eight degrees, or thereabouts, is the 
 average temperature between the two extremes of the 
 Canadian seasons ; and when the difference is so vast, we- 
 can readily understand that a considerable time, as well as 
 great power in the agencies, must be requisite in order to 
 pass from the one of them to the other. 
 
 The extreme heat of the Summer prevents the Winter 
 from setting in so early as it does in countries where that 
 extreme is much less rigorous ; and severe as the Canadian 
 winter is, it does not set in so early as in the northern parts 
 of the British islands, where frosts, and even heavy falls 
 of snow, sometimes occur in the mountain districts as early 
 as September, and produce the most calamitous effects by 
 destroying the grain crops which have not then come to- 
 maturity, and also the potato crops, upon which the 
 inhabitants of those districts chiefly depend for their 
 subsistence during the winter. In the year 1836, a snow- 
 storm occurred in part of the valley of the Spey as early 
 as the 20th of September ; and in the year 1807 we wit- 
 nessed a heavy fall of snow in the latter end of that month, 
 which extended down to the level of the sea, at the town 
 of Inverness, near the head of the Moray Firth. The 
 sufferings of the people in the interior of the country, upon 
 
 u 2
 
 100 CANADIAN WINTER. 
 
 the last-mentioned of these occasions, were dreadful ; and 
 the flocks and herds perished in great numbers, partly 
 from lack of food, and partly by the severity of the Winter, 
 which was as long in its duration as it was early in its com- 
 mencement. It is true that those extreme cases happen 
 but seldom ; but when they do happen, their effects are 
 most painfully distressing, and one almost wishes that 
 "Winter, in those northern parts of the British islands, 
 had the fervour of a Canadian Summer wherewithal to 
 contend. 
 
 In Canada there is seldom any frost till October ; and 
 "Winter does not assume its government till the following 
 month. November is, however, the terrific portion of the 
 year, in so far as the majesty of Winter is concerned. The 
 Summer heat resists and struggles, until the bud is ripened, 
 and all is prepared for the following Spring ; and thus, 
 though the Winter comes with great violence, it comes 
 harmlessly, in so far as the native vegetation is concerned. 
 November is the month which confirms the domination 
 of the Winter's cold. During that month one snow-storm 
 deepens upon another, with furious gusts of wind, and 
 whelming volumes of frozen vapour. The whole surface of 
 tlie country is speedily mantled up ; and at this time it is 
 unsafe to be abroad with any part of the body exposed to 
 the storm, for the sleet and snow adhere, and the cold 
 which they produce would lead to that species of mortifi- 
 cation of the parts which is known by the name of frost- 
 bitten ; and even in the streets of the cities, the wreaths 
 of snow gathered by the eddyings of the violent winds, 
 form barriers which must be left unassailed till the fury of 
 the time is over. 
 
 By the end of November, varying a little of course with 
 the situation, this turbulence of the elements is at an end. 
 The country is sheeted over with snow, the rivers carpeted
 
 CANADIAN WINTEB. 101 
 
 with ice, and the cascades hung with icicles of the most 
 fantastic shapes, which, when the sun looks out through 
 the departing clouds, display rainbow tints which no art of 
 man can imitate. So violent is this action of the Winter, 
 and so complete its success, that hardly a particle of water 
 is left in the atmosphere, or anything remains which can 
 in the least disturb the perfect tranquillity of the hoary 
 domination. From the total absence of vapour, the air is 
 beautifully clear, the moon and the stars shine with brilliant 
 lustre, and the aurora borealis sports its varying forms and 
 delicate and delightful colours. The whole earth, too, is 
 firm : those places which were marsh or quagmire during 
 the Summer are consolidated like a pavement, and a general 
 communication is opened up all over the country, without 
 any expense of artificial highways. It is then that distant 
 friends are enabled to visit each other ; and, while every 
 labour of the field is suspended, those who, during the 
 Summer, were separated by impassable morasses, are enabled 
 to exchange the civilities of life. 
 
 Thus, we must not imagine that the very extreme of 
 Winter is an extreme of misery to the human race. 
 " Subdue the earth, and have dominion over it," was the 
 primal behest to man ; and though the circumstances are 
 different, the substance is as true, on the snow-covered 
 earth in the north, as under the shade of the evergreen 
 forests of the tropics, or upon the flowery meadows of the 
 middle latitudes. The bountiful Creator has so formed and 
 endowed man, that he can endure, with safety to his health, 
 a greater range of temperature than any of the other 
 animals ; and in order that this power of endurance might 
 not be bestowed in vain, enjoyments have been furnished 
 peculiar to every latitude, from the equator to the vicinity 
 of the pole. 
 
 Exercise on foot is not only bearable, but healthful, and
 
 102 BESISTAKCE TO 
 
 even pleasant, in the very rigour of those winters, after the 
 falling of the snow is over ; and the woodman in the 
 Canadian forest gets as warm in girdling or felling his trees, 
 as an ordinary labourer does during our Summer. "With 
 riders it is somewhat different, because the body, without 
 actual motion, is subjected to the severity of the cold : even 
 here, however, the country furnishes a remedy. The 
 regions of extreme cold are the regions of furs, where the 
 skins of the wild animals are so abundantly furnished with 
 fine hair, as that no cold of the atmosphere can find its way 
 through them. Wrapt up in these, the inhabitants of those 
 northern countries can drive along the frozen surface in 
 perfect safety, and with far greater ease than in the middle 
 of summer. 
 
 The circumstances which we have now mentioned cha- 
 racterise that state of things against which the powers of 
 Spring have to contend in high northern latitudes. They 
 are found with varying intensity along the extreme northern 
 verge of both continents ; and in the more northerly parts 
 of America, as well as in some portion of Asia, they are 
 even more striking than we have mentioned. Enough has 
 been said, however, to show that the Spring has no common 
 work to do, no ordinary resistance to overcome, in those 
 northern countries, and therefore we need not wonder that 
 it is protracted till what we consider the Spring season 
 of the year is far advanced, or even over. The whitened 
 snow and the frozen surface throw off not only the light 
 but also the heat of the sun by reflection ; and it is not 
 till the sun has acquired what we would consider a summer 
 power, both in the direction of the rays and the length 
 of the day, that the stubborn surface begins to relent. 
 "When it does so begin, its progress is rapid in proportion 
 to the power which it has accumulated ; and as the evapora- 
 tion is very great, heavy falls of rain, mingled with the
 
 THE POLAR SPRING. 103 
 
 melting snows, render the clearing of the surface a spectacle 
 of no ordinary grandeur.* 
 
 The trees in the forests, which are numerous in these 
 regions of the extreme north, are chiefly evergreens, of the 
 coniferous family pines, spruces, and larches. Those of 
 the first and second sub-genera receive vast loads of the 
 whelming snow upon their thickly-serried branches in the 
 early parts of the season. Even the strong ones, which 
 are in the vigour of their growth, are often rent and torn 
 by the pressure of these snowy loads, while such as have 
 begun to decay are thrown prone upon the earth. "When 
 the snow melts and the rain falls, these, mingled with 
 vast masses of ice and of unthawed snow, are hurried into 
 the swollen water-courses, thence into the rivers, and ulti- 
 mately to the sea ; so that the inhabitants of the extreme 
 north, where no wood grows, and even those who reside 
 on the northern islands between the western and the 
 eastern continents, annually receive a copious supply of 
 timber for domestic purposes, or for fuel, from this annual 
 clearing out of the North American forests. 
 
 The labour of the Spring in those wild countries is 
 almost entirely confined to the removal of the winter snow ; 
 for by the time that the snow and the snow-water are gone, 
 both the temperature of the season, and the appearances 
 of the wild plants, have a character deserving the name of 
 Summer. This Summer comes on apace, and its productive- 
 
 * The natives of the colder and the arctic parts of North America 
 look out eagerly for the arrival of the Canada goose. This bird, 
 with its black head and neck, marked by a white patch on the face 
 behind the eye, is a sure harbinger of Spring. In the Zoological 
 Gardens and in St. James's Park, the bird is a familiar one. To the 
 English about Hudson's Bay, these geese are essential as food. They 
 kill many thousands of them every year, and salt and barrel them 
 for their winter's food.
 
 104 THAWING. 
 
 ness, both in vegetable and animal action, is as remarkable 
 as the stagnation of the energies of life and growth which 
 reigned during the winter. Severe as the Winter is in 
 those extreme latitudes of America, there is, even in its 
 very severity, a means of protection to growing and living 
 nature. It is not the covering of snow or of ice which is 
 fatal to the one or the other of these ; it is the frequent 
 application of a small quantity of frozen moisture, and the 
 evaporation of this when thawed. The thawing, indeed, 
 is the injurious part of the process. When water consoli- 
 dates into ice or snow, that portion of the action of heat 
 which kept it in a fluid state is set free, and given out for 
 the performance of other offices. The melting, however, 
 absorbs a quantity of heat, greater in proportion as it is 
 more rapid. Were it not for this, the casing of even a 
 tender vegetable in ice would be a protection to it; but 
 the difficulty consists in getting the ice removed in the case 
 of one that stands up in the free air. Immersing in cold 
 water will, in a great measure, accomplish it, and the 
 colder the water is, the operation succeeds the better. 
 Now the roots and the young buds of the surface vegeta- 
 tion, in such a country as Canada, are soaked in snow-water, 
 after the snow is melted, until that water is warmed and 
 evaporated by the heat of the sun. This is the grand 
 means of their preservation ; for if that powerful action 
 of the sun, which is required for melting the ice and 
 snow, were to beat upon them naked and exposed, they 
 would be shrivelled up and destroyed, as we find the young 
 leaves and tender sprouts of our plants are by a hot sun 
 succeeding to a frosty night. 
 
 We have an illustration of this in what is experienced 
 by the human body. If the hands have been exposed to 
 the frost until they are benumbed, and brought near the 
 fire, in order to recover their tone, the sensation is painful ;
 
 THAWING. 105 
 
 and if the cold has proceeded so far as to render them 
 insensible, such a means of recovery is fatal. The fluids 
 in the small vessels expand and burst the vessels ; the 
 capillaries which join the extremities of veins and arteries 
 are disrupted ; the circulation in the part cannot be 
 carried on ; and it dies or undergoes the process of morti- 
 fication, and may, in some instances, extend its deadly 
 influence to other parts. If, however, the hands, when 
 so benumbed, are put into very cold water, and, still more, 
 if they are rubbed with snow, they not only recover their 
 tone with safety, but recover it in a pleasurable manner. 
 
 This extends to provisions, whether animal or vegetable, 
 which are accidentally frozen, or intentionally preserved 
 by the action of frost. If frozen vegetables are put into 
 hot water, and boiled for the table, they are tasteless and 
 offensive by the disruption or bursting of the small vessels, 
 and those fluids on which their flavour depends escaping 
 through the openings. If frozen animal food is put into 
 boiling water to be cooked, it not only loses its nutritious 
 flavour, and much of its nutritious quality, but bears some 
 resemblance, odour excepted, to putrid and unwholesome 
 meat. If, however, either vegetable or animal matter, 
 when frozen, is immersed in cold water, and kept there 
 until it is thawed, it is as fresh and as savoury, after being 
 dressed, as though it had never been frozen. 
 
 These coincidences between the living subject and the 
 dead, whether animal or vegetable, are by no means un- 
 instructive ; and as the law of nature provides that they 
 shall be treated in the same manner, when the Spring, in 
 the average of years, has to call them from the frozen to 
 the active state, this provision of the law proclaims, in 
 terms not to be mistaken, the great wisdom and goodness 
 of the Lawgiver. 
 
 Powerful, in its way, as the Spring action is in those
 
 106 POLAB SPUING. 
 
 high latitudes ot the north, it is not accompanied with those 
 displays of electric action which accompany the same 
 arousing of vegetation in tropical countries. The grand 
 action of the polar Spring is on the surface of the ground, 
 where the sunbeams operate directly upon the snow and 
 ice without any intervention of the atmosphere. Here, 
 therefore, there is no similarity to an electrical machine in 
 the atmosphere ; neither is there any necessity for it. Bain 
 formed in the atmosphere, in order to descend on a parched 
 surface, is what is required in a tropical country, because 
 there is no moisture on the ground available for the revival 
 of the vegetable tribes. In the polar country, on the other 
 hand, there is upon the surface of the ground enough of 
 moisture for this purpose, and to spare ; and all that is re- 
 qu ired, in order to render it fit for the purposes of Spring, is 
 to reduce it to that state in which it can be advantageously 
 applied for stimulating the powers of growth in vegetables. 
 Heat is all that is necessary for bringing it to the liquid 
 state, and also for raising it into the air in vapour, whence it 
 may descend again in Spring showers to refresh such places 
 and such plants as require watering. It is highly probable, 
 nay, it is certain, that in those northern countries, the 
 vapour of water never ascends to such a height in the 
 atmosphere as it does in warmer climates. Fogs are, 
 therefore, prevalent in the season of growth; and the 
 rain-drops are never large even in the hottest season, and 
 hail never falls. 
 
 It is easy to understand why this should be the case. 
 The hailstone or the rain-drop is always large in propor- 
 tion to the height from which it descends. The height 
 at which water freezes in the polar regions is far less than 
 that at which it does the same in tropical climates. During 
 the Winter, indeed, it comes down to the surface of the 
 earth at a considerable distance from the pole ; and even
 
 POLAR WEATHER. 107 
 
 in Summer it is not very nigh, as is shown by the com- 
 paratively small elevation at which snow remains unmelted 
 upon the mountains in these countries. Hence, when the 
 cold weather sets in, in those tropical countries, scarcely 
 an unfrozen particle of water can remain in the atmosphere, 
 and so the snows fall in impalpable powder. There is 
 another instance of this in the frost-smoke, which appears 
 over the unfrozen water of those countries; and which, 
 though it consists of minute portions of ice, frozen almost 
 at the instant of their evaporation, is light and dry, unless 
 it happens to come in contact with the comparatively 
 warm surface of the skin, and then it bites like an acid. 
 Even in Summer the evaporated water cannot get up to 
 such a height as to form anything like a hailstone, and even 
 during that season fogs are far more constant in the polar 
 seas than rain showers of moderate drops, which are indeed 
 among the rarest Summer occurrences of those regions of 
 comparative desolation. 
 
 In such countries as these, there is no need for lightning 
 and thunder ; and, accordingly, none of those elements 
 which immediately produce these phenomena are to be 
 found. In this, again, we have an instance of that perfect 
 adaptation of things in nature, which it is impossible to 
 imitate, even in the humblest manner, in human con- 
 trivances. If any substance, production, or organisation is 
 wanted to perfect the system at any place, it is sure to be 
 found in the very measure and degree to which it is 
 necessary ; but if it would be superfluous, and not necessary 
 to the general working of the system, it is just as sure not 
 to be there. 
 
 We should now advert to the mean between the two 
 extremes of the character, appearance, and circumstances of 
 the coming Spring. This does not, however, admit of the 
 same brief and precise explanation as either of these.
 
 108 MEDIUM SPRING. 
 
 Taking the northern hemisphere as our example, because it 
 is the only one in which the polar Spring can be observed, 
 we must remark, that the medium between this and the 
 equatorial Spring is not produced by the operation of any 
 new or peculiar causes, but the blending together of their 
 causes. 
 
 At the equator, and for some distance on each side of it, 
 the Spring may be said to partake nothing whatever of the 
 polar character, unless it be over a very little zone, sur- 
 rounding the perpetual snow upon such mountains as are 
 so lofty as to have snow upon them all the year round. The 
 places where this is the case are but few they are 
 limited in extent, and they are scarcely habitable by human 
 beings, so that they have not much popular interest. On 
 them, however, the economy of vegetation resembles that 
 in the polar latitudes rather than in the temperate ones, 
 because they are, for part of the year, covered with snow, 
 and for the rest of the year exposed to the sun. Still, 
 however, there is not an exact similarity in the climate or 
 in the Spring between those high grounds within the 
 tropics and the regions of the poles. In the tropical 
 places, especially very near the equator, the solar influence 
 is much the same all the year round, the chief difference 
 being produced by the alternation of rain and drought, the 
 same as it is on the low grounds in these latitudes. The 
 day and night are very nearly of equal length throughout 
 the year, and the sun is so little different from being 
 vertical, even at the tropics, or times of its greatest de- 
 clination, that the solar influence is always efficient to 
 produce the springing of vegetables, if the germs of seeds 
 are in proper situations, and humidity, the other essential 
 element of the Spring, is supplied. 
 
 It may be said, therefore, that on all tropical lands where 
 a vegetable can grow, whatever be their elevation, the
 
 CLIMATE OF MOUNTAINS. 109 
 
 season of rain is the season of Spring, at whatever time of 
 the year this rain may occur. 
 
 On lofty mountains, such as the Andes, the summits of 
 many of which are clad with never-melting snow, under the 
 very equator itself, there is a sort of microcosm in respect 
 to climate or seasons. There are some spots in the Andes 
 where the mountains are suddenly cleft into valleys of 
 great depth, where a traveller can stand on the same rock 
 and see the extreme vegetation of India below him, and the 
 sterility of Lapland above.* 
 
 "When the rains have fallen for some time, the evapora- 
 tion produced by them lowers the temperature and brings 
 frost and snow upon the mountains ; and the snow storms 
 there are terrific, compared with what they are even in the 
 regions of the extreme north. In the northern countries, 
 Winter has to contend with a comparatively feeble enemy ; 
 but upon the tropical mountains, the opponents are nearly 
 equal, and so the violence of the contest is the greatest 
 possible. These violent storms are generally very local, 
 and they are so brief in their duration, that the descendants 
 of the Spaniards call them temporales ; but while they last 
 they are terrific, and bring instant destruction to every 
 human being who happens to be abroad while they rage. 
 Travellers crossing the lofty passes are sometimes over- 
 taken by them ; and the flesh of men and mules is given to 
 feed the vultures of heaven, and their bones lie bleaching 
 together in the snow, in sad memorial of their dreadful 
 fate. 
 
 " What will not man for sordid lust of gold ? " 
 
 * Such scenes may be witnessed on the sides of some of the 
 gigantic volcanoes of this celebrated range, as described by 
 Humboldt, where, close to the snow line, the ground in Spring is a 
 mass of colour from the gay -flowered alpine plants which bloom
 
 HO TEMPOBALES. 
 
 Some of the mines are situated in the very summits of 
 these mountains, where the poor labourers, inured to the 
 severest toil, and kept alive by the most scanty supplies, 
 are totally cut off from the habitable country for months, 
 though in direct distance that country may not be a dozen 
 of miles off. These poor slaves to human cupidity are but 
 too often overtaken by the temporales ; and so dense is the 
 snow, and so furious the wind, that sight and strength are 
 alike unavailing ; and even though the storm does not hurl 
 them over a precipice, their dead bodies are sometimes 
 found within a few yards of their wretched dwelling- 
 places. 
 
 Countries in which drought and rain are still the chief 
 and only causes of difference of season, and which are 
 subject to such variations of weather, have many returns of 
 Spring in the course of the year. The temporary snows 
 speedily melt upon those places where snow is not 
 perennial ; and as the fall is of sufficient depth entirely to 
 cover the vegetation, the effect of the brief snow-storm, 
 after it is gone, is very similar to that of the winter-snows 
 of the north, when melted by the ardour of the Spring. 
 Vegetation is wonderfully refreshed, and sprouts and 
 blooms with the greatest vigour ; so that, though the plants 
 of such places are peculiar in their species, they are 
 equally remarkable for their beauty and the vigour of their 
 growth. 
 
 All seasons of the year may be said to be blended to- 
 gether in these singular countries. There are some 
 peculiarities of the native vegetation, or at least of part of 
 it, resulting from this, which are well worthy the attention 
 
 there. The next zone contains thickets of coriaceous leaved plants 
 in perpetual bloom and verdure. These are followed by forest 
 trees. At 5,000 feet above the sea coffee and palms begin, while 
 indigo and cocoa cannot be cultivated lower than 2,000 feet.
 
 SEASONS ON MOUNTAINS. Ill 
 
 of man as a cultivator of plants, whether for use or for 
 ornament. Of such plants we may instance the potato and 
 the dahlia, both of which are natives of the Andes, though 
 not of the very extreme regions near the snows. No two 
 plants are more easily grown, more obedient to the hand of 
 the cultivator, or more capable of coming to maturity, in 
 every variety of climate which is the least of a temperate 
 character, than the two which we have mentioned. In all 
 countries, and more especially in countries where corn will 
 not come to maturity, the potato is the most useful of 
 plants; and its general introduction has had far more 
 influence in assisting the improvement of modern times, 
 than they who have not carefully studied the elements of 
 that improvement would be apt to suppose.* 
 
 The dahlia, again, is at once the most easily cultivated, 
 and the most ornamental of herbaceous flowers ; and there 
 is not a cottager in the British islands, occupying even a 
 square yard of ground, who might not have that ornamented 
 with a dahlia. It is true that both plants are very sus- 
 ceptible of injury from frost, both in their leaves and in their 
 roots ; but then, as they are propagated by the roots, and 
 the quality is improved by taking up the roots, and keeping 
 them dry during the winter, a very little labour secures the 
 plants in the greatest perfection for the next season. A 
 small portion of the root serves for planting ; and a still 
 smaller portion of the roots produced during one year, 
 supplies an equal number of plants for the next ye ar. Every 
 one knows the benefit of this surplus of the roots or 
 tubers of the potato ; and the dahlia, too, is quite whole- 
 some, not badly tasted, might at present make good food 
 for domestic animals, and may, in time, become farinaceous, 
 and as such, form an important part of the food of man. 
 
 * Had the author lived to see the effects produced by the dreadful 
 "Potato disease," he would probably hnvc somc\vh-t modified this.
 
 112 BEFLECTIONS. 
 
 "We have the less reason to despair of this result, when we 
 consider that the potato, at its first introduction, was soft 
 and waxy, and not unlike what the dahlia is now, though 
 the natural characters of the two plants are not the same. 
 Let any one consider how much it would add to the autumnal 
 beauty of our farms, after the grain-crops are gathered in. 
 if they were spotted here and there with a few acres of 
 dahlias in full bloom. The Andes, which a narrow-minded 
 jealousy long kept a sealed book to the civilised world, are 
 now open to inquirers of all countries ; and it is highly 
 probable that future researches will be crowned with such 
 success as shall enable" the cultivators of Europe greatly 
 to increase the riches and the beauty of the earth. 
 
 Herein we see a most useful lesson of wisdom, if we 
 would pause and learn it. The most distant spot of earth, 
 and the one least resembling our birth-place in its physical 
 characters, has still something good to give us, if we seek 
 for it in the proper spirit, and with due diligence ; and at 
 the present time, our gardens bear beautiful testimony 
 to the return which distant lands have made to us, for 
 carrying thither the blessings of civilisation and religion. 
 And not our gardens merely, but our food, our clothing, 
 our furniture, and every class of our comforts ; for, enter 
 any house in which there is only a moderate degree of what 
 we call comfort, and separate those articles which are the 
 productions of other lands from those of our own, and you 
 will find that in every case they amount to a very large 
 proportion. 
 
 The lesson goes a little farther than this : man is adapted 
 to more changes of climate and situation than any other 
 living creature ; and this verifies the original gift by the 
 Almighty to man, of the whole earth and all its productions 
 for his use. Kot only this, but it informs us, in language 
 not to be mistaken, that mankind are one brotherhood;
 
 REFLECTIONS. 113 
 
 and that if a nation be in want, or sit in the darkness of 
 ignorance, or in want of the Divine truth, those who 
 possess these blessings, and do not communicate them to 
 such a nation, are as guilty of uncharitableness in the sight 
 of the Father of all, as an individual would be, who with- 
 held the same from a neighbour or a brother. 
 
 As we proceed from the equator toward the north pole, 
 the tropical causes, and tropical character of the Spring 
 gradually diminish, and a portion of the polar ones begin 
 to display themselves. The alternation of snow, and its 
 absence upon the lofty mountains, extends over a larger 
 range, and the snow continues for a longer period of the 
 year ; so that, when we come to about the latitude of Britain, 
 the Spring on high mountains is polar, and the year con- 
 sists but of one period of snow, and another of its absence. 
 
 This produces a very remarkable difference in the cha- 
 racter of the mountain vegetation from that under and 
 near the equator. There, we mentioned that the plants 
 are remarkable for their obedience to the hand of the 
 cultivator, and their improvement under the exercise of 
 his skill. Here, on the other hand, they are remarkable 
 for their stubbornness; for while the mountain-plants of 
 tropical America will grow well, with little attention, if the 
 proper season for them is chosen, the alpine plants of 
 Europe require the most attention ; and many of those of 
 our own mountains, none of which can be said to be clad 
 with never-thawing snows, stubbornly resist every effort of 
 the most skilful and laborious gardener. It is the same 
 with polar plants, for they can, with extreme difficulty, be 
 kept alive in good soils and warm situations, and few of 
 them can be so kept alive at all.* The reason is obvious : 
 
 * At Kew, they soon lost some growing arctic plants, brought 
 from the shores of Barrow's Straits, by Dr. Sutherland, the surgeon 
 and naturalist, engaged on the Franklin search with Captain Penny. 
 
 II
 
 114 ADAPTATIONS TO CLIMATE. 
 
 in the alpine or the polar region the long Winter is but 
 one, and when the snow is melted, the frost is over for the 
 season ; whereas, on the low lands of temperate countries, 
 and especially of those which have little or no snow to 
 protect the vegetation during the winter, the tender bud 
 has to endure a long protracted contest of the two great 
 opposing seasons of the year. Prom the shortness of the 
 polar Summer, and also of the alpine Summer, in conse- 
 quence of the advanced heat of the season requisite to 
 melt the snow, the bud, in such places, springs at once, 
 and vigorously, and when a frost comes upon it it withers, 
 and the plant is at an end ; whereas the native vegetation 
 of such places is tempered to what it has to endure, and as 
 its Spring begins earlier in the year, it can come to maturity 
 with a much slower progress at the beginning. 
 
 We have some striking instances of this in the case of 
 the same plant, provided that it is a cultivated one, and has 
 been cultivated so long as to have acquired that artificial 
 character which belongs to all such plants. Barley, for 
 instance, requires two or three weeks or even a month less 
 between the sowing and the reaping, in the very northmost 
 parts of Europe where it will grow, than it does in the south 
 of England. There is a wonderful goodness to man even 
 in this circumstance, trifling as it may seem. If the grain 
 were to require as long time to ripen in the extreme north, 
 as it. does in the mild latitudes, the frost, and even the snow, 
 would come upon it and kill it, while the seeds were yet 
 but a milky juice and the straw unripeued, and it would be 
 unfit for the food either of man or beast. The same holds, 
 to a certain extent, in the case of every plant which has 
 been long cultivated, though different plants are, of course, 
 susceptible of cultivation in different latitudes, and over 
 different ranges of latitude. The more useful domestic 
 animals possess a similar property of adapting themselves,
 
 POLAR SPRING. 
 
 115 
 
 by degrees, to great differences of climate ; and the whole 
 of living and growing nature is so finely adapted to man, 
 that enough for every necessary purpose of life can be 
 carried along with him, and reared in every part of the 
 world. The polar portion of the Spring increases toward 
 the poles themselves, till, at them, it becomes the general 
 character of the season, as we have already described it. 
 
 H 2
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 ADAPTATION AND PREPARING OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM I'Oll 
 THE SPRING. 
 
 THE adaptation of the vegetable tribes to their native 
 places on the surface of the earth, and the preparations 
 which are made for their receiving the full benefit of the 
 Spring revival, when it comes and as it comes, are among 
 the most beautiful and the most striking displays of Divine 
 contrivance with which we meet in the whole economy of 
 this delightful season. One can hardly, even in the slightest 
 manner, contemplate these without feeling that verily there 
 is a God that liveth, and that ruleth and judgeth on the 
 earth. 
 
 As in every operation of nature there are always two 
 natural parties concerned an agent and an object no 
 natural operation could take place unless these were adapted 
 to each other. But every natural object takes place in the 
 very best manner, namely, with perfection and perfect 
 economy. From this consideration alone we are led to 
 conclude, that the adaptation is perfect in every case which
 
 SPRING AGENCIES. 117 
 
 is truly natural ; and it is this which renders nature so 
 excellent a pattern to us, in endeavouring to make our small 
 workings as perfect as we can. 
 
 Those natural adaptations may be conveniently separated 
 into two departments accommodations to place, and 
 accommodations to time. It is true that, in nature, these 
 two go together, and co-operate in the production of 
 one perfect working. But nature is complicated and 
 extensive, and our powers of discernment and under- 
 standing are feeble and limited ; and therefore in this, as 
 in everything else, we must " divide " before we can hope 
 to conquer. 
 
 In the former chapters, we have seen to what agencies 
 the Spring revival of nature is owing, and how the operation 
 of those agencies is modified by situation upon the earth, 
 and by mean level above its surface. In this we have, in 
 so far, set before the reader a shadowy outline of the power 
 or agent of the Spring. But, powerful as this agent is, it 
 is a finite and created agent, and as such, it can originate 
 nothing cannot call forth the most humble plant, or excite 
 the smallest animal, unless- there is a germ, prepared and 
 adapted for its working. The returning sun of the Spring 
 (to speak according to the appearance, though not to the 
 reality) would shed his beams in vain, if nature were not 
 prepared for his shining. So, also, the Spring rains would 
 descend, and the Spring breezes would blow, to no purpose, 
 unless there were a previously existing life, whether vege- 
 table or animal, upon which they could exercise their genial 
 influence. The sun shines as brightly on Sahara as it does 
 on the valley of the Nile or the Niger ; and beams as 
 brightly upon Chimboraco and Illimani, as it does upon the 
 exuberant fertility of the valleys of the Orinoco and the 
 Amazon. But Sahara is plantless ; and the peaks of the 
 two American mountains which we have mentioned rise so
 
 118 PLANTS AND 
 
 terribly sublime in the chilling desolation of their snows, 
 that they have never been trodden by human foot, and 
 probably not a living thing is to be found upon them. 
 Chimbora9O rises as a desert of snow, over a desert of 
 mountain ruins produced by the violence of earthquakes, 
 and, as one would say, it is placed among its kindred. But 
 Ulimani, Sorate, and the other giant peaks of the Bolivian 
 Andes, look down upon the affluents of the river Beni, 
 which, continued in the great streams of the Madera and 
 the Amazon, roll through a country rich with forests and 
 exuberant in every kind of vegetation, for nearly three 
 thousand miles, before their mighty current mingles with 
 the Atlantic wave. Nor is there any doubt that, if 
 man had strength for such an effort, he might look from 
 any of the summits upon one of the richest expanses in 
 nature. 
 
 It is obvious that the cause of desolation in the one 
 description of places is owing to the want of adaptation 
 to the solar action. In itself that action is exactly the 
 same, whether on the thirsty sand, the snow-clad summit, 
 the luxuriant forest, or the flowery meadow ; and we may 
 rest assured, that were the one description of places as well 
 adapted to obey the action of the sun as the others are, the 
 Spring would be just as reviving. 
 
 These are cases of extreme difference ; but even in the 
 intermediate ones, where the difference is much less, we 
 still find a new vegetation when we come to a new surface, 
 in respect of the earth itself, its moistness or dryness, and 
 its elevation above the earth's surface. Wherever there is 
 a different vegetation, it is in most cases indeed, we may 
 say in every case differently acted upon by the Spring ; 
 and therefore none can have a perfect understanding of that 
 season, even in this single respect, who has not paid a good 
 deal of attention to the structures and the habits of plants.
 
 THEIB ADAPTATIONS. 119 
 
 To do this completely, would require that it should be the 
 chief business of. life ; and therefore it can be done only by 
 those who are professional. 
 
 There is, however, a much slighter and more general 
 knowledge of the vegetable tribes, which may be possessed 
 by anybody who makes a right use of the spare hours of 
 time, and which, therefore, should be possessed by every- 
 body. In all natural subjects there is, as it were, an 
 adaptation to this kind of knowledge. Man is both invited 
 to study them, and shown the way, by those natural resem- 
 blances, in consequence of which one becomes, as it were, an 
 index to a great many others. 
 
 The most striking parts of a great majority of plants are 
 their flowers ; and as perfect flowering involves in it also 
 the preparation of the seed which, when matured and 
 ripened, is to produce a new plant, the first and broadest 
 distinction of plants is into such as have visible flowers, 
 and such as have not. The first are called Phenogamous 
 plants, which is as much as to say, that the parts of them 
 requisite for the forming and fertilising of seeds are seen. 
 The second are called Cryptogamous plants, which does not 
 mean that those plants do not produce seeds or germs of 
 some kind or other, but merely that the parts concerned in 
 the first formation of those are invisible to our observation. 
 Flowering plants, and flowerless plants, are the most con- 
 venient words for common language. 
 
 The flowering plants are by far the most interesting 
 department of the vegetable kingdom. They are largest 
 in size, most beautiful hi appearance, firmest in texture, 
 and applicable to the greatest number of useful purposes. 
 All trees in temperate countries at least now found in the 
 living state and by far the greater number of trees in the 
 tropical countries, belong to this grand division. It is the 
 same with shrubs ; and so also with the greater number of
 
 120 DISTINCTIONS OF PLANTS. 
 
 those herbaceous plants which do not stand up with stems 
 of more than one year's growth, like trees and shrubs, but 
 which, generally speaking, die down in the end of Autumn, 
 to be called up anew in the Spring, from seeds, from the 
 roots of the old plants, or from both. 
 
 Flowerless plants are generally found on the surface of 
 the ground, though there are exceptions ; and, besides never 
 producing any flowers, few of them have much distinction 
 of stem and leaf. Scarcely any of them can be made to 
 answer any of the ordinary purposes of timber ; and there 
 are but a few of them which can be used as human food, 
 either in whole or in part. Ferns and mosses, and all the 
 common sea-weeds, are familiar instances of flowerless 
 plants, though there are some plants in the fresh waters, 
 which remain submerged during the greater part of the 
 year, and yet come to the surface to flower, or at all events 
 to bring one part of their flowers to perfection. 
 
 - Some plants of this last division are very beautiful, and 
 all are curious and worthy of being studied as what pro- 
 duction of nature is not? But still, the most casual 
 observer must feel, upon comparing them, that the flowering 
 plant is the most elaborate production of nature. This last 
 expression must not be misunderstood ; we do not mean to 
 say, that any one work of creation is more elaborate to the 
 Creator than any other. But he has seen meet to work by 
 natural and finite causes in all the operations of nature, 
 and to adapt those causes to the results. Now the flowering 
 plant has organs to elaborate, not only additional to any 
 which the flowerless plant possesses, but of more fine and 
 curious texture than those ; and, therefore, those plants 
 require a higher degree of the excitements chiefly those 
 of heat and light which produce action in vegetables, than 
 plants which do not flower. 
 
 We find the two classes so distributed as to adapt them
 
 PLANTS OK DIFFERENT SOILS. 121 
 
 differently in this way. The flowering plants are accu- 
 mulated in the regions of heat and light, especially the 
 former ; they are most abundant in tropical climates, and 
 in warm and sheltered situations, which contain moisture 
 enough for the purposes of vegetation, and yet not so much 
 as shall, by being evaporated, reduce the heat below a 
 certain degree. The floweiiess plants take, as it were, the 
 opposite end of the scale. They are most numerous in 
 places which are cold and moist ; and with considerable 
 difference in different countries, owing to local causes, they 
 diminish in their relative proportion from the pole toward 
 the equator, and from the mountain-top to its base ; whereas 
 the flowering plants increase, if we take them in the same 
 order, in latitude or in elevation. 
 
 If we attend to what is around us, or observe as we walk 
 over a varied part of the country, we find every day con- 
 firmations of this ; and we meet with them in the same 
 species of plant on the same kind of soil, in seasons of 
 different character. On the cold heights, and also in the 
 damp hollows, where water stagnates until removed by 
 evaporation, we always find mosses and other flowerless 
 plants; while on the banks and hedges, which have drainage, 
 and on the slopes of hills, we meet with abundance of wild 
 flowers. The fact is, that that portion of the action of heat 
 which brings the flower to maturity in the one place, is con- 
 sumed in evaporating the water which falls, in the other ; 
 and tiius only the difference is left to stimulate the vege- 
 tation. A damp district may be known in the dryest 
 weather, by the comparatively small number of wild flowers 
 which it presents. Ou the other hand, though the rain is 
 pouring when we visit it, abundance of suc-h flowers will 
 tell us, with certainty, that the climate of the place is, in 
 general, dry and wholesome. There is something even in 
 the colour of tiie flowers red being more prevalent in dry
 
 122 DISTINCTIONS IN 
 
 places, and pale greenish-yellow or white in those that are 
 moist. In the same plants, we 'find the difference of years, 
 and also of situations, has a remarkable effect upon the 
 flowering. If the place or the season is too moist for the 
 species of plant, it runs up to stem and leaf, produces few 
 or no flowers, and does not bring seed to maturity. In 
 this way we find that oats and barley, though they run 
 much to straw, are very unproductive crops in very moist 
 lands, and the more so the warmer the climate is, if a 
 sufficient supply of moisture is afforded. "We accordingly 
 find, that in wild nature, that natural order of plants to 
 which these belong is very limited, and forms but an incon- 
 spicuous fraction of the entire vegetation. Some plants of 
 this order, indeed, are naturally marsh plants such as the 
 rice plant and they come instead of our grain plants, on 
 the low and damp ground in tropical countries ; though 
 in other countries of the same latitude, the people derive 
 these substitutes for bread from stems and roots, rather 
 than from the seeds of any vegetable. 
 
 A second mode of distinguishing plants into large 
 divisions is obtained from the way in which the young 
 plant first makes its appearance, when the seed germinates. 
 There are three modes : the plant either puts out no leaf 
 at all, it puts out only one seed-leaf, or it puts out two. 
 There are some nice distinctions upon the borders of the 
 divisions in this case, as well as in that of the flowers ; but 
 they are too minute and technical for requiring our notice. 
 The seed-leaf is understood to exist as a distinct part of the 
 seed itself; and no plant which has not leaves properly 
 so called, and even flowers, produces a seed-leaf distinct 
 from the plumule, or feather, as it is called, which is the 
 rudiment of the plant itself. These seed-leaves are tech- 
 nically called cotyledons, which merely means leaves or 
 lobes. Those without cotyledons are called acotyledonous ;
 
 GERMINATING. 123 
 
 those with one are called monocotyledonous ; and those 
 which have two are called dicotyledonous. The first of 
 these, including all the flowerless plants, is most numerous 
 in cold and humid latitudes and situations. The second 
 form a larger portion of the vegetation of temperate 
 countries, though they assume the magnitiide of trees only 
 within the tropics, or at least in warm latitudes and places. 
 The third are most numerous in tropical countries, though 
 they are also abundant in temperate ones. 
 
 There are some distributions with regard to elevation, 
 which tend farther to show the relative adaptations of 
 these different divisions of plants to peculiar situations on 
 the earth's surface. The numerical statements are not, 
 however, to be regarded as anything more than the 
 approximations ; because many of the plants which have 
 no cotyledons are so minute and obscure, that there may 
 be numbers of them which have hitherto escaped observa- 
 tion. Brown,* the first of our botanists, estimates that 
 the flowerless or acotyledonous plants in the tropical 
 countries, are to the flowering ones as one to fifteen on 
 the plains, and one to five on the mountains; but both 
 proportions must depend a good deal upon the general 
 character of the country, and the last one upon the height 
 of the mountain. Of flowering plants, those with a single 
 cotyledon increase in proportion to the whole, from the 
 equator toward a pretty high latitude in the northern 
 hemisphere, but they again diminish towards the extreme 
 north. The grasses, bents, and rushes, increase from the 
 equator to the middle of the temperate latitudes, and after 
 
 * llobert Brown died in 1858, at his house in Dean-street, Soho. 
 He was styled " Botanicoruui facile princeps." The Ray Society 
 have requested Mr. Bennett, his coadjutor, and now his successor 
 at the British Museum, to edit for them a collected edition of his 
 works.
 
 124 DISTINCTIONS IN 
 
 this they fall off toward the extreme north. The falling 
 off, however, is in the grasses; for the rushes and bents 
 are numerous in cold and humid countries; and there is 
 hardly such a thing to be met with in tropical ones. 
 
 From this we may infer, that the bents and rushes are 
 hardy plants, adapted to the very coldest situations where 
 flowering plants of any description will grow ; that the 
 grasses hold a sort of intermediate character ; but that 
 neither is well adapted for the extreme action of tropical 
 climates. Bents and rushes are almost too dry for sup- 
 porting any vegetable-feeding animal ; and as grasses are 
 the prevailing food of those animals, we have the proper 
 native localities of the grazing animals determined by the 
 situation of those plants. 
 
 Such is a specimen of the climatal or geographical 
 distribution of a few of the vegetable tribes ; and such as 
 wish to understand the subject more fully must be referred 
 to the works of those who have written expressly on it. 
 
 A third method of distinguishing plants is the mode of 
 their growth, that is, of their increase in size in the indi- 
 vidual plant. As in all plants which last more than a 
 single season, standing in the free air, all parts of the plant 
 feel the influence of the Spring, the distinctions which 
 are founded upon the mode of growth are fully more 
 important for our purpose than the other. If the plant 
 is a true annual,* that is, if it must be reproduced from 
 seed every year, then the only action which Spring can 
 have upon it is making that seed germinate. If, again, 
 the plant has an annual stem in the air, and makes its 
 annual appearance from a stem or root in the ground, or 
 
 * Iii the temperate zones it is estimated that one-sixth of the 
 flowering plants are annuals, in the torrid zone scarcely one in 
 twenty is annual, and in the arctic regions only one plant in thirty 
 is annual.
 
 MODE OF GROWTH. 
 
 125 
 
 on its surface, there are only two ways in which the Spring 
 can act upon it the one by germination of the seed for 
 new plants and the other by sprouting of the root, or 
 underground stem, for the yearly renewal of old ones. 
 If, however, the stem of the plant summers and winters 
 for several times in the air, and flowers aud ripens seeds 
 every year, or during any period longer or shorter, there is, 
 of course, an action of Spring upon all parts of the plant 
 which nature prepares for such action. 
 
 We may say, therefore, that plants are so adapted to the 
 Spring, as that some of them present themselves to it only 
 in the shape of seeds ; others both as seeds, and as roots 
 from which the annual stems have died down ; and others 
 still, in their seeds, and also in their whole structures. 
 The seeds of plants are the most imperishable 
 forms in which the principles of vegetable life 
 can possibly be treasured up ; and they appear 
 to be indestructible, very nearly in propor- 
 tion as they are minute. It is scarcely 
 possible to turn up vegetable mould to any AL 
 depth, where the very lowest part 
 of it, even though carefully pre- 
 served from receiving seeds, shall 
 not speedily be covered with a 
 crop of weeds, if placed in cir- 
 cumstances answering to those of 
 the natural Spring. This is a very 
 beautiful provision in nature, and 
 one which is highly useful to 
 man. New lands are often 
 formed in the sea, by means 
 which would be foreign to our 
 present purpose to explain. 
 Those new lands are often
 
 126 DISTINCTION IN 
 
 very remote from any other, and they are of course without 
 any seeds of vegetables. But the winds, probably, waft 
 the extremely minute seeds of flowerless plants, and the 
 currents of the water bring the weightier seeds of flowering 
 ones; so that the young land is clothed with herbs, and 
 ornamented with trees, as soon as it is fit for their reception. 
 To man the advantages are still greater than these, because, 
 by carrying it in the seed, he can distribute a useful plant 
 to every region of the world that will suit its growth. Of 
 our cultivated grain plants and fruit trees very few indeed 
 are originally natives of our country ; and the annual ones, 
 especially, could hardly have been introduced in any other 
 form than that of seeds. Besides this, if any place is 
 sown again repeatedly with its own produce, the quality 
 deteriorates ; and seed of the same species from a different 
 soil and situation will restore the value. The necessity of 
 this change is well known to every cultivator ; and it could 
 be made in no other way than by means of the seed. 
 
 The root, or the underground stem, is a more tender 
 form of the vegetable than the seed ; but still the fact of 
 its being underground, in a great measure preserves it, and 
 keeps it in such a state as that the Spring may act upon it. 
 Such roots and stems, too, may be preserved for a con- 
 siderable time out of the earth, and transported to a 
 considerable distance, without losing their power of vege- 
 tating. When we come to the third form that in which 
 the entire plant bears again and again all the changes of 
 the seasons we have a more complicated structure to 
 deal with, and consequently, one which is more liable to 
 be injured by casualties. Sometimes the whole of such a 
 plant summers and winters ; in which state it is called an 
 evergreen, though such plants do shed their leaves after 
 the lapse of some time or other, and all of them mature 
 seeds in some form or other, and drop those seeds upon
 
 ANNUAL INCREASE. 127 
 
 the earth. Others, again, shake off their leaves to have 
 them renewed in the Spring ; and all plants which do this 
 have a pause between every two producings of seed ; 
 whereas many of the evergreens have flowers, and half- 
 grown fruit, and ripe fruit upon them at the same time 
 exhibiting, as it were, the united effects of three Springs. 
 The shedding of leaves in trees bears a considerable resem- 
 blance to the dying down of stems in those plants of which 
 the roots last longer than a year. There is, however, a 
 difference between them in the majority of cases ; and the 
 root, of which the stem has died, is not so well prepared 
 for enduring a wintry atmosphere as the tree or the shrub 
 whose leaves have fallen off. The leaves of the tree or 
 shrub are truly deciduous, that is, they part and leave no 
 remnant of dead matter ; the stem, on the other hand, 
 leaves a dead stump, and often stands or lies in a withered 
 state until the Spring. The fact of their being evergreen, 
 or being deciduous, is therefore an important point, when 
 we come to consider the preparations which are made in 
 perennial plants for the action of the Spring. Before we 
 proceed to that, however, we have to notice the two modes 
 of growth to which we have alluded. The one of these is 
 at the centre of the plant ; and the plants are thence called 
 endogenous, which means that they grow in the inside. 
 The others grow between the wood and the bark ; and they 
 are called exogenous, or growing at the outside; which is 
 not quite correct, because the bark is outside the place of 
 growth, and in some plants it contains the larger portion 
 of bulk in the stem, though this is not commonly the case. 
 
 It will at once be seen, that in these two several modes 
 of growth there is a wonderful difference as to the suscep- 
 tibility of the plants to the action of any external cause, 
 and, consequently, to the action of the Spring. If 
 the place of action is in the centre of the trunk of a
 
 128 LOCATION OF PLANTS. 
 
 tree, it is quite obvious that more of heat or any other 
 stimulating cause will be required to excite that tree to 
 action, than if the excitable part were near the surface; 
 and on the other hand, it will be obvious that an endo- 
 genous tree must be capable of enduring a degree of 
 stimulating action which would destroy an exogenous one. 
 
 This at once points out the chief locality upon the globe 
 which is best adapted for each species. The endogenous 
 tree is proper for the tropical climates, and the exogenous 
 for temperate ones. This agrees with observation. The 
 palms, and other characteristic trees, which give so much 
 beauty to the tropical forests, are endogenous ; the action 
 of them from the root is along the centre ; they grow only 
 at the top of the stem, without putting out lateral buds 
 or branches ; and the species which branch, by occasionally 
 doubling their terminal buds, are exceedingly few in 
 proportion to the whole. 
 
 When we consider perennial plants in respect of their 
 leaves, as being evergreen, or being deciduous, we have 
 another peculiarity of adaptation to Spring action. There 
 is, no doubt, a good deal dependant on the general tempera- 
 ture of the place, and the alternation of its seasons. A 
 tropical tree requires protection from heat, but never from 
 cold, in its native locality ; and the leaves of such trees are 
 always covered with a firm and close epidermis, or outer 
 skin, which is a very bad conductor of heat. The upper 
 sides of the leaves are also, in general, very smooth, so that 
 they reflect off the heat ; and as the same sort of covering 
 is an equal protection against the entrance and the escape 
 of heat, a similar covering will enable a plant to stand the 
 cold. Hence we have many evergreens in the cold 
 latitudes, and in cold and elevated situations. These, 
 however, have their leaves differently formed from the 
 evergreens of warm latitudes, and much better suited for
 
 NUMBER OF SPECIES. 129 
 
 resisting cold than for resisting heat. The pines and other 
 cone-bearing trees belong to the cold climate evergreens, 
 and they differ, in many of their characters, from many of 
 the evergreens of warm countries. 
 
 When the number of species of plants is considered, it 
 will be perceived that it is scarcely possible to give any 
 general sketch of the distribution of individuals. The 
 flowering plants are reckoned at about 78,000, and the 
 cryptogamous at about 10,000 ; and this is a subject upon 
 which the estimate cannot be over the truth, and is very 
 likely under it. This makes in all, as known at the present 
 time, 88,000 species of plants. But every fresh research 
 is rewarded by the discovery of some new ones, and there 
 are vast tracts of country not yet explored ; so that it is 
 probably not overrating the total number to set them down 
 at 100,000. Ten pages of description for each plant would 
 certainly not be too much, in order to afford room for even 
 a very brief account of their characters, localities, habits, 
 adaptations, and uses ; and this would require the enor- 
 mous amount of 1,000,000 pages of print, or 2,000 volumes 
 of 500 pages each, which would be sufficient to stock a 
 large library, and more than any individual could profitably 
 read in the course of his life. 
 
 But numerous as these plants are, and long as the account 
 of them is, considered as species, the catalogue extends 
 prodigiously when we consider the vast number of some 
 of the species. Including every kind, some of which- are 
 absolutely innumerable, a million of each species is cer- 
 tainly much below the real number. If we were to suppose 
 the whole individuals, even at the under estimate that we 
 have taken, to be counted at one ach second, or sixty in 
 a minute, and that twelve hours a day, for 313 days every 
 year, were employed in the counting of them, the operation 
 would last between 70.000 and 80,000 years. This does 
 
 I
 
 130 KTTJMBER OF INDIVIDUALS. 
 
 not include any succession of races, but merely the indi- 
 vidual plants which we may suppose, without the least 
 exaggeration, but rather with the reverse, to be alive upon 
 the earth at any one instant of time. 
 
 To our comprehension this is altogether stupendous ; 
 but those matters which so much startle us are really as 
 nothing in the sight of Him who created all these wonders ; 
 and those simple laws which he has established for the 
 government of the vegetable kingdom are exercised with 
 the greatest perfection upon each individual of them at 
 every moment of time ; so that, as seasons change and 
 Spring comes round, there is not one of the mighty mul- 
 titude unprepared for its coming. It is impossible for 
 anyone to reflect upon such a subject as this, without 
 feeling that it is " the doing of the Lord, and wonderful in 
 our eyes." 
 
 In taking this simple view of the two extremes, and the 
 medium of climate to which we have before alluded, the 
 summary of the matter is, that lowly flowerless plants, 
 bents, and rushes, and evergreen cone-bearing trees, pre- 
 dominate in, the cold latitudes ; that palms and evergreen 
 branching trees, together with vigorous herbaceous plants, 
 aud many climbing ones remarkable for the beauty of their 
 flowers, predominate in tropical climates ; and that, in 
 temperate climates, the leading trees are deciduous, and 
 the grasses compose the greater part of the carpeting of the 
 ground. 
 
 To point out the adaptations to the different kinds of 
 soils and exposures in localities of the same geographical 
 climate, is a matter of detail, and would require many 
 words. We may mention, however, that here also, :is 
 in the case of different climates, two extremes, aud a 
 mean between them, may be made a sort of general 
 index, or skeleton, by the help of which anyone who
 
 ADAPTATION OP LOCALITIES. 131 
 
 chooses to go into the details may preserve them in 
 memory. 
 
 The two extremes with regard to locality, without 
 immediate reference to climate, are those of drought and 
 moisture ; and the average of these may be considered as 
 the mean. Some attention must be paid to the latitude, or 
 at all events to the temperature ; because the character of 
 the vegetation, whether the situation be dry, or moist, or 
 intermediate, depends a great deal upon this. If the place 
 is dry, and at the same time very hot, the surface vegeta- 
 tion consists chiefly of that class of plants which are called 
 Crassulaceae, from the thickness of their leaves. Our 
 common house-leek, which grows on house-tops, heaps of 
 stones, and other dry and warm places, is an example of 
 this. In tropical climates such plants are exceedingly 
 numerous ; many of them are singular in their forms, and 
 remarkable for the beauty of their flowers. The fruits are 
 also often pleasing to the taste ; and the juices admit of 
 being fermented into liquors, which the people of the hot 
 countries where they grow use as substitutes for those 
 liquors which we of temperate latitudes obtain from our 
 grain plants. Many of these plants, especially the family 
 known by the name of cacti, or Indian figs, have often very 
 little of the form of ordinary plants. They consist of 
 what might be regarded as merely thick lumps of vegetable 
 matter, covered with a very tough, and, generally, a shining 
 epidermis, and often beset with prickles, something like 
 those of our gooseberry bushes. The gooseberry, indeed, 
 resembles those curious plants in many of its botanical 
 characters. 
 
 It is, however, with the adaptation of those plants to 
 the action of Spring that we are more immediately con- 
 cerned. Now, their general nature is such, that no solar 
 action, even in the hottest places that are known, can 
 
 i 2
 
 132 DROUGHT AND MOISTURE. 
 
 evaporate the moisture which they contain, and shrivel them 
 up ; and the chief cause from which they are liable to 
 suffer is the stagnation of water about them. In conse- 
 quence of this means of self-preservation which they 
 possess, they are at all times ready for any action that may 
 promote their growth ; and thus they are finely adapted to 
 the dry hills, and margins of the deserts in tropical countries, 
 which are the native habitats of the far greater number of 
 them. Other plants, nearly resembling the lilies in 
 their general characters, are adapted to similar places. 
 Of these the aloes form well-known examples. They are 
 remarkable for their powerful endurance of heat, the vast 
 quantities of juice which they elaborate even in very dry 
 situations, and the splendour of their flowers, which, in 
 some species, rise to the height of twenty or even 
 thirty feet. 
 
 In the opposite extreme of situation the humid one 
 the characteristic plants have generally fleshy roots, which 
 run along in the mud, and are there preserved in nearly a 
 uniform condition all the year ; so that whenever the air 
 over the marsh or the pool in which they grow is favourable 
 for the production of the leaf, stem, or other part of the 
 plant which is to work in the air, the root of the plant is 
 always ready to obey. The intermediate grounds, which 
 have not the character of prevalent drought or prevalent 
 humidity, are not so susceptible of one general description, 
 because much depends on the shape of the surface and the 
 nature of the sub-soil. If the surface slopes, so as speedily 
 to throw off the rain which falls upon it, or, if the sub-soil 
 is porous, so as to drink it up, then the vegetation 
 approaches more to that of dry and warm places ; whereas 
 if the surface is flat, and the sub-soil such as to retain the 
 water, the vegetation approaches more to that of cold and 
 moist places. All these are, however, very much modified
 
 LICHEKS AND MOSSES. 133 
 
 by the general climate, and do not admit of anything but 
 particular description for individual places. 
 
 As the equator is left, and one approaches the pole, the 
 dry places begin to be more and more covered with those 
 lichens which form almost the only vegetation upon the 
 rocks of the polar mountains. The places which produce 
 these are not, however, so habitually dry as those which 
 produce the succulent plants in warm latitudes ; and thus, 
 though the characteristic plants of those upland places of 
 cold regions, which are dry during Summer, remain unin- 
 jured by the utmost severity of that season, the chief time 
 of their growth is during the autumnal rains ; so that, in 
 the case of many of them, the Autumn of general vege- 
 tation answers to Spring, and the Winter to Summer. 
 The plants of humid places fall off in like manner as we 
 approach the poles ; and as the plants of the dry places 
 terminate in lichens, so do those of humid ones terminate 
 in mosses. 
 
 As we approach the poles, however, the general principle 
 does not apply so well as it does in places near the equator. 
 The equatorial regions are far more under the influence of 
 the sun than regions near the poles ; and though drought 
 and moisture are the immediate causes of variations of 
 seasons there, they are both dependant upon the solar 
 action. But as the situations of places are more polar, the 
 mean influence of the sun always becomes less and less* 
 until we at last arrive at the extreme verge, where it is 
 incapable of exciting even the humblest vegetable into life. 
 "When we say that the action of the sun lessens on the 
 average, as we advance towards the pole, we do not mean 
 that the sun's action is lessened in itself, but merely that 
 the position of the earth's surface is less adapted to receive 
 it, by being turned away from it at an angle, whereas, the 
 equatorial surface is presented directly toward it. But the
 
 134 PBEPABATION FOB 8PBING. 
 
 lessening of the adaptation has exactly the same practical 
 effect as if the active cause were lessened ; for the same 
 reason that a man who possesses only a vessel holding a 
 quart, can fetch but a quart of water, whether he has to 
 catch that water drop by drop from the rock, or take it at 
 once from the current of a river. 
 
 The next point for our consideration is the preparing of 
 the vegetables, whether of different kinds in the same place, 
 or in different places, for the reviving action of the Spring. 
 A few particulars connected with this have been, in part at 
 least, already alluded to; and this will shorten what is 
 necessary to be said here ; but still a few general observations 
 may be useful to such readers as have not studied the 
 subject. 
 
 In speaking of the preparation of a plant for the action 
 of Spring, we have a preliminary question to settle, by 
 means of which we are enabled to limit the extent to which 
 it is necessary to examine the other, and more complex one. 
 Nature does nothing in vain ; and therefore no part of a 
 plant can be expected to be prepared for the Spring action, 
 unless it is to obey that action ; that is, to act itself in con- 
 sequence of the influence of the Spring upon it. Thus our 
 inquiry must first be directed to the parts of plants which 
 are brought into action by the influence of Spring, whatever 
 the character of that Spring may be. 
 
 In considering this inquiry, the seeds of plants may be 
 omitted ; for the Spring has no action upon seeds, unless 
 they are placed in situations favourable to their germination. 
 If they are so placed, seeds will germinate, whatever be the 
 season of the year ; and in a state of nature, and also in 
 cultivation, many seeds germinate in the Autumn ; and there 
 are some which germinate indiscriminately at any time of 
 the year ; nay, there are not a few which not only germinate, 
 but become plants, before they drop from their parent stems.
 
 SEEDS. 135 
 
 This is especially the case with the grasses, when exposed to 
 much humidity after the seeds have been matured. Some 
 of the mountain grasses* exhibit, after the first autumnal 
 rains, the curious spectacle of a light carpet of green, waving 
 and floating a little above the surface of the brown earth ; 
 and this consists of young plants which have been produced 
 from the seeds on the tops of those stalks, which are now 
 brown and withered. In cold situations, barley standing 
 in the ear is very liable to do the same ; and these are not 
 the only plants which have this peculiarity ; for there are 
 some bulbous plants which continue their fructification 
 onward to a bunch of little bulbs, enclosed in a membrane 
 at the top of what was a flowering stem. When all these 
 things are considered, and many others of a similar tendency 
 might be adduced, we cannot include the ripening of seeds 
 among the direct preparation of plants for the action of 
 Spring. They in fact serve a more general and a more im- 
 portant purpose than any which is served by the other parts 
 of plants, by treasuring up and preserving species amid the 
 ruin of the growing portion of the same, by distributing 
 them over places where they did not previously exist, and 
 by maintaining the permanent stability of the vegetable 
 world. 
 
 Leaving seeds out of the question, therefore, it remains 
 for us to consider, what parts of a plant which has stood 
 the Winter, act, and how they act when the influence of 
 the Spring operates upon them. In order to understand 
 this, we must revert to the modes of growth by which the 
 
 * Such as the Pea and Festuca Vitipara, common varieties of 
 lowland species, found on the mountains of the British Islands. 
 Some of the Arctic plants are viviparous, and some, such as the 
 " spider plant," a species of Saxifrage, produce little plants from the 
 ends of shoots. This last plant was common on the shores of the 
 Wellington Channel.
 
 136 ACTIVE PABTS OF PLANTS. 
 
 several great classes of plants are distinguished from each 
 other; because each of them, as it were, works with a 
 different part of its structure. It is also necessary to attend 
 to another distinction ; namely, where the permanent part 
 of the plant which has stood the Winter is situated ; because 
 in some plants it is in the earth, or close on its surface, in 
 the form of a root, or an underground stem of some des- 
 cription or other, upon which the stem which bore leaves in 
 the former season has died down, as well as that which 
 bore flowers and fruit. Again, it may exist partly in the 
 air as a stem may or may not have shaken off its leaves, 
 before the Spring exercises any influence upon it, according 
 as it is an evergreen or deciduous. 
 
 In attending to this part of the subject, the herbaceous 
 plants which we are in the habit of considering as flowerless, 
 may be left out ; as for instance, the common ferns, the 
 mosses, the lichens, and the fungi. The ferns, indeed, are 
 obedient to the Spring, and belong to the plants having 
 seasonal action with underground stems. The mushrooms, 
 too, are a curious sort of seasonal plants ; and those parts 
 of them which appear above the surface of the ground, are 
 really flowers ; but though a considerable degree of heat is 
 required for the maturing of many of them, they are to be 
 regarded as, upon the whole, Autumnal plants, rather than 
 Spring ones. The action of the early season upon them, too, 
 is so very little known, that it is not a subject for popular 
 discussion ; therefore we may leave them entirely out of the 
 question. 
 
 Our subject is thus reduced to the consideration of three 
 forms of growth ; the growth of arborescent flowerless 
 plants tree-ferns, for instance ; the growth of endogenous 
 flowering plants; and the growth of exogenous ones. Of 
 the first we need say little ; the palms are examples of the 
 second ; and any of our common forest or fruit trees are
 
 MODES OF GROWTH. 1J37 
 
 examples of the third. The tree-ferns, arid all arborescent 
 plants of the same division, grow at their upper extremities 
 only ; they grow round the inner surface of a sort of 
 cylindrical tube, which is sometimes, however, completely 
 filled with solid matter ; and when this has obtained all the 
 solidity that it can, it is understood, though not proved, 
 that the plant cannot grow to a greater height, or increase 
 any further in size, but that its decay begins at this stage of 
 its growth. One single seat of vegetable action rises in the 
 centre of a plant of this kind ; and in common language we 
 may call this a bud, though it is very unlike the buds 
 of our ordinary trees. This bud is the only part that 
 would require preparation for Spring action : and as the 
 plant is an evergreen, in the strictest sense of the word, 
 and never found native, except in tropical climates, it may 
 be said to be always prepared for action when the necessary 
 stimuli are applied to it. 
 
 The palm also rises by a single bud, but its growth is 
 from the central line, and not from the inner surface of a 
 cylinder ; and in it the fibres which have been formed suc- 
 cessively by the bud, and connect the young leaves with the 
 root of the trees, push the old ones outwards. This also 
 grows in tropical countries ; and like the former, it is ready 
 to act whenever it is properly stimulated. What we have 
 chiefly to consider, therefore, as requiring preparation for 
 the Spring, are the plants of temperate countries, having 
 considerable differences of seasons such as the British 
 islands ; and we shall be enabled to get at least a glance of 
 the preparation, by attending to the ease of any common 
 tree. 
 
 Even in this we need pay little attention to the roots ; for 
 the seasonal action of these, as occasioned by the Spring, is 
 probably secondary, and derived from the action of the 
 part above ground. Besides, in many situations, the roots
 
 138 SPBINO ACTION OF AN 
 
 of trees begin to act almost immediately when the fruit is 
 ripened and the leaves shed, and long before there are any 
 signs of action in the upper parts. 
 
 The acting parts of such a tree are the roots, the inner 
 surface of the bark, and the external surface of the wood, 
 where those are applied to each other, and the buds, on what- 
 ever part of the tree the last may happen to be situated. 
 "When the influence of Spring brings the tree into action, it 
 is highly probable that the buds stimulate all the rest; 
 although in a lofty tree, the buds on the lower branches 
 generally begin to act sooner than those on the upper 
 ones. 
 
 Before one can fully understand the importance of the 
 preparation which is made for this action of trees, it is 
 necessary to understand something of the action itself, and 
 of the parts formed by this action, exclusive of those that 
 are immediately connected with the operations of flowering 
 and ripening seeds. These last, no doubt, require prepara- 
 tion for the action of Spring, as well as the others ; and if 
 this preparation is not made, Spring and Summer will be 
 without blossoms, and Autumn without fruit. If an un- 
 favourable Autumn renders this preparation imperfect, the 
 action of Spring will be imperfect, however favourable 
 that season may be in itself; and thus, in this, as in all 
 other cases, there is an experience of the past, which if we 
 rightly attend to it, so far guides us as to the future. But 
 to advert briefly to the formation of the tree, in itself as an 
 individual, and without any reference to the flowering and 
 fruiting, the object of which is the multiplication of the 
 species : 
 
 The portion of the tree which we call wood, consists of 
 two distinct kinds of parts, though in most cases these are 
 intimately blended with each other. The one part is formed 
 of what is called cellular tissue or cellular substance, con-
 
 EXOGENOUS TREE. 139 
 
 sisting, in the young state of the wood, of little cells or 
 vessels, containing substances more or less fluid, with open 
 spaces between them, which are in general filled with air, not 
 apparently by any peculiar working of the tree, but merely 
 by the power which the atmosphere has of insinuating 
 itself into every open place, however small. These open- 
 ings containing air are sometimes called cells ; and they 
 and also the other cells, every species of which contains 
 substances peculiar to the plant, very greatly in size, not 
 only in different species of trees, but in the same tree 
 under different states of growth, and at different ages of the 
 part of it in which they are situated. If the tree is of a 
 very fast-growing kind, or if it is so situated as to grow 
 faster than trees of its own kind do upon an average, the 
 cells and also the air openings are of larger size than they 
 are under the opposite circumstances. 
 
 This is a point of some importance, both practically, and 
 as throwing light upon the mode of growth in trees. 
 "Wood which grows fast, is, with very few exceptions, more 
 soft and tender and less durable than that which grows 
 more slowly. The reason is evident: there are larger 
 openings in it at the time of its growth ; and though 
 the sides of those openings may be afterwards squeezed 
 together, they never adhere so firmly as to become solid. 
 On the other hand, slow growth may be carried to excess ; 
 for if the growth is very much stunted, the longitudinal 
 fibres which unite the wood lengthwise, are constrained 
 and not properly formed ; and thus, however hard and solid 
 the wood may be, it is liable to snap across. 
 
 In this there is some instruction to the growers of trees : 
 it being their business to find out the proper medium of 
 growth between too much rapidity and too much tardiness, 
 so as to make the tendency to split lengthwise, and that to 
 break crosswise, each as small as possible. Something
 
 140 QUALITIES OF TiMBEB. 
 
 depends, however, upon the purpose for which the wood is 
 required ; because there are some purposes where toughness 
 in resisting cross fracture is the essential property ; and it 
 will in general be found that timber which has this property 
 in a high degree, is generally more easily split lengthwise 
 than that which is not. Eapid growth of itself always tends 
 to increase this toughness in wood, though when growth is 
 carried to excess, in temperate or cold climates', the growth 
 of one year is not completely matured before Spring re- 
 turns, and calls forth the growth of another. Thus, a 
 preparation of the wood is required, as well as of the 
 parts more immediately exposed to the air, in order 
 that the tree may be in a fit condition for enjoying the 
 benefits of the Spring. 
 
 There are some trees in which the annual growth of wood 
 can hardly be too great ; and among the common forest 
 trees of this country, the ash may be cited as an example. 
 On examining the cross section (or cut of the wood of such 
 trees) it will however be found that there is in them a 
 peculiar arrangement of parts : one portion of each year's 
 growth consists of longitudinal fibres very closely packed 
 together, and the other of a loose texture of cells and tubes. 
 The more vigorously that such trees grow, the greater is 
 the proportion of those compact longitudinal fibres, and 
 consequently the wood is the tougher. It does not appear 
 that trees of this habit require the same ripening in the 
 year's wood, as those in which the whole production of the 
 year is more uniform throughout its whole extent. Such 
 trees have accordingly none of what is called sap-wood ; or 
 at all events the wood of the year, when perfected, differs 
 less from the wood of former years, than is the case where 
 the whole is of uniform structure. Young plants of trees 
 of this description are also much tougher than those of the 
 opposite one.
 
 WOOD OF TREES. 
 
 141 
 
 This naturally leads us to the consideration of the second 
 kind of structure in the wood of trees, and in part explains 
 to us the mode of its formation. It would be foreign to 
 our purpose to discriminate the different kinds of longitu- 
 dinal fibres and vessels which occur in the substance of the 
 same plant or of different plants ; and so we may give them 
 the general name of longitudinal fibres. These are the 
 wood of a tree properly so called, and they are also the 
 strong or supporting parts of the stems of herbaceous 
 plants. Uo part of a tree which contains longitudinal 
 fibres is so easily cut across as it is split lengthwise ; and 
 when wood is difficult to split, that arises more from the 
 longitudinal fibres being interlaced with each other, like a 
 sort of net- work, than from the cellular tissue, the direction 
 of which is across the substance of the tree. 
 
 In most trees, which have 
 stood several years, and ob- 
 tained some size in wood, the 
 cellular matter is compressed 
 into thin plates, thinner and 
 more conspicuous in propor- 
 tion as the longitudinal fibres 
 n ; 'e more firm and vigorous. 
 When the wood of many 
 kinds of trees is cut across, 
 those portions of cellular 
 substance may be observed 
 
 proceeding from the centre or pith of the tree, toward the 
 external part of the wood, something in the same manner 
 as the spokes of a carriage-wheel proceed from the nave 
 towards the ring. These are very conspicuous in oak and 
 in beech ; and in the former, workmen, in cleaving or 
 sawing the tree, often avail themselves of them, so as to 
 procure a finely-mottled colour in the wood. This is 
 
 SKCTIOX Ol'
 
 142 STRUCTURE OF WOOD. 
 
 obtained by dividing the tree in a straight line from the 
 outside to the centre, because then the portions of cellular 
 matter appear as spots of smoother and closer surface than 
 the fibrous portions with which they are intermixed. 
 
 Those cellular portions of the wood of a tree are some- 
 times called meduDary rays, the old notion being that the 
 pith, or soft cellular substance in the centre of the tree, 
 performed the same function in its economy that the spinal 
 elongation of the brain (medulla spinalis} performs in the 
 animal economy. This, however, is a mistake ; for it does 
 not appear that, after any portion of the wood of a tree has 
 ceased to be sap-wood, there is any action whatever in the 
 pith, in the consolidated wood, or in those portions of the 
 cellular substance which are compressed between the 
 longitudinal fibres of the latter. On the other hand, 
 whenever those internal parts of the tree have arrived 
 at their full maturity, they act no more ; but in time decay, 
 unless they are embalmed in turpentine, or some other 
 preserving substance, as is the case with the central parts 
 of a pine. 
 
 This cellular portion of the tree does however continue 
 to extend or grow, at its outward extremity, toward the 
 surface of the wood, at the same time that it ceases to act, 
 and so becomes, in effect, a dead substance towards the 
 centre. There is something by no means uninstructive in 
 this ; and that is, the close resemblance which there is 
 between the economy of this cellular part of a tree, whose 
 structure, taken in the longitudinal direction, is fibrous or 
 vascular, and many of those plants which are cellular in 
 their entire structure. Of the latter description of plants, 
 the lichens on a rock, or the mosses on a bog, continue 
 growing at the one extremity, and dying off at the other ; 
 so that in time the lichen produces upon the rock a sort of 
 t-oil adapted to another and more valuable kind of vege-
 
 LICHENS AND MOSSES. 143 
 
 tation. It is the same with the moss. Begun in stagnant 
 water, it grows at top, and deposits its peat earth at 
 bottom, until it raises the place to such a height, as that 
 a different kind of vegetation will grow upon it. Heath, 
 for instance, and the various heath berries, in places which 
 are cold and elevated ; and kindly grass, in such as are 
 warm and sheltered. Of the latter there are many 
 instances in the southern counties of England ; where 
 cattle may be observed grazing one part of a bottom as 
 a fine green meadow, and the people cutting turf for fuel in 
 another part of the same. 
 
 This coincidence between the cellular parts of the one 
 grand division of plants, and the cellular structure of 
 another division, is not only a very striking proof of the 
 unity of creation, and the oneness of the creative act, but 
 is a great encouragement to us in studying the works of 
 nature, so as to infer with certainty from their structure 
 what their economy must be. And the more minutely 
 and carefully we conduct our observations, the more do we 
 find that this is the case ; so that it is impossible for us to 
 acquire the knowledge of any one thing rightly, without 
 thereby getting possession of the means of acquiring the 
 knowledge of many other things. But to revert to 
 the tree. 
 
 The cellular part appears to be the first or rudimental 
 one in every plant, whatever is to be its future character ; 
 and it exists in the seed, without any direct action of 
 those external agents, which call forth the tree itself, in 
 the spring of successive seasons. It is common to all parts 
 of the tree, and appears to have a power of growth at its 
 external extremity, as long as the tree continues to live, 
 even though the pith and great part of the internal wood 
 are gone, so that the tree contains a hollow cavity many 
 feet in diameter. The vital part of it seems to lie between
 
 144 ACTION OF BOOTS. 
 
 the last formed layer of wood, and the last formed layer 
 of bark ; but it extends more or less into the substance 
 of both, according to the species of the tree. The bark, 
 indeed, in most trees, consists chiefly of this kind of 
 substance. 
 
 It is very different with the vascular or fibrous parts. 
 These never make their appearance until buds and leaves 
 appear, or something which can perform nearly the same 
 office as these. It is therefore reasonable to conclude, that 
 every new bud which is formed upon any twig, branch, or 
 other part of a tree, sends down its complement of fibres 
 to the stem, if it is strong enough to fully obey the action 
 of the Spring. The different modes of growth in trees, and 
 also in the stems of herbaceous plants, to which we have 
 alluded, depend not so much upon any different mode of 
 action in the bud, as upon the way in which it sends down 
 those fibres. 
 
 We must here, however, be on our guard against falling 
 into mistakes. The fibres of the bud are not first perfected 
 at the bud, and then sent down by elongation of a com- 
 pletely-formed member, as a root grows downward in the 
 earth, or a stem upward in the air. The action of the root 
 is essential to the perfect action of the bud ; for though a 
 lopped branch will bud, and so will a cutting of many kinds 
 of trees, no good is ever done until roots are formed. We 
 must, therefore, consider the first action of the bud merely 
 as action that is, as a power of exciting, which the influ- 
 ence of the sun communicates to it ; and that tins is sent 
 all the way down to the root of the tree, not only before 
 the new fibres which connect the bud with the root are 
 actually formed, but before the matter out of which they 
 are to be formed can be rightly prepared. 
 
 The action of the root appears to be chiefly upon the 
 cellular substance ; and the putting forth of the rootlets,
 
 FOEMATION OF BUDS. 145 
 
 which are the working parts, before the buds begin to act, 
 shows that that part of the plant which is protected by the 
 earth from the severity of the "Winter action, is enabled to 
 prepare for the Spring. 
 
 Water, and, probably, carbonic acid which, being 
 heavier than air, runs into and occupies every crevice of the 
 earth just as water does, and can also mingle pretty largely 
 with water appear to be the chief substances taken up by 
 the roots of plants. We may expect that water should 
 stimulate the cellular tissue of a tree, because it is the chief 
 stimulant of cellular plants ; but how the stimulating is 
 brought about is one of those subjects which are beyond 
 our knowledge. It is done, however; and this may be 
 regarded as one of the actions of the plant, the prepara- 
 tion for which is, the compression of the wood and bark of 
 the former year against each other, and the preservation of 
 the vital power of both by this compression. 
 
 The other power of action in the plant, and the one which 
 more immediately obeys the influence of the Spring, is that 
 which slumbers in the bud during the Winter, and does not 
 begin to exert itself i~ntil the Spring is more or less 
 advanced, according to the nature and habits of the tree. 
 The parts which this action of the bud have to evolve, are 
 more numerous, and, we may also say, more important, 
 than those elaborated by the root ; and therefore the chief 
 preparation of the plant for the Spring is directed to the 
 bud, and those parts which the bud is more immediately to 
 influence. 
 
 The bud is accordingly always formed, and not only 
 formed, but brought to a considerable state of forwardness, 
 in the Autumn of the preceding year. Its auvm; v is in 
 proportion to the general size of the plant, or rather of the 
 shoot, at the extremity of which it is formed ; and also in 
 proportion to the rapidity with which it is to be developed
 
 146 ACTION OF BfDS. 
 
 in the Spring. The latter circumstance must necessarily 
 depend in part upon the kind of tree, and also upon the 
 nature of the climate the early tree, and the tree of cold 
 latitudes, requiring the hest prepared bud ; because to them 
 the action of the Spring is of shortest duration. 
 
 Upon actually examining the buds of trees of different 
 sorts, and also in different climates, we find the principle 
 here so completely borne out by the fact, as not to leave 
 the slightest question as to the truth of it. In tropical 
 countries, where there is continual growth if a supply of 
 moisture is afforded, there may be said to be no seasonal 
 bud, the purpose of which can be the production of a twig ; 
 and which rests mantled up in its Jtybernaculum, or "Winter 
 clothing, between the time of its formation in the Autumn, 
 and its development in the Spring. The extremities of the 
 twigs of branching trees there very much resemble the tree- 
 ferns and the palms, by at all times standing prepared for 
 that action of the sun which is upon them all the year 
 round, whenever it shall be accompanied by the necessary 
 supply of humidity, either sent up from the roots, or 
 absorbed by the leaves. In order that thpse tropical trees 
 may be prepared for free vapour in the atmosphere, as well 
 as for rain upon the ground, almost the whole of them are 
 evergreens, wearing their leaves continually upon them ; so 
 that no part of that bounty of heaven, which created the 
 living tribes, and which causes them to grow and beautify 
 the earth, and be the food and the habitation of so many of 
 the earth's inhabitants, might be bestowed in vain. 
 
 We have a slight approximation to this in those of our 
 evergreens which are natives of low and warm situations ; 
 such as the holly and the common laurel. In these, how- 
 ever, as in all the native trees of temperate climates, there 
 is only one season of growth, one vegetable Spring ; and 
 therefore such trees do not stand prepared for action at
 
 EVEBGREEN8. 147 
 
 every season, like the evergreens of tropical countries, 
 though they are always ready for the formation of the shoot 
 of the year, earlier or later, according to the character of 
 the particular year. These trees do form buds ; hut the 
 buds which they form are not nearly so much developed as 
 the buds of those trees which shed their leaves in the 
 Autumn ; and this appears to be the chief reason why they 
 retain the old leaves, not only during the Winter, but 
 during the Spring, and often till the Summer is some time 
 advanced. It does not appear that any tree can mature its 
 buds when the leaves are stripped from it, unless such trees 
 as are capable of being propagated by cuttings ; and then 
 the cutting must generally be only a short piece of compa- 
 ratively young wood. 
 
 The trees of which we have been speaking, though they 
 are evergreen, yet shed their leaves every year, as well as 
 those which are the latest to obey the Spring, and the first 
 to yield to the Autumn. They may be said to wear their 
 leaves during the whole twelve months, and a little more, 
 though they put them forth at nearly the same season. It 
 should seem, that the comparatively feeble obedience which 
 the firm leaves of the evergreen yield to the early Spring, 
 bears no inconsiderable resemblance to the diminishing 
 action of the fading leaf during the Autumn. Both are 
 sufficient to bring forward the bud to such a stage as that 
 it can be directly acted upon ; but the greater sensibility 
 of the young leaves is required for the elaboration of the 
 shoot. The perfect formation and ripening of the longi- 
 tudinal woody fibres which connect the young shoot upon 
 which the leaves are formed with the root of the tree, 
 appears to be the signal that these are no longer wanted. 
 They then peel off, are cast upon the ground, and, mingling 
 with other matters, contribute to the quantity and fertility 
 of the soil. The process by which this is done is somewhat 
 
 K2
 
 148 LEAYES. 
 
 of a mystery. While the leaf adheres firmly, and performs 
 its functions, there is a connexion between it and the twig, 
 which extends along the branch, the stem, and the root ; 
 but when the leaf is no longer necessary, its longitudinal 
 connexion is cut off, not by fibrous, but by cellular or 
 membranous matter ; and that portion of the wood to which 
 the leaf ministered, ceases to increase in growth ; and 
 though it continues to bear some part in the action of the 
 tree for one season in all, and for several seasons in some, 
 the moment that it sheds its leaves in a healthy way, it may 
 be said to be little else afterwards than an auxiliary to the 
 more energetic parts of the tree, and on its progress to that 
 gradual suspension of all active or passive use, which is to 
 terminate in its final death and decomposition. 
 
 The last act of growth in any one season is the prepara- 
 tion of the bud for the succeeding one, as if, when the 
 geuial influence of one year can do no more for or of itself, 
 it should devote its last fading energies to the making of 
 provision for the next. This beautiful mode of action may 
 be traced a good deal further in the economy of vegetables. 
 For, just as when the plant can do no more to the increase 
 of its own growth for the year, it prepares for another year ; 
 even so, when the plant, or any part of the plant, can do 
 no more for the increase of its own volume, it turns the 
 rest of its energy to the formation of a flower-bud, or 
 whatever else may be the form assumed for the continuation 
 of the race. This is not confined to plants which live for 
 several years, but is just as conspicuous in annual ones. As 
 long as the supply of stimulus to a plant consists of that 
 proportion of heat and moisture which is most favourable 
 to its own individual increase in bulk, it shows no tendency 
 to produce flowers. But whenever this proportion is 
 departed from and the departure generally consists in a 
 lessening of the moisture in proportion to the heat -the
 
 FLOWERING. 149 
 
 plant immediately prepares for flowering. In annual plants, 
 or those which are grown from the seed every year, there is 
 no particular preparation for the Spring in respect of flow- 
 ering ; for, as we have already said, the maturing of the 
 seed is not necessarily a preparation for the action of Spring, 
 as some seeds germinate before they fall from the parent 
 plant, some immediately after, and some, even under the 
 most favourable circumstances, not until a considerable 
 time has elapsed. The bud, therefore, must be looked 
 upon as that part of the tree which is prepared before the 
 Winter to meet the action of the Spring, in order to pro- 
 duce flowers and seeds. In this respect there are very great 
 differences, depending chiefly upon the time of the year at 
 which the flowers make their appearance. Some plants put 
 forth their flowers before any leaves appear, some along 
 with the leaves, and some not till new twigs have been 
 produced from the leaf-buds of the Spring. There is no 
 doubt that in all of these cases preparation is made for the 
 flower and the seed of the season, as well as for the leaves 
 and the shoot. But people generally can notice only such 
 cases as are open to their observation, without any nice 
 operations in dissecting ; and as these do not differ in kind 
 from the others, they answer well enough as illustrative of 
 the whole. A common apple-tree may be taken as a familiar 
 example, because its flower-buds are very conspicuous, and 
 easily distinguished from such as are to produce shoots 
 only. Those buds are of larger size, and apparently wrapt 
 up with greater care in their hybernating scales than the 
 buds which are to produce no fruit. They are often on the ' 
 ends of the longest twigs, and in the apple always at the 
 end of some twig of* other ; but whenever they appear, we 
 may rest assured that that particular part of the tree will 
 never increase a hair-breadth as wood. There may be a 
 common bud ever so near it, from which a shoot may spring
 
 150 FLOWER-BTJDS. 
 
 and grow to any length during the year ; but the moment 
 that a fruit-bud appears, the parts immediately concerned 
 in the production of that bud never do any more in the 
 producing of wood. 
 
 This is a much more general truth than one would be led 
 at first to suppose. There are instances of fruit-trees in 
 this country which have certainly yielded fruit regularly 
 for centuries ; and it is said that there are vines in Italy 
 still yielding grapes, which were planted more than 2,000 
 years ago ; and it would at first seem strange to consider 
 those aged apple-trees, and still more aged vines, in the 
 light of annuals, or as belonging to exactly the same class 
 with the fleeting plants, which perish entirely as soon as 
 they have matured their seeds for a single season. But still, 
 in as far as flowering and bearing fruit are concerned, the 
 plants have precisely the same duration ; and that portion 
 of the most long-lived fruit-tree which has once brought 
 fruit to maturity, never again produces fruit, any more 
 than it produces leaves or wood. "What becomes of it is 
 another question, and one for the solution of which we are 
 altogether incompetent. For aught we know it may be 
 absorbed, and no longer exist in the tree as a distinct part ; 
 and this is the probable result, inasmuch as it seems to 
 be a general law in trees (for no tree is an annual in its 
 whole structure) that any portion which goes to the per- 
 manent wood of the tree, must perform its last operation 
 in forming a bud which shall again produce wood, and not 
 fruit. 
 
 These two may be distinct, as they are in the apple, and 
 in all other species which produce their fruit immediately 
 upon the shoot of the former year, without any intervening 
 wood of the same year's growth with the friiit. The two 
 may also be combined in the same bud, as we find in the 
 vine and in all other trees in which the fruit is produced
 
 FLOWEBIXG. 151 
 
 upon the shoot of the year. They may be even farther 
 separated, as they are in the case of those species which 
 produce their flowers and fruit upon wood more than one 
 year old. In whatever manner they occur, however, we 
 are to consider them as distinct ; and whether there is a 
 more permanent part along with the flowering and seeding 
 part or not, this part belongs to the season only. There- 
 fore, a due preparation in the Autumn is fully more 
 css.-ntial to the production of flowers and fruit, than to 
 that of the merely vegetable growth which increases the 
 size of the individual plant. Those tropical trees which 
 have several crops upon them at the same time, and also 
 the common juniper, and many other cone-bearing trees, 
 which take at least two years to bring their fruit to full 
 maturity, form no exceptions to this. Every return of the 
 Spring whether that Spring come only once in the year, 
 as it does in cold and temperate countries, or twice, or 
 ofteiier, as it does in some tropical ones always brings 
 more or less of a tendency to flowering along with it. The 
 development of this tendency no doubt depends, in part, 
 upon the preparation of the tree, and in part also upon the 
 sute of the weather during which the growth takes place. 
 ie species of fruit-trees with us produce what is called 
 a midsummer shoot : and though in the greater part of 
 them this shoot is usually a mere production of young 
 wood and leaves, yet there are instances of peculiarly dry 
 seasons in which flowers appear with this midsummer shoot, 
 not upon it, though fruit is rarely ripened. The tig is more 
 prone to this double-flowering than most other trees ; and 
 when it is so situated as to flower early in the Spring, the 
 second flowering is generally preferred to the first for 
 ripening. The fig is, however, very peculiar ; for it* flowers 
 do not appear externally, like those of most other iruits, 
 but are formed in the interior of that part which afterwards
 
 152 PBEPABATIOST FOE SPBING ACTION. 
 
 becomes the pulp or fleshy portion of the fruit, and 
 encloses the seeds. 
 
 What have been now stated, are a few examples of the 
 preparation of the vegetable tribes for the action of the 
 Spring, with the mode in which that preparation is brought 
 about, and the purpose which it is intended to serve. 
 More space has been devoted to them than could have 
 been wished ; and yet we fear that what has been said is 
 too sketchy and imperfect for being properly intelligible 
 to ordinary readers, at the same time that it is but little 
 adapted for those who are conversant with the subject. 
 The preparation of the vegetable tribes for the action of 
 the Spring is, however, so beautiful a part of the economy 
 of nature, and calculated to throw so much light upon the 
 splendour, yet simplicity, of those laws by which God 
 governs the material creation, that it is altogether impos- 
 sible to touch on the subject of the Spring without 
 adverting to it to some extent or other. It may be possible, 
 too, that the few hints we have thrown out may induce 
 some, who have hitherto remained ignorant of the subject, 
 to turn their attention towards it ; and we can confidently 
 assure all such, that so far from finding it labour in vain, 
 it will prove to them one of the most delightfully instruc- 
 tive subjects in the whole of the wide and wonderful field 
 of nature. It has the advantage, too, of being a subject 
 upon which the way is not only open, but inviting, to all 
 who have the will. In its subject, it is the knowledge of 
 growth ; and those who attend to it ever so little, if they 
 attend to it with willing minds, will not fail to find that 
 it is growing knowledge ; and that every step taken in it 
 affords the means of taking two additional steps of the same 
 length. 
 
 We have said little or nothing about those herbaceous 
 plants, of which the stems and leaves die down for the
 
 HERBACEOUS PLANTS. 153 
 
 season, either before they have perfected fruit, or after that 
 fruit has been perfected. These are different in their 
 habits from perennial trees, which stand up in the air, and 
 abide the seasons as they come, and some of them differ 
 considerably from others ; but still they follow the same 
 general law. In many of these, there is a particular situ- 
 ation in that part of the plant which does not die down 
 previous to the Winter, which determines the general 
 nature of the part upon which matter is prepared for the 
 action of the Spring in the year following. This peculiar 
 portion of the plant may be said to be situated in such a 
 manner as that all above it is upward stem, and all below 
 it downward root ; it is called the collet, the coronal plate, 
 or simply the crown of the root ; and it is in it that the 
 vegetable life of the plant remains to be stimulated by the 
 Spring. All that is above this plate is to be considered as 
 stem or leaves of some form or other ; and all that is below 
 it is to be considered as roots. Of the stem accumulating 
 in one season a store to be ready for the action of the 
 ensuing Spring, we have examples in the common onion, 
 and all those roots (as we improperly call them) which are 
 denominated bulbous. The collet is on the bottom of them, 
 nothing is produced below but fibrous roots, proper for the 
 economy of the plant when it is in an active state ; and all 
 the leaves and flowering stems are produced on the opposite 
 or upper side of this plate. 
 
 In the turnip and the carrot again we have examples of 
 this store of provision for the action of the Spring being 
 collected in the root itself, for the collet is on the upper 
 part of these ; and if this collet is removed, or injured by 
 frost, the remainder of the root does not obey the influence 
 of the Spring, but rots like a piece of dead matter. Our 
 cultivated turnips and carrots are to be regarded as forced 
 roots, especially the former ; for, in a state of nature,
 
 154 HEBBACEOUS BOOTS. 
 
 turnips are strictly annual, growing from the seed in the 
 Spring ; putting up their flower stems, flowering, ripening, 
 and shedding their seeds the same year. There are, 
 however, many of the most troublesome weeds which infest 
 our fields and pastures, and render our way-sides unsightly, 
 which do put up leaves the one year, and die down to a 
 fleshy root in the Autumn ; and this root contains a store 
 of matter prepared for obeying the ensuing Spring, and 
 flowering and ripening seeds during the Summer. Thistles 
 and rag-weed are examples of this ; and their roots generally 
 have the collet so deep in the ground, that they are not 
 injured by the frosts of our severest Winters. The best 
 way of clearing a field of them is to cut them down just 
 when they are coming into flower ; because then the roots 
 are so much exhausted, that there is no chance of their 
 sending up a fresh stem from any part of the collet, so as 
 to produce seeds, and thus the roots perish, and the race of 
 the plants perishes along with them. The seeds of such 
 plants are exceedingly abundant, and they have numerous 
 little fibres which act as wings, so that the wind carries 
 them everywhere ; and if they are allowed to cover a piece 
 of waste ground on the margin of corn-fields, they regularly 
 invade those fields every year, and sometimes in such 
 numbers as to choke all more useful vegetation. The 
 injury produced by them in Britain, even in those places 
 where they are most abundant, and where cultivation is 
 carried on in the most slovenly manner, are nothing, 
 however, to what they occasion in some other parts of the 
 world. That part of Upper Canada which lies immediately 
 to the northward of Lake Ontario, and which is naturally 
 amongst the richest soil in the whole province, and the best 
 situated for getting the produce to market, has been not 
 merely invaded, but absolutely conquered by the Canadian 
 thistle, so that large portions of ground, which once yielded
 
 THE POTATO THE DAHLIA. 155 
 
 an abundant return to the farmer, are now abandoned to 
 the dominion of this most formidable weed. At one time 
 the thinner soils of the province of Moray, in Scotland, 
 suffered an almost equally destructive invasion from the 
 common yellow field marigold, which was supposed to have 
 been introduced by the Danes, in revenge for their inability 
 to conquer the people ; but it does not appear that there 
 is much truth in this supposition. 
 
 Another mode in which plants prepare for the Spring is 
 by tubers, such as those of the common potato. It is not 
 very easy to know which of the ordinary parts of a plant 
 this same tuber should be referred to. It is not a root ; 
 for roots which last the Winter have always the power of 
 putting out rootlets from some part of their own substance, 
 which take up substances from the soil, to assist in the 
 Spring action of the plant. This is never done by the 
 tuber of the potato. It shoots from the eye, much in the 
 same manner that a plant shoots from a seed ; and there is 
 really no root, until that root is elaborated by the new 
 plant itself. The tuber of the potato is therefore a kind 
 of stem, though an under-ground one ; and cultivators are 
 aware, that by judiciously earthing up a potato plant from 
 time to time, the lateral branches which, if left in the air. 
 would have produced leaves, flowers, and fruit only, can be 
 made to produce tubers. The dahlia is a little different in 
 its economy ; and there are crowns upon dahlia roots, from 
 which only new plants can be made to spring. Those 
 crowns are also at the end of the tuber nearest to the 
 stem producing it, whereas the eyes in a potato are most 
 abundant at the opposite end. But still the dahlia makes 
 a much nearer approach to a true tuber than it does to the 
 bulbous roots. The bulbous root is a store of provision 
 only for the second year's growth of the individual plant 
 which produced it ; and the stem which the action of the
 
 156 TUBERS. 
 
 Spring sends up, comes from the very same bud as the 
 above-ground vegetation of the preceding year. Such a 
 root never multiplies itself, or in any way originates a new 
 plant. But the dahlia, and all that class, produce new 
 tubers in abundance. Their crowns are no doubt connected 
 with the crown of the tuber by which they are produced, 
 otherwise they are abortive, and will not grow ; but still 
 there is a multiplication of them, and not only the new 
 tubers, but the shoots which spring from them, become 
 perfect plants. It is the same with bulbs which grow 
 above the collet. They have all a power of multiplication, 
 if placed under favourable circumstances ; and therefore 
 they are all to be considered as something more than 
 preparations of a single plant for the action of the Spring. 
 All plants having this habit are adapted to drought during 
 the time that their vegetable action is suspended; and 
 hence, in those climates where the Winter is cold and 
 moist, if they are not taken up and dried, they rot, or at 
 best are greatly deteriorated. If a potato were allowed 
 to be self-sown for a number of years, the tubers would 
 degenerate to those small, waxy, and tasteless ones, which 
 were first found in the American mountains ; and if the 
 dahlia were allowed to grow in the same manner, it would 
 soon degenerate into a single flower, of diminutive size, 
 and very little beauty. The tulip, the ranunculus, the 
 anemone, and a vast number of those bulbous and tuberous 
 plants, the flowers of which are so very ornamental, require 
 to be treated in the same manner. 
 
 All this shows that every species of accumulation of a 
 plant, whether above ground or below it, thaix can in any 
 way be considered as related to a stem, bears some analogy 
 to a bud ; while the true root, without the crown, which is 
 always a bud or an accumulation of buds, can do nothing 
 not so much as put out a single fibre. The accumulation
 
 TUBERS. 157 
 
 in the stem, whether situated above the earth or under it 
 is therefore an accumulation specially adapted to the action 
 of the sun and the air of the Spring ; whereas an accumu- 
 lation in a ,real root contributes more to that species of 
 action in the plant, which we have described as being 
 referrable to the root, and whose stimulus is water. These 
 last suffer in their powers of vegetation, if taken up and 
 dried, just as much as the others suffer by being left in the 
 cold and moist earth. 
 
 Those circumstances at once point out the situation for 
 which each kind is adapted. The tuber is adapted to dry 
 places, and so is the bulb standing above the collet ; whereas 
 the root which accumulates below the collet is more adapted 
 for cold and humid situations. 
 
 Herbaceous plants which die down in the stems every 
 year, but do not perish in the roots, always thus lay up a 
 sto^e for the ensuing Spring. If the air is to be parched 
 with drought, and the earth also dry, the store is deposited 
 in some kind of stem ; and the Spring action bears a con- 
 siderable analogy to the action of a bud ; whereas, if the 
 plant is to be soaked with water during the Winter, or 
 mantled up under the snow, the store is placed in a more 
 downward situation, so that it may be protected from that 
 cold which would not fail to destroy it during a long 
 protracted Winter. 
 
 Some plants have a curious power of accommodating 
 themselves in this respect ; for there are several of the 
 Brasses, natives of rather moist situations, which have 
 fibrous roots while they remain there, but if they are 
 transplanted to places which become seasonably dry, the 
 lower part of the stem swells out into a bulb before the 
 upper part withers. 
 
 These are a few, and but a few, of the adaptations and 
 preparings of the vegetable tribes for the Spring. We do
 
 158 
 
 GOODNESS OF GOD. 
 
 not expect that they will satisfy the 
 inquiring reader, neither do we wish it ; 
 for our object is to increase his appetite, 
 and tempt him out into the fields, that 
 he may of his own observation taste and 
 see how good Grod is, and how bounti- 
 fully he has provided for every creature 
 that he has made. 
 
 " Then spring the living herbs, profusely wild, 
 O'er all the deep-green earth, beyond the power 
 Of botanist to number up their tribes : 
 Whether he steals along the lonely dale, 
 In silent search ; or through the forest, rank 
 With what the dull incurious weeds account, 
 Bursts his blind way ; or climbs the mountain- 
 rock, 
 
 Fir'd by the nodding verdure of its brow. 
 With such a liberal hand has Nature flung 
 Their seeds abroad, blown them about in winds, 
 Innumerous mix'd them with the nursing mould, 
 The moistening current, and prolific rain."
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SPEIXG FLOWEBS. 
 
 SUMMER is the grand season of 
 nature's bloom, the period when 
 those chosen members of the vege- 
 table kingdom which require the 
 utmost ardour of the year to 
 stimulate them to the maximum of 
 their seasonal action, put on their 
 nuptial attire, and display, on 
 mountain, on field, and on fern, 
 many tints of colour, and give out 
 every degree of fragrance that can 
 be named or imagined. Our little 
 work on " Summer" will therefore 
 be the proper one in which to offer 
 a few remarks on the physiology of 
 flowering, with a view of pointing 
 out to common readers the agencies 
 and the means by which the wise 
 and bountiful Author and Governor 
 of nature has seen meet to bring 
 about this most lovely and most 
 important state of the vegetable 
 tribes. 
 
 5g 
 . Mr.
 
 160 THE NURSEBY. 
 
 Of the beauty we must say little ; it is seen and felt. 
 "When the infant is taken into the garden, gay with flowers 
 on stem and shrub, its little hands are eagerly " on the 
 stretch;" its eyes are widely opened, and sparkling with 
 delight ; its face is all radiant with smiles ; it " coos " and 
 murmurs a language in the ear of nature, which none but 
 nature can interpret ; every muscle of its frame quivers, 
 every articulation moves ; and it probably learns more, 
 acquires more of the knowledge and use of the members of 
 its own body the first and most valuable of all education 
 in one half hour among the flowers, than in a whole 
 month in the nursery. 
 
 The nursery ! Education is but too often spoiled there ; 
 and the body is enfeebled, much in the same manner as the 
 miud is subsequently narrowed, warped, and perverted, in 
 the schools. Among the wealthy, especially, the body is 
 often cruelly bereaved of its infant education, and this 
 because the fond but foolish parents " can afford to have 
 their children taken proper care of." The cares of vanity 
 are the curses of man: "Which of you, by taking care, 
 can add one cubit to his stature ? " But we may prevent 
 a cubit of the growth, or, which is worse, spoil the quality 
 and usefulness of what does grow. In every rich and 
 luxurious state of society, thousands are deprived of the 
 proper use of their bodies virtually maimed and crippled 
 by this ill-directed though well-meant care. If such can 
 continue to afford servants instead of hands, and carriages 
 instead of legs, they may linger out their helpless lives not 
 only without actual suffering, but in the enjoyment of all 
 that can be bought with money. Still, they are inferior 
 creatures ; for where is the price that can buy a manly 
 hand, a well-nerved arm, a fleet foot en the lea, or a frame 
 thewed, and sinewed, and tempered to all the winds of the 
 heaven, and all the toils of the earth ?
 
 MAX'S HERITAGE. 161 
 
 Yet these are the temporal heritage, specially provided 
 of God for every member of the human race, though the 
 possession is, as we have said, but too often barred by the 
 ill-informed, and therefore injurious, labour of endeavouring 
 to do by art that which can be done by nature only to 
 accomplish by the hands of hirelings from without, that 
 which can be done only by the living principle within. 
 Adult imbeciles may remain idle as to all ordinary labours, 
 if they can hire others to perform those labours for them ; 
 but the wealth of the world could not hire a set of servants 
 who should grow the bones and muscles of a child, and so 
 leave it perfectly free and at leisure to act the infant 
 gentleman or lady. Yet this is the result to which " the 
 nonsense of the rich man's nursery " constantly tends ; 
 and we know no better corrective of it than the flowers and 
 the freshness of nature, which will stimulate the little 
 creature to the use, and therefore to the growth and tone 
 of the working structures of its body, in spite of all the 
 efforts that art may make to the contrary. 
 
 The constitutional heritage which is thus injured by art, 
 and restored by nature, is the only one which is absolutely 
 secure from the contingencies of society. It is not 
 exempted from disease, for disease, like death, will happen 
 to all human beings ; and though both of course have 
 natural causes in every case, yet these causes are very 
 often equally inscrutable. But the well-developed and 
 properly-tempered human body may be said to be excepted 
 from the grief and suffering, the mental anguish of disease 1 . 
 The feeble in body are always ailing, very generally they 
 cannot tell what ails them ; and thus, what with being 
 sick of the disease, and sick of the doctor, they pass their 
 time in the most piteous misery. 
 
 But the frame which has been allowed to work, and 
 sinew, and season itself, dashes ah 1 the minor ails aside ; 
 
 L
 
 162 THE STBONG IN DEATH. 
 
 and if strong disease assails it, it stands up to the contest 
 like a giant. That contest is of course always severe, and 
 it is often fatal, even in the prime of life ; but it has none 
 of that mental anguish of the half-real, half-imaginary 
 diseases of the feeble, which is truly the heavy and afflictive 
 part of them. As, in the compound nature of man, the 
 body only can be diseased; so the properly-reared and 
 developed body always takes the burden of the disease 
 upon itself. If this burden is heavy, pressing down to the 
 gates of death, or nearly so, then the body severs the 
 mental connexion, and grapples alone with the grim king, 
 unconscious that anything is the matter; and there have 
 been many instances of such vigour in the final struggle, 
 as that a dozen men have been required to keep one strong 
 man on his death-bed. 
 
 To the sorrowing friends, when hope and stay, haply, 
 is thus stricken down in the prime and middle of its days 
 and, if we may use the expression, bearding death, in order 
 that it may maintain and protect them still this display is 
 no doubt painful in the extreme. But there is not the least 
 question that is a great blessing to the suiferer. Anguish 
 of which we are unconscious, whatever may be its external 
 display, is really no anguish at all; so that the actual 
 suffering of the strong man may be said to end the moment 
 that the band between bodily sensation and mental per- 
 ception is loosened. It does far more than this; for a 
 means of recovery is involved in it. Those who feel that 
 they are dying, always in part, and often in great part, die 
 of the feeling. From this, those who have consciousness 
 severed from sensation, are entirely exempted, and the 
 struggle with the disease, and even with death itself, should 
 that be the termination, is wholly physical. Consequently, 
 it is more completely under the command of physical 
 remedies, and, among the rest, the grand healing power of
 
 MEANS OF RECOVERY. 163 
 
 nature itself, than if it were mixed up with mental appre- 
 hensions and alarms. The blood courses like an impetuous 
 torrent, throbbing and thundering on the walls of its con- 
 taining vessels, and straining the capillaries, with vastly 
 increased force. If these shall give way in any part which 
 is not vital (and it is generally in a part not vital that they 
 do give way), then the excess of tide is poured in that 
 direction ; topical inflammation ensues, and the disease 
 lessens, an abscess forms the disease is subdued, and the 
 patient is speedily restored to health and strength. 
 
 These are distinctions of which any one who is ob- 
 servant, may see numerous instances ; and no one will 
 refuse to admit that they are distinctions of the utmost 
 importance, and that the securing of a healthy and vigorous 
 constitution is far more valuable, and therefore far more 
 worthy of attention, than the securing of any other earthly 
 possession. It is in the very earliest infancy, almost at the 
 very hour of birth, indeed, that this begins to be lost or 
 won ; and if the beginning is in the losing direction, change 
 to the winning one becomes more and more difficult every 
 hour. 
 
 Some may consider this a digression, and ask what it has 
 to do with " Spring flowers." We would answer such, by 
 asking them, are not infants " Spring flowers ? " the most 
 lovely, interesting, valuable, and worthy of skilful treat- 
 ment, that can possibly engage the attention of rational 
 beings ? Who can, who dares, answer that question in the 
 negative ? 
 
 All fruit is in the flower ; and it is the fear of injury to 
 the flower which gives most solicitude to the cultivator, 
 whether he cultivates the fields for corn, or the garden and 
 the orchard for fruit. It is true, that every part of a 
 plant has its natural enemies ; or rather there are some 
 other productions of nature set over it, in order to keep it 
 
 L 2
 
 164 THE FLOWEBS. 
 
 down to the place which it ought to hold in the duly- 
 balanced system of nature. We understand but little of 
 the balance of that system ; and therefore the plants which 
 we cultivate artificially are the most subject to these 
 attacks ; and they are always the more subject to them the 
 more artificial that our system of culture is, either as 
 regards the plants or the soil. 
 
 But the flowers, whose bloom the cultivator thus watches 
 with so much solicitude, are only for one year, or for part 
 of a year in very many instances. The blossoms of the 
 nursery are for a generation - the hope of threescore and 
 ten years to the healthy individual, and about the half of 
 that period for an age of the whole, in a healthy country 
 like Britain. Upon the cold principle of utilitarianism, 
 therefore that heart-sickening and hope-withering abo- 
 mination of modern times, which has crept in, since 
 cold-blooded selfishness pilfered the name and tried to 
 usurp the chair of philosophy ; upon the principle of this 
 detestable doctrine, which ranks human beings among 
 chattels, and, like " the mother of abominations upon the 
 earth," numbers " slaves, and souls of men," among the 
 articles of mere merchandise upon this, the most loath- 
 some, revolting, and demoralising doctrine, to which the 
 abused and insulted name of philosophy was ever degraded, 
 the blossom of the nursery is thirty-five times as valuable 
 on the average, and seventy times as valuable to the hope 
 of the individual, as the blossom of the field or the orchard : 
 and, if it is so, according to such a system, what must it 
 be, then, in the estimation of those who possess common 
 sense and human feeling, and are actuated by the spirit of 
 the gospel who feel, as well as firmly believe, that 
 " children are God's heritage ! " Let those who have then:, 
 and especially those who have had them, answer the 
 question.
 
 THE COTTAGE-CHILD. 165 
 
 By all means let us go to the fields, and see, and gather 
 the wild flowers, and try if we can find out their uses, in 
 nature and to man. But let us take the infants with us ; 
 for assuredly, in spite of all our wise looks and profound 
 researches, they will profit far more in the regions of wild 
 flowers than we. We get health ; and if we do not get 
 instruction and enjoyment, it is our own fault ; but they 
 get vigorous bodies, and learn how to use them. Walk 
 over the common ; if the flowers are few and simple, the 
 air is sweet ; and though the birds which are to sing and 
 summer in the thickets may not yet be come, the skylark is 
 over head, and your footing on the sod is cleanly and 
 elastic. At the farther end there is a little and very rude 
 cottage, though without any air of neglect and ruin ; and 
 hard by there is a woman, hanging out clothes on the furze 
 bushes ; they are few in number, and far from rich in 
 texture, but they are white as the driven snow. Near her 
 on the open sward, which is peculiarly close, smooth, and 
 green, there is a little flaxen-haired girl, wit a sky-coloured 
 eye and crimson cheeks, busily employed ill culling the 
 early daisies. On the sward there is a young baby, tossing 
 about his arms and legs with much delight, and actually 
 wantoning in the use of them in the free air, and under the 
 simple canopy of heaven. His dress is very humble, and 
 externally not over clean ; but look at his colour, and mark 
 what limbs he has got ! They are not swelled out, like 
 pillows, with cumbrous fat, soft to the touch, and hardly 
 able to move ; they are firm and knit ; and their action is 
 so vigorous, that if you were to take him by the foot and 
 try to hold it still, he would shake your arm to the 
 shoulder ; or if you were to give him a finger of each hand, 
 he could grasp them so firmly as that you could raise him 
 from the ground. All this arises from his food being 
 simply that which nature has provided, improved in quality
 
 166 SPEIKG FLOWEKS 
 
 by the mother's activity and exposure to the fresh air, and 
 from his being allowed to take his own exercise in every 
 limb and member of his body. At his age there can be no 
 mental training, and no perception of distinction of rank or 
 fashion in him ; and therefore, whether his future station is 
 to be that of ploughman or that of peer, he is at this moment 
 under better training than the son of any nobleman at the 
 same age. Now for the vegetable flowers of the seasonal 
 Spring. 
 
 Spring flowers depend on the character of the Spring 
 itself, and on the places where they are found. They thus 
 vary with latitude, climate, the general course of the 
 seasons, the nature of the soil, and the character of the 
 particular season in which the observation of them is made. 
 No general account of Spring flowers can therefore be 
 given, which will apply to all countries, all places of the 
 same country, or to the same place in all years. 
 
 Generally speaking, the number and the rapid appear- 
 ance of Spring flowers, are in proportion to the resistance 
 which the Spring has to overcome, but it can stimulate the 
 vegetable tribes into action. They are also modified 
 according as the winter repose out of which the action of 
 Spring has to awaken vegetation, is the percolency of heat 
 and drought, or the chilling influence of a low temperature. 
 When the Spring is a doubtful season, the true Spring 
 flowers are not so numerous ; and if the years are very 
 variable, some of the average flowers of Spring may advance 
 upon the "Winter, or fall back upon the Summer. Con- 
 sidering the difficulties and uncertainties of the subject, and 
 also the limited space to which our observations must be 
 restricted, we shall confine ourselves to the Spring flowers 
 of Britain the wild ones which are sown and planted by 
 nature only, without any regard to those which man 
 cultivates, whether native or exotic ; and even of the wild
 
 FEW IN BRITAIN. 167 
 
 ones shall not pretend to give a full or a formal list, far 
 less anything like a calendar of the times of their appear- 
 ance. The cultivated flowers are so numerous, so broken 
 into varieties, so obedient to art, and so changed from what 
 they would be were they allowed to go back to a state of 
 nature, that a single genus of them, and even a single 
 species with its varieties, is often sufficient subject for a 
 whole volume. 
 
 Thus restricted, the Spring flowers of Britain are not 
 very numerous ; and, considered in themselves, they are 
 not possessed of any very high degree of interest. There is 
 a secondary interest about them, however, which perhaps 
 gives them more value than if they were more splendid in 
 their individual appearance. They are the first-born of 
 the year, the earliest promise that the "Winter is gone, 
 and that we shall have the bounty and the beauty of 
 another year. "What the many -tinted bow of heaven is in 
 the rain cloud, that the little snow-drop under the hedge 
 is on a scowling and sleet-driving day in early Spring. 
 Were it not for the sign given by this plant, which is never 
 given when the storm of the Winter's depth begins to 
 come on, we might suppose that the Winter were to 
 resume its dominion. But the appearance of the flower at 
 this time, and not at the former, tells us that there is a 
 general renovating agency at work now, which was not at 
 work then; and as this agency got the better of the 
 Winter in the depth of the dark days, much more must it 
 get the better of this temporary return. 
 
 It is true that we anticipate the return of the seasons, 
 notwithstanding the temporary reverses of our variable 
 climate, upon that general belief in the succession of 
 events, which leads us to conclude that the sun shall rise 
 to-morrow; and that we will be able to rise and follow 
 out the plans which we have in prospect. As applied to
 
 168 
 
 THE SNOW-DROP. 
 
 the season and the day, this mode of belief is unobjection- 
 able, and under ordinary circumstances it may do in the 
 case of our own to-morrow. But in our own case it is 
 not universal ; for a day will come to which there shall 
 be no to-morrow for us in this world, and when the 
 execution of all our plans will be at an end ; nor can we, 
 under any circumstances, tell whether the present day is 
 to be our to-morrowless day or not. 
 
 SNOW-DBOP. 
 
 The breaking in of this uncertainty renders it wise in 
 us to take every case upon its own evidence, just as we 
 take the snow-drop as evidence that the reviving influence 
 of the Spring has begun to operate. The habit of taking 
 the evidence on the circumstances of the particular case, 
 is also the only way we have of dealing rationally with 
 those new cases to which no belief in experience can 
 possibly be applied; and it is because so many rest 
 satisfied with this general belief, that there are so many 
 failures and reverses in the projects of mankind. JS"o 
 school is better, or indeed so well adapted for giving us this 
 most useful habit, than the school of nature, especially
 
 THE BOOK OF NATTTBE. 169 
 
 vegetable nature, as obedient to the varying influence of 
 the seasons. The Spring flowers are well adapted for this 
 purpose; for the opening of a flower is the most con- 
 spicuous change that takes place in a plant, at least within 
 the same length of time. 
 
 There is another advantage in thus turning the flowers, 
 and other simple productions of wild nature, into a book 
 of instruction, which, though very obvious when once 
 mentioned, is sometimes overlooked. The book of Nature 
 requires no scholarship in the perusal ; and it is most ready 
 and open to those who have least access to the common 
 technical means of instruction. The people of the country 
 do generally interest themselves much more about the 
 appearances of nature, and the successions and connexions 
 of those appearances, than the people of towns ; and a very 
 little more time and thought might enable them to master 
 the whole philosophy of the country ; and if they once did 
 this, the whole of their occupations would be a delight to 
 them ; their minds would be drawn out and occupied ; and, 
 were this once done, their moral and social condition would 
 improve very fast. Under the present system of things, 
 their minds very much resemble neglected and uncropped 
 ground the weeds are rank in proportion as the soil is 
 valuable. 
 
 February cannot be regarded as much of a wild-flower 
 month in any part of the British islands ; and in some 
 parts the snow lies undisturbed, or continues to fall at 
 intervals, during the whole month. It is true that in 
 warm places there are a few plants that keep flowering all 
 the Winter over. The common daisy is one of these, 
 though its "Winter flowers are few, as compared with its 
 Summer ones. It is therefore not a plant from the 
 flowering of which any prognostic can be drawn, with 
 reward to what is to come. It may be considered as a
 
 170 EAHLIE8T FLOWERS. 
 
 remnant of the former year; and, as such, indicative of 
 what has been, rather than of what is in progress. It is 
 not uncommon, in some places, for daisies to bloom 
 under the snow;* and the same may be said of a few 
 other flowers. On dry, sandy plains, the hen-bit dead- 
 nettle may also be found blooming in February ; but both 
 place and plant have very little interest. The whole race 
 of the dead-nettles "are useless and uninteresting plants, 
 and we are not aware of any animal, wild or tame, that 
 feeds on them. But as they are very common, especially 
 on poor and sandy soils, and keep on flowering for four or 
 six months, they must have some value in the general 
 economy of nature. 
 
 All flowers which appear very early in the Spring are 
 to be regarded as to a certain extent the productions of 
 the former year;f and this without any particular reference 
 to the plants on which they appear, whether they be trees, 
 shrubs, or herbaceous plants, and whether they grow from 
 bulbs, from fibrous roots, or from buds upon the twigs and 
 branches. All these are brought forward in so far before 
 the Winter's pause, and they come forward more early, 
 and in greater perfection, in proportion as they have been 
 brought forward then, without absolute reference to the 
 season at the time when they appear. 
 
 As typical of the economy of our Spring, the snow-drop 
 
 * This is rather doubtful. The Goldanelln alpitia, which grows 
 on the mountains of Switzerland, is said to bloom under the snow. 
 
 f Many of the Spring flowers, such as the Draba verna, and 
 Wordsworth's Celandine, with the golden glazed petals (Ficaria 
 Ranuncwloidts), never flower but for a few weeks in the early 
 Spring, and cannot be regarded as " the productions of the former 
 year." The daisy may be regarded as one, for as the poet James 
 Montgomery wrote, it is "Flora's page," and flowers "in every 
 si asou.''
 
 FLOWEBS OF THE FOREST. 171 
 
 may be regarded as the prominent flower. It is a bulbous- 
 rooted plant of the narcissus family, never appearing but 
 in the early Spring, and then only in particular places. 
 It is never found on sandy or marshy grounds, and very 
 rarely in places that are much exposed. Little quiet spots, 
 under the shade of a thicket, a copse, or a hedge, or upon 
 the dry bank of a stream, if there is shelter near, is the 
 place to look for this first flower of the year ; and as it 
 generally bends its little silvery cup over a grassy sod of 
 rich green, or springs up through the fallen leaves of the 
 former year, there is a pleasing air of innocence about it ; 
 and it seems to say that it is satisfied with the very 
 slightest effort of the young year, and leaves the energy of 
 the season to plants of more showy appearance and lofty 
 pretension. 
 
 Though March is not a month of flowers in all parts of 
 the British islands, yet in the warmer places it so marks 
 the advance of the season, that the walk of those who love 
 to view nature in the morning of the year, may be 
 considerably diversified. 
 
 The wood which gave us only the snow-drop in February, 
 and that only in particular spots, now begins to make 
 some stir in its more lofty and enduring members. Few 
 of the native forest-trees of Britain have flowers that make 
 any gaudy show, though many of them reveal considerable 
 beauty by the use of a microscope. The elms take the 
 lead in flowering: and among them the common field or 
 lowland elm takes the lead. This is not the elm which is 
 found of such large dimensions in the royal parks and other 
 places in the vicinity of London. That one is Dutch, and, 
 as a winter tree, is not at all to be compared with our 
 common elm. The strong gale in the end of 1836 blew 
 down numbers of those great elms, and as they lay 
 prostrate, they showed that they had been wasting nwnv,
 
 172 WYCH-ELM. ALDER. 
 
 root, boll, and branches, by a kind of natural decay, 
 and were worth little or nothing as timber. Our elm, 
 though of smaller dimensions, is a far more sturdy tree, 
 and if placed on a proper soil, which should be rather good 
 but not humid, it will so root itself as to defy the winds ; 
 and when wanted, the timber of it is both excellent and 
 beautiful, and well adapted for many household and other 
 domestic purposes. 
 
 The cork-barked elm comes into flower about the same 
 time. It is very rarely seen as a tree, but confined to 
 hedges and copses. The bark has the appearance of cork, 
 but not the consistency. The wych-elm, of which there 
 are two kinds, one with the leaves rough, sometimes called 
 wych-hazel, and the other with smooth leaves, also flowers 
 about the same time. In warm districts they are rarely 
 found, except in hedges ; but the rough-leaved one is the 
 mountaineer, the elm of the highest glades of the Scotch 
 highlands where an elm will grow ; and there it endures 
 the violence of the storm, stands long, and affords excellent 
 timber. The late Sir Walter Scott makes a beautiful 
 allusion to it, in the introduction to the " Lady of 
 the Lake." 
 
 " Harp of the North ! that mould'ring long hast hung 
 
 By the Wych-elm, that shades St. Filan's spring. 
 The large Dutch elm closes the catalogue; and it is showy 
 from its size ; but when the trees get old, it is best to keep 
 aloof from them in high winds, because though the trees 
 may not fall, there is every chance of a shower of large 
 branches. 
 
 The common alder is the next tree in the order of 
 flowering. It prefers moist and marshy places, and is still 
 more hardy than the wych-elm. " The alder by the barn, 
 and the beech on the brae," is the character of the highest 
 glen in the central Highlands. The tree grows where oak
 
 THE IIAZEL-XUT TEEE. 173 
 
 will not; and this can be turned to ornamental account. 
 The drop of it does not hurt the grass, therefore an alder 
 copse makes excellent wintering for cattle ; and the timber, 
 though somewhat soft, is finely coloured. 
 
 None of these trees have conspicuous flowers ; but these 
 flowers are very numerous, and furnish one of the earliest 
 repasts to the bees. 
 
 There are some shrubs and under-shrubs which flower in 
 March, that have got some story to tell. 
 
 Among these, the hazel-nut tree occupies a very con- 
 spicuous place. It is distributed far and wide over the 
 country, often at considerable elevations ; but never unless 
 the soil is valuably good, and very frequently near water- 
 falls, and also in picturesque situations. It is what 
 Linnaeus, in his somewhat fanciful but pleasing style, 
 called a monoecious plant, that is, the fertilising and fer- 
 tilisable parts are " in one house," on the same tree, but 
 not in the same flower. The fertilising catkins begin to 
 be formed in the preceding Summer, and gradually 
 increase through the Winter, till they come to maturity 
 in March or April. They are long and pendant ; and in a 
 fine Spring morning they may be seen beautifully spangled 
 with dew-drops, displaying rainbow colours in the morning 
 sun, as the catkins wave to the breeze. These dew-drops 
 appear to have something more than their mere beauty : 
 the evaporation of them by the Bun produces cold; and 
 then the sun's heat also swells and bursts them, and 
 discharges the pollen. The styles which are to produce 
 the nuts are farther down ; they are of a beautiful crimson 
 colour, about a dozen in number, and just peeping out of 
 the newly -opened bud which has formed their winter pr. - 
 tection ; but the whole number on the buds are rart-ly. 
 if ever, fertilised. This is one of the most interesting o:' 
 our wild shrubs of tall growth ; and not the less so that it
 
 174 THE SLOE. 
 
 calls the young folks to the copse, a-nutting, in September 
 and October, and when the nuts are seasoned with the 
 somewhat Spartan sauce of the labour of scrambling after 
 them. All these periodical contacts with nature might be 
 made delightfully instructive if a few of elder growth 
 mingled with the young ; and if all eyes could be made to 
 see, and all ears to hear, with understanding worthy of the 
 rational children of Him who created all these delightful 
 things for our instruction and use. 
 
 SLOE. 
 
 The sloe, or black thorn (the flowers are whiter than 
 those of the white thorn), which is a sort of wild plum, 
 begins to flower in March, but continues through April. 
 It is a hardy and crabbed shrub, proverbially acid in the 
 fruit, and hard in the timber ; and it is said to conduce in 
 no small degree to the enabling of the people of Britain to 
 drink more port wine than is produced in the whole valley 
 of the Douro.* 
 
 The daphnes, both the spurge olive and the spurge 
 
 * The author might have added that the leaves of the sloe are 
 said to he used by dishonest grocers to adulterate teas.
 
 THE WILLOW. 175 
 
 laurel, show their bright flowers ill March. As wild, they 
 are found in woods and hedges, but not in upland 
 situations. The spurge olive (wezereon) especially, is often 
 grown as an ornamental under-shrub. The flowers are 
 showy, and they are rather curious, as coming before the 
 leaves ; but the plants are very suspicious. The wood is 
 so acrid as to cause great pain in the throat if it is chewed; 
 and the berries, which are cherry -red, are very dangerous 
 when children are playing about. This plant, as is very 
 generally the case with plants having active principles 
 of any kind, is understood to have medicinal virtues ; but 
 the fact is not well made out ; and therefore, for medical 
 purposes, it is just as well let alone. 
 
 " The willows by the water courses " begin to be attrac- 
 tive in March, from the peculiarity of their flowering, and 
 the beauty of their leaves, their various uses, and the situ- 
 ations in which the greater part of them grow. The most 
 beautiful one in Britain is the weeping-willow (Salix Baby- 
 lonica) which, however, turns out to be a plant by the 
 mountain-pools in the East, and not by the banks of such 
 rivers as the Euphrates at Babylon, or rather at the shape- 
 less and mouldering heaps which now barely mark the site* 
 of that great city which was once the mistress of the world. 
 All the willows are hardy plants, and many of them are of 
 very rapid growth. Some of them grow to be tall and 
 stately trees, which, from the form of their leaves and the 
 fineness of their colours, are highly ornamental in wet and 
 marshy places, where hardly any other kind of tree will 
 grow. Others of them creep along the ground, by the sides 
 of mountain bogs. One of these, inaccurately called Salix 
 herlacea, the herbaceous willow (though it is not a herba- 
 ceous plant, but a ligneous or wooded one), is the smallest 
 of all known trees. Sometimes the height of it when full 
 grown, does not exceed a single inch, and it rarely, if ever,
 
 176 THE WILLOW. 
 
 attains a greater height than three inches ; so that the 
 dwarf hirch of our cold and bleak mountain-tops in the 
 north is really a giant to it. This diminutive tree, which 
 lives only in a cold and dripping climate, is abundant 
 in Iceland, a country which does not contain anything 
 that can be called a grove or even a thicket ; and 
 the people there find it very useful in the dressing of 
 leather. 
 
 The white willow (Salix alba) is the most valuable as a 
 timber-tree ; and, if kept pollarded, the shoots rise long and 
 straight, and are useful for many rural purposes. Those of 
 smaller growth are, perhaps, more useful than the large 
 ones. They are, as everyone may observe, grown in holts 
 in marshy places, with trenches of water between the rows ; 
 and as they are both graceful and flexible, and have the 
 upper surface of the leaves green, and the under part 
 silvery, the play of them in a summer breeze is very beauti- 
 ful. There are many species grown in this way ; and as the 
 growth and degree of flexibility and toughness are different 
 in them all, each is adapted for some particular purpose. 
 The purple willow (S. purpwrea) is the toughest of the 
 whole. It is the withe, from the Anglo-Saxon " withan," to 
 bind, or tie. In old times it was used instead of cord, and 
 it is still sometimes used for the same purpose. The pre- 
 position with is the same word, and ought never to be used 
 unless there is some connexion between one thing and 
 another, though careless writers often confound it with Jy, 
 which merely means together, but without implying any 
 connexion. 
 
 Besides the use of their stems as timber, and their shoots 
 in basket-making and other branches of the arts, willows 
 are very valuable trees. Willow-bark is little, if at all, 
 inferior to oak-bark for tanning leather, that is, for so 
 saturating the gelatine of the skin of an animal with tannin,
 
 THE WILLOW. 177 
 
 as that it shall resist the decomposing influence of water, 
 and yet remain flexible. "Willow-charcoal is very valuable 
 in the manufacture of gunpowder ; and, as it contains little 
 or no earthy matter, it is one of the best applications for 
 cleaning the teeth. To enumerate half the uses of willows 
 would require many words. The intelligent reader will not 
 fail, however, to observe in them a remarkable instance of 
 that connexion between abundant quantity and extensive 
 usefulness which runs through the whole of creation, and 
 proves with what admirable perfection of design the whole 
 is adapted to the use of man. 
 
 This is a truth which is sure to force itself on our atten- 
 tion whenever we reflect on any one portion of nature 
 around its ; and if we carry our contemplation a little far* 
 ther, we are able to discern that in every country the 
 elements of civilisation for the people of that country are 
 to be found ; and that all they want is a beginning. One 
 comfort soon stimulates the desire of winning another ; and 
 this principle wants only the proper direction in order to 
 carry mankind on to the very highest degree of civilisation 
 and enjoyment. Xor is it direction, human direction, which 
 is wanted for this purpose, so much as it is the absence of 
 misdirection. The very same bad principle which makes 
 the little hordes of savages murder each other, and exert 
 the whole of their ingenuity in devising and constructing 
 engines of death, applies to mankind in their most civilised 
 state, and keeps them always on the alert to put each other 
 wrong. But we must not suppose that there is any imper- 
 fection chargeable against the original creation of man upon 
 this account. A finite creature, acting upon his own expe- 
 rience and judgment, in the midst of a system framed and 
 governed by infinite wisdom, cannot but be fallible cannot 
 but fall ; and, once fallen, there is no restoration to upright, 
 ness but through the free grace of God, unmerited on the 
 
 M
 
 178 THE POPLARS. 
 
 part of any one individual of the human race, whatever may 
 be the real or pretended sincerity of his heart and conduct. 
 
 All the willows have the fertilising and fertilisable parts 
 on separate flowers, and some have them on separate trees. 
 We believe, for instance, that there is only one of the 
 weeping willows in this country; and thus we can never 
 raise the tree from seed grown at home. This is a matter 
 of no consequence in the case of willows ; for almost any 
 part will grow, if it contains a bit of sound wood, and 
 another of bark, in their natural contact with each other. 
 It is of little consequence which end of a cutting of willow 
 is put in the ground, for it will grow the one way just as 
 readily as the other. Nay, if one of the more free-growing 
 species is set like an arch, with both ends in the ground, it 
 will, under favourable circumstances, take root and put out 
 shoots at both. How matters go on at the middle of the 
 bo\v in these cases, is a question for the physiologists, and 
 one not absolutely settled; but we rather think that the 
 middle of the bow begins to die as soon as the two ends 
 have begun to work ; and that the whole of it perishes in a 
 short time, down to the uppermost shoot put out by each 
 of the two ends during the first season of their acting. 
 
 The poplars come into flower about the same time as the 
 willo\vs. They are, indeed, very nearly allied to the willows 
 in their character, and neighbours to them in situation. As 
 is the case with the willows, the poplars like a rich and 
 moist soil, though not quite so near the water as the wil- 
 lows. The abele, or white poplar, grows to be the most- 
 stately tree ; and by the bank of a river, or the shore of a 
 lake or pond, it is a very fine ornament the white bark 
 contrasts so well with the dark colour of most trees. One 
 of the finest clumps of abele trees, near London, is upon a 
 small projection on the right bank of the Thames, a little 
 below the village of Twickenham ; and from the opposite
 
 THE POPLARS. 179 
 
 bank of the river they are a favourite subject with young 
 practitioners in landscape-drawing. The timber of the 
 abele is soft and very light, and not liable to split ; so that 
 it is used for many articles which require lightness and not 
 much strength. The Lombardy, or spiry poplar, growa 
 very rapidly, and one here and there makes a good variety 
 in a plantation ; but a long line of them looks very stiff 
 and formal. The wood of this species is softer than even 
 that of the abele ; but still it is useful for many common 
 purposes, as nails do not split it. Neither of these two 
 species thrives well in the more cold and upland parts of 
 Britain. The aspen, or trembling, or quaking poplar, is the 
 other species most frequently seen in Britain. It is a broad 
 and branching tree, but does not attain the stateliness of 
 the abele. The foot-stalks of the leaves are very thin and 
 flexible, so that the least current in the atmosphere puts 
 the leaves in motion; and one who is not aware of this 
 habit of the tree is often astonished to observe the rapid 
 and general motion of those leaves, while not a breath of 
 wind can be felt. A passing cloud is sufficient to put them 
 in the greatest agitation ; and if they are near the bank of 
 a river, and there is a dry shingly or sandy beach between 
 them and the water, they are hardly a moment at rest. These, 
 however, are phenomena of the Summer, not of the Spring. 
 The abele and the trembling poplar have a mild but very 
 pleasant fragrance in the time of flowering ; and they give 
 out a sort of aromatic gum resin, though in so small a <(iinn- 
 tity as not to be worth collecting as an article of commerce. 
 Some of the foreign ones in warmer countries, yield it more 
 abundantly, but of the same nature. The odours given out 
 by trees in the season of their activity is a subject that has 
 been little studied; and yet it is one well worth attending 
 to, as in many of them it occurs not from the flov.rrs, but 
 from a general exudation of the tree, and sometimes from
 
 ISO SUPERSTITIONS. 
 
 the leaves. If the former, it is more perceptible on sunny 
 days ; but if the latter, it is most delightful after a shower. 
 With many trees, this is a Summer study ; but it is a 
 Spring one with the poplars arid the willows. 
 
 It is astonishing how superstition works, when it wishes 
 to pervert the noblest of all all subjects, Religion, to the 
 most ignoble of all purposes the enslavement of the human 
 understanding. The monkish story was, that the cross was 
 made of the timber of the trembling poplar, and that the 
 tree has trembled ever since, in horror at the use to which 
 it was applied ! The trembling poplar is the most hardy of 
 the race ; as such, a native of cold places, and we doubt if 
 it is to be found in Judea. The wits turned the tree to 
 another account, by alleging that those persons who are 
 always speaking what they should not, and when they 
 should not, have their tongues made of, or infected by, the 
 leaves of the aspeu, so that they will not and cannot be 
 still. In northern countries this poplar serves rather 
 an important purpose in nature, as the twigs and bark are 
 the favourite food of that curious animal the beaver, the 
 fine part of whose fur is so valuable in the manufacture of 
 hats. The seeds of both the poplars and the willows are 
 lodged in light and elastic down, which, in a state of nature, 
 contributes to their dispersion ; and it is sometimes used in 
 the arts for the packing of elastic cushions. Poplar is un- 
 safe timber where there is danger of fires, being more 
 inflammable than most other kinds of wood ; at the same 
 time, it is about the worst fire-wood in the whole forest, as 
 it burns away with no flame, and only a very moderate 
 degree of heat. There are some other poplars not so com- 
 mon in the " home " counties of England, as those which 
 we have noticed. Of these, the grey poplar grows in very 
 elevated and exposed situations ; and the black poplar in 
 shaded places near a river, cr in the miry part of the water.
 
 THE TEW. 
 
 There is another forest tree, having a long, and by no 
 means an uninteresting story to tell, which comes into 
 flower at this early season. This is the yew. Blair not 
 the rhetorician, but the greater Blair, the Eev. Eobert Blair, 
 of Athelstaneford.Vho like Gray in England, is one of the 
 greatest poets of Scotland in power, and the smallest in 
 quantity thus characterises the yew : 
 
 " Cheerless, unsocial plant, that loves to dwell 
 Mid skulls and coffins, epitaphs and worms ; 
 Where light -heeled ghosts, and visionary shades, 
 Beneath the wan cold moon, (so fable feigns,) 
 Embodied thick, perform their mystic rounds. 
 No other merriment, dull tree, is thine." 
 
 Summer, when the swifts are screaming about the tower, 
 and there are various other little rural attractions, is the 
 proper time for telling the story of the yew ; and so we 
 shall content ourselves, in the mean time, with saying that 
 it flowers in March. AVe cannot help remarking, however, 
 how passing strange it is that the name of this Blair does 
 uot occur in all the Scottish biographies. This is the more 
 strange from his son being Lord President of the Court of 
 Session, in Scotland, and one of the most able and influen- 
 tial men that ever filled that solemn and important office ; 
 and who was selected as the subject of a statue for the 
 court-room, next after the illustrious Duncan Forbes, of 
 Culloden, who was the saviour of his country, insurgents 
 and all, during and after the rebellion in favour of the 
 Stuarts; and the patron no, the hearty and unshaken 
 friend of the most amiable and indolent author of "The 
 Seasons." Probably the omission may have been inten- 
 tional as a matter of economy : and certainly no man stands 
 less in need of this kind of fame than the author of "The
 
 182 DAFFODIL SQUILL. 
 
 Grave ;" for his memory will long triumph over his subject 
 fatal as that subject is to the posthumous fame of many 
 who make noise enough while they are in the world. 
 
 While we are endeavouring to pursue the contemplation 
 of nature, and trace the perfect beautv and consistency 
 that pervades the whole system of the Creator's works, as 
 regulated by His laws, it is both pleasant and profitable 
 occasionally to make a slight digression to the conduct of 
 men, even in those cases which seem to aiford no scope for 
 their bad passions. These are bungling and blundering, 
 even at the very best ; and thus we gain by contrast, and 
 return to the study of nature with fresh vigour and in- 
 creased pleasure. 
 
 If the season is any way favourable, we can be wrong in 
 a few places in seeking a wild flower in March. The purple 
 spring crocus comes early, but it is rare, and found chiefly 
 on some rich and sheltered meadows in the valley of the 
 Trent. The hare's-tail cotton grass shows its tufts upon 
 the hassocks of vegetation on bogs ; and the " least-bent " 
 displays its tender spike on the dry and half barren sandy 
 pastures by the sea. The bents, though proof against most 
 grazing animals, and pointed like spears in some of the 
 larger species, are most useful plants in their localities : 
 they bind the sand together in the same way as willows 
 bind the mud bank of a pond or river ; and they thus 
 prevent the sand from invading the fields within. In places 
 where the sea retreats, leaving an expanse of sand behind 
 it, these bents advance forward upon the retiring sea ; and 
 the ground which they quit becomes pasture by nature, and 
 may be converted into very early and productive cornfields 
 by art. 
 
 The common daffodil, and the two-leaved squill, also 
 usually flower in March. They are not very generally 
 distributed, but they are to be looked for in moist woods.
 
 CIHQUOTOIL8. 
 
 183 
 
 groves, and thickets, where the soil is good. The common 
 ch ickweed, so universal on every neglected spot of the rich 
 and cultivated ground, shows its little white stars about 
 this time, and continues to show them till the Winter is 
 considerably advanced. This is one of the plants that fold 
 their leaves together, or sleep, as it is incorrectly called, in 
 certain states of the weather ; and it would no doubt be 
 
 DAFFODIL. 
 
 ttought a pretty plant, if it were not so common, and did 
 nt reprove the sluggard in cultivation so speedily and so 
 shrply. That it is injurious to the ground is very doubt- 
 ft: and it yields a rich supply to many of the little birds. 
 
 The strawberry -leaved cinquefoil flowers on dry sandy 
 pstures, some time in March, if the place and season are 
 nt very backward. Both the leaf and the habit of runninrr
 
 184 CINQUEFOILS. 
 
 in this plant are like those of the strawberry ; and on this 
 account Linnaeus included it among the strawberries, to 
 which, however, it does not belong, though nearly allied to 
 them in its natural characters, and some of its habits. The 
 strawberries occur in the clefts of rocks, or in the sbade of 
 woods ; the potentillas are more upon the open places, some 
 on dry and naked ones, and others upon the margin of the peat 
 bog, or even in it if it is not too wet. The bramble, various 
 mulberries, especially of cold, upland, and northern places, 
 the strawberries, the roses, and the potentillas or cinquefoils, 
 and a few others, are all nearly related, according to the 
 natural system of Botany, which endeavours, or should 
 endeavour, as much as possible, to class plants according 
 to the average of their natural characters. In a jtate of 
 nature, all the flowers have five equal petals; tnd the 
 stamens, though subject to variation, are always numerous. 
 The fruit of all which bear pulpy or succulent fruit ig whole- 
 some, very cool and refreshing, and in some verf highly 
 flavoured. The flowers are white, or yellow, oij various 
 shades of pink or red, but not in any one instance blue. 
 The whole are astringent ; and the tormentillas, which are 
 not very unlike the potentillas, are used for this purpse 
 in medicine, and also in the tanning and, in the case of 
 the coloured ones, the dying of leather. Some of th|m 
 have spindle-shaped roots, resembling miniature parsuits, 
 at least in their shape. These are very sweet and pleasat 
 to the taste ; pigs are fond of rooting them up, and re 
 said to be, in part at least, fed upon them in some plajes 
 in Ireland. The goose-potentilla (P. anserina) is the me 
 of which the roots are largest and best. It is not so astm.- 
 gent as some of the others, and on this account it is notko 
 well adapted for tanning leather. Greese are very fondof 
 the leaves, which is the origin of the name. It prefers 
 soils which are cold and humid to those which are warm a 1 d
 
 THE COLTSFOOT. 
 
 185 
 
 dry ; and thus it is most abundant in places which are not 
 cultivated, and hardly worth cultivating. Where they are 
 abundant, the children seek them \vith considerable avidity, 
 and eat them raw, or boiled, or roasted ; and in some of the 
 remote districts they were used in former times as a sort of 
 substitute for bread : but as the dripping skies which they 
 prefer, though not the half-miry soils, are favourable to the 
 
 COLTSFOOT. 
 
 growth of the potato, it has become the chief dependence 
 of the people of such place:-. In the " Small Isles," where 
 there is little danger to be apprehended from swart, the 
 potato has saved the people from the afflictions of famine, 
 to which they were formerly at times subjected : and in 
 many places it has reduced to the class of neglected weeds 
 many little roots which were of value in former times.
 
 186 THE COLTSFOOT. 
 
 Another field-plant, which flowers about the same time, 
 is the common coltsfoot ( T.ussilago farfara) . It is called 
 tussilago, the cough reliever, from its effect in allaying the 
 irritation of cough, which it is understood to do by sheathing 
 from the action of the air those parts which, are slightly 
 inflamed. It is rather curious that, in many parts of the 
 lowlands of Scotland, the country people should call this 
 plant by its scientific name, and not have any other for 
 it. It is a composite flower, something resembling thistles 
 in shape, but not on a rising stem ; and its colour is 
 yellow. 
 
 It is one of the plants of which the flower comes before 
 any of the leaves ; and where it is abundant it presents a 
 singular appearance upon unploughed stubble fields, and the 
 naked leas, in the end of March and the beginning of April. 
 Such places are generally bare of grass, and they appear as 
 if some one had taken the trouble of strewing them over 
 with yellow flowers. Where the soil is favourable, coits- 
 foot is difficult to eradicate ; and nothing can get it out of 
 the fields but working the soil to a fine tilth, and cropping 
 with pease, or spring tares, and turnip after, to be fed off 
 with sheep. The seeds are very numerous ; and it does not 
 yield readily to lime dressing. When it is expelled from 
 the field, it takes up its habitation in the unploughed hedges 
 and corners under the fences ; and as these places are 
 always very rich, from catching what is blown off the fields 
 when bare, the leaves, especially in shaded places, get very 
 large in the Autumn. The foot-stalks of the leaves of 
 another species of coltsfoot, now made into a genus (Peta- 
 sites), are very thick and strong, and a foot or eighteen 
 inches long, and the dimensions of the blade of the leaf 
 are about the same. In those places of the country where 
 the women take their share in cutting down the corn with 
 the sickle, it is no unusual thing to see a dozen of them
 
 THK HORSE-TAIL. Is" 
 
 marching back to the beginning side of the field, each 
 shaded, a-la-parasol, with a huge leaf of coltsfoot ; and if 
 a veritable parasol were to come near the healthy and 
 happy array of these sun-browned damsels, the bearer 
 would stand a chance of being jeered by a few displays 
 of rustic art. 
 
 Colts-foot is not altogether a useless plant. The 
 decoction of it is both stimulant and astringent, strength- 
 ening and restoring the tone of the parts at the same 
 time. The fumes of it, smoked in the same manner as 
 tobacco, are supposed to have similar effects, but the 
 supposition is doubtful. The young leaves have a good 
 deal of cottony matter on the under surfaces, which can be 
 rubbed off without much difficulty ; and when this is 
 saturated with a solution of saltpetre, and allowed to dry, 
 it forms a very ready and excellent tinder. It may also 
 be used for stuffing cushions ; but the labour of collecting 
 it is considerable. Even the leaves themselves, properly 
 and thoroughly dried, make no bad stuffing for rural 
 purposes ; and a countryman, after a hard day's work, can 
 have a very sound and healthful sleep on a colts-foot 
 pillow. 
 
 The corn horse-tail (Equisetum arvense), also flowers, 
 such flowering as it may be called, pretty early in the 
 Spring. The equisetums, or jointed ferns as they are 
 sometimes called, are rather pretty plants ; they consist of 
 long jointed stems, branching at the joints in some cases, 
 and in others not. They have no proper leaves ; and 
 though the germs of the succession plants are produced in 
 scaly heads on the ends of the stems or fronds, these cannot 
 be called flowers. Many of them grow in the water, and 
 all of them in wet places. Some arc covered over externally 
 with little sharp tubercles of flinty matter; and they weiv 
 much used in polishing the finer articles of wood-work,
 
 IN"* AXCIENT 
 
 before the invention of paper covered with :i coating of 
 sand or glass ; and for some little nice purposes they are 
 preferable to these. The corn-field one. which led us to 
 mention the others, is accounted very injurious to cattle, 
 though, from the roughness of its surface, not from any 
 poisonous effect. Neither they nor their near relatives in 
 the system, the ferns, have any poisonous quality ; but, on 
 the contrary, the roots often contain a considerable quantity 
 of farina, or starchy matter, as wholesome and nourishing 
 as the starch of any other plant. The only bread of the 
 aborigines of Australia is from fern roots, for the roasting 
 of which they have ovens of heated stones : and many of 
 the equisetums, the one in question among the rest, form 
 little farinaceous tubers on the roots. Julius C;esar, who 
 was one of the few conquerors who h;\v had eyes as well 
 as armies, mentions that, when the maga/ines of corn failed, 
 the Roman soldiers were in the habit of digging from 
 the banks of marshes, and stagnant places of rivers, certain 
 roots, which he calls chared, that served them in place of 
 bread. There is little doubt that these chant were the 
 tubers of equisetums ; for we are not aware that there is 
 the least accumulation of starchy matter in any of the 
 charge of modern botanists. G-aul, and the other countries 
 overrun by Caesar, contained many more marshes in his time 
 than they do now ; and we may thence conclude that such 
 plants as the equisetums were far more plentiful, and of 
 larger growth. 
 
 The equisetums have got a very long and a very old story 
 to tell, if we had time to hear them. Those which at 
 present exist in our parts of the world, and indeed in any 
 parts of it that we are aware of, are a small and feeble 
 remnant. Few of them rise to a greater height than a foot 
 or two, and some are only a few inches: but there have 
 been giaufs of the race in times now long gone bv. Vast
 
 l.YKSH-MARKiOLD. 189 
 
 numbers of the remains of these in the fossil state are 
 found in various strata, and at varied depths in the earth ; 
 their substanrr as vegetables gone of course, and earthy 
 matter substituted ia its place, but their forms so well 
 preserved :;s to show in the clearest manner what they 
 have been. These, though simple cellular plants, like the 
 dwarfs of > i lines, have rivalled in height the tallest 
 
 of the vascular trees that now adorn our forests ; and 
 suggest a comparison with those lofty and lasting tree- 
 ferns wliicr. ;MV still found in the southerly tropical 
 latitudes o,' < m- globe. There is little doubt that these 
 mighty plants are aquatic, and it is probable that they 
 lasted for years ; whereas the stems or fronds of the 
 present ones aro ;iii annual. Along with them there occur 
 the remains <>i' animals, many of them evidently aquatic, 
 and others probably fitted for the laud and water, or even 
 for the wate.' and the air. Tiieir situation in the solid 
 strata shows that they were long anterior to the elephants, 
 the rhinoceri, the hyaenas, and the other mammalia of warm 
 countries at the present day, all of which appear also to 
 have been extinct before the earliest record of human 
 history commenced. These point to strange and remote 
 changes ID the economy of our globe ; but they are dark 
 and shadowy, not explainable in a satisfactory manner, even 
 bv those who treat expressly of them; and tlu'ivfoiv quite 
 unfit subje its for an incidental notice. 
 
 The equ'.v-vnns are plants of humid places, and bring 
 us to the n.a.vin of the waters; and there are some Spring 
 flowers in the water itself, or rather blooming over its 
 surface. One < l' the earliest, aud also most showy, is the 
 marsh ma /.L< -Id (Caliha puluairi-). which is really a very 
 gay ilowe ... (.lint bearing it has large and hand- 
 
 bouie leaves, h is a very common plant on the still parts 
 of brook.-, the flu rgi is of pools, and other places where the
 
 100 
 
 THE MARSH-MARIGOLD. 
 
 water is shallow, and not much agitated or disturbed ; but 
 the plant is always most healthy, and the flowers most 
 beautiful, when it is over a rivulet of clear spring water. 
 The flower is large, and of a bright yellow colour ; and 
 the leaves of the plant are full and abundant. Its 
 similarity in form to the common buttercup of the meadow 
 will prevent any one from mistaking it; and, indeed, there 
 is no plant in the least like it upon the margin of the 
 water. It comes into flower in March, sooner or later, 
 according to the place and the season ; and it continues 
 producing a succession of flowers on the same plant for six 
 weeks or two months. The young flower-buds are in the 
 
 MAKSH-MARIGOLD. 
 
 form of little compact buttons, often standing round a full- 
 bio \vn one, on which account the country people, in some 
 places, call them " mother and children." These young
 
 THE BAKTJNCULA.CE^:. 191 
 
 buttons of the flowers are sometimes pickled, and used iu 
 the same manner as capers ; and when pickled they have 
 very considerable pungency. Indeed, they are abundantly 
 pungent whether they are pickled or not ; and we think it- 
 would be just as conducive to health to leave them alone 
 as ornaments to the margins of the streams. 
 
 They belong to the Hanunculacece, a very numerous, and 
 often a very showy race of plants ; but under all circum- 
 stances a very suspicious one. All of them are acrid, and 
 some are deadly poisons, capable of occasioning death very 
 speedily, and attended by the most afflicting symptoms. 
 One of the most deadly of therace is the common monk's- 
 hood of the gardens, which ought not to be allowed to 
 remain in any place to which children have access, not- 
 withstanding the readiness of its growth, and the whimsical 
 form of its flowers. An instance was mentioned in the 
 public journals not long ago, of a girl who used to resort to 
 this plant in order to bring on a frantic kind of intoxica- 
 tion; but an over-dose either nearly or altogether ended 
 her life, we forget which. We, in concert with a medica 
 man of much skill and experience, and who was a good 
 botanist, and had studied the vegetable poisons, had great 
 trouble in recovering a servant girl from the effects of a 
 very little bit of the root, which had been most incon- 
 siderately, but with no bad intention, given to her by the 
 gardener. When the aged men of Ceas were no longer of 
 any use to the state, the inhuman law enacted that they 
 should drink this same deadly aconite. The hellebores aro 
 also very poisonous plants; and even the larkspurs :md 
 columbines have mischief in them, and are not to be 
 tampered with by the ignorant. 
 
 The whole of the Ranunculacece lie under the .si .1,0 
 suspicion; and, contrary to the usual rule among pi i 
 the water ranunculus is one of the least acrid of the \\huio
 
 102 AM: M ONES. 
 
 The common buttercup, which makes the meadows so gay, 
 and is gathered with so much avidity by children, is very 
 acrid, so much so. that it is sometimes called " wart grass," 
 from a belief, real or unfounded we know not, that the 
 juice of the bruised leaves soon clears the skin of these 
 excrescences. The vulgar notion, that the colour of its 
 beautiful yellow flower is communicated to butter in the 
 season of its bloom, is of course quite unfounded, as it is 
 one of the plants which the cows avoid eating, if they can. 
 
 The anemones are also poisonous, and so are the different 
 kinds of clematis ; and although the latter are much used 
 in trimming bowers and trellises, it is very doubtful 
 whether they do not, one and all, give an unhealthy 
 character to the air. One species of anemone is a Spring 
 flower, upon high and open chalky pastures. This is the 
 Pasche flower, or Easter flower (Axa/none pulscctilla) , which 
 is a very acrid one, and blooms about the time of the 
 festival after which it gets its common name. The flowers 
 of most of the tribe, and the roots of some of them, furnish 
 dyes, the mordant for fixing which is the sulphate of 
 alumina, or common alum. In this way the marsh mari- 
 gold furnishes not a disagreeable yellow. 
 
 Such are a few, and but a very few of the Spring flowers ; 
 for even among the native plants of Britain, the ones 
 which we have passed unnoticed outnumber what we have 
 noticed a hundred to one. In the noticed ones, we have 
 not been solicitous to select the most interesting ones. 
 "We wished to show that common ones have some interest, 
 and so get the reader fairly out into the field, to find and 
 enjoy the fine ones for himself.
 
 From the moist meadow to the wither' d hill, 
 
 Led by the breeze, the vivid verdure runs, 
 
 And swells, and deepens, to the cherish'd eye. 
 
 The hawthorn whitens ; and the juicy groves 
 
 Put forth their buds, unfolding by degrees, 
 
 Till the whole leafy forest stands display'd, 
 
 In full luxuriance, to the sighing gales ; 
 
 Where the deer rustles through the twining brakes, 
 
 And the birds sing conceal'd.
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 INFLUENCE OF THE SPRING UPON ANIMALS. 
 
 THE influence of the Spring upon every creature is great 
 in proportion to the excitability of that creature, that is, 
 to the number and activity of those feelings or perceptions, 
 or whatsoever else they may be called, upon which the 
 genial renovation can produce an effect, wherewithal the 
 Creator has endowed it. We have already considered the 
 adaptation and preparing of the vegetable tribes for this 
 delightful time of the year. It may seem that we ought to 
 have followed this up by a description of the effect of 
 Spring upon them. This, however, could be done only 
 partially ; and it would not be fair, for it would be robbing 
 the reader of one of the most pleasurable and profitable 
 uses of his own senses. The breath of Spring is more 
 fresh in the nostril than the richest perfumes of the 
 Summer ; the springing blade and the opening bud are 
 more delightful to the eye, and more redolent of hope to 
 the mind, than the expanded leaf and the full-blown flower ; 
 and the music of the Spring is nature's peculiar music 
 as if the whole terrestial creation were a harp newly 
 strung, to be touched in the most joyous strain, in a new 
 song of universal praise to the Mighty Maker, Benevo- 
 lent Preserver, and All-bountiful Eestorer of a world of 
 beauty. 
 
 Who that has been endowed with the ordinary senses ; 
 who that can smell perfume, behold beauty, hear melody,
 
 INFLUENCE OF SPRING. 195 
 
 or feel that delightful uplifting of the spirit, which fore- 
 promises of eternal life, of the resurrection of the body, 
 of the gathering of bone to his bone, clothing them with 
 sinews and with flesh, calling them up to the kingdom of 
 G-od and his Christ, there to dwell in unbroken felicity for 
 ever and ever ; who that can observe and feel in this manner 
 (and what human being cannot if he willp), can refrain 
 from being present at the annual birth-day of all nature ? 
 Ill the country, the professional labours of the great 
 majority of the people bring them to this ; and though 
 they themselves may sometimes not be aware of it, there is 
 a wonderful revival of the strength of man, so as to enable 
 him to go cheerily on with the delightful labours of hope 
 which belong to this beautiful season. But the spirit of 
 the Spring is also a searching spirit. It works its way into 
 the very heart of the city ; and the man of business begins 
 to loathe those enjoyments to which he was, it may be, 
 driven by mental vacuity during the Winter ; and so, when 
 the toils of the counting-house are over, he takes a drive, a 
 ride, or a walk, according to his circumstances, across the 
 suburban fields, in high enjoyment of what he possibly 
 could not very well explain any further than by saying, 
 " This is a delightful Spring evening ! how fresh and 
 promising everything appears ! " 
 
 Fashion, which is purely a matter of human institution, 
 having no foundation in nature, and therefore never pur- 
 taking of that endurance which forms part of the system 
 of nature, often keeps pace very differently from nature. 
 At the present time, fashion rules that the very vigour of 
 the Spring shall be the depth of Winter in her dominions ; 
 and that while the morning sun shines gloriously, and 
 nature is in her freshest attire, and enlivened by her most 
 delightful music, the elite who worship at the footstool of 
 fashion shall hide themselves in the seclusion of the drawing- 
 
 K 2
 
 196 AN ABGUMENT FOB IMMOBTALITY. 
 
 room, and view artificial beauties by artificial light, as if 
 they were in the winter hut of an Esquimaux, or the ice 
 palace of a Russian potentate. It may be that they avail 
 themselves of the renovating influence of the Spring, in 
 order that they may the better perform that which is 
 with them the grand labour of the year ; but if they will 
 turn Spring into "Winter, and Winter into Summer, they 
 must pay the forfeit, by passing their lives without tasting 
 the purest and the sweetest of all the enjoyments of 
 mortal men. 
 
 In treating of the influence of the Spring upon animated 
 nature, it is necessary, however, and perhaps desirable, to 
 leave mankind entirely out, and consider only those animals 
 whose whole being forms a part of material nature, and 
 which come from the dust, and return to the dust, without 
 leaving any memorial except their bones. There is, by the 
 way, a very striking natural proof of the existence of an 
 immortal spirit in man, in the fact that man is the only 
 creature upon earth that can or does transmit his memory 
 to his progeny. None of the animals leave any legacy, in 
 name or in knowledge, to those animals which come after ; 
 and, on this account, they never become more sagacious in 
 one generation than they were in the generation preceding. 
 It is very different with the human race. There is in them 
 not only a legacy transroittable to all generations, but a 
 capacity for contriving the means of transmission, of which 
 we have a noble example in the art of printing ; and we 
 have minor examples in all those accommodations of society 
 and means of enjoyment which have been in a state of 
 improvement from age to age. When we view matters in 
 this light (and it is the true light wherein to view them), 
 we find that all the improvements of civilised society stand 
 up as witnesses for the immortality of the soul, whose 
 evidence can neither be refuted nor rejected, even though
 
 ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 197 
 
 any one were so fool-hardy as to undertake this the most 
 fatal of all suicides. 
 
 But, leaving man out of the question in the meantime, 
 let us very briefly attend to the influence of the Spring 
 upon other animated beings ; for here the causes and effects 
 are wholly physical, and therefore the whole belongs to the 
 ordinary history and philosophy of material nature. 
 
 The difference between animals and plants, chiefly as the 
 latter are in the growing state confined to their several 
 localities, while the animals have the power of ranging 
 about, necessarily occasions great variations, both in pre- 
 paration for the Spring and in obedience to it. The plant, 
 rooted in the soil, must bear all the seasons as they come ; 
 and that goodness of the Creator which is everywhere 
 manifest, tempers it to its locality. The animal, on the 
 other hand, can seek its own shelter, and requires to come 
 abroad only when in so doing it is safe. It is true that 
 there are extreme cases in which multitudes of animals 
 perish during the rigours of the Winter, of kinds which do 
 not so perish in ordinary years. But it is impossible for us 
 to pronounce sentence of good or evil upon these natural 
 occurrences. The probability is, however, that they are 
 upon the whole beneficial ; and that a very severe season, 
 which kills off a number of animals, contributes to renewed 
 vigour in those that are left ; just as we find that our crops 
 of cultivated plants and garden fruits are far better in the 
 individual, and even upon the whole, when we thin them 
 judiciously, than when we leave them as numerous as they 
 first appear. The fruits starve each other, and the plants do 
 the same, and also choke each other from want of air. That 
 something similar is the case with animals we have abundant 
 proofs, one of which may be mentioned, as affording a 
 striking instance of the fact that nature will not allow her 
 laws to be wantonly broken. Of course, when we speak
 
 198 ALL CREATURES 
 
 of nature as being personified, we merely mean those 
 secondary causes which the great First Cause has seen 
 meet to institute for the preservation and government of 
 the material world ; and whenever the word nature is made 
 use of in these pages, as if it were the name of something 
 which is self-acting, it is invariably understood to be nothing 
 more than a general expression for all those laws, by the 
 exercise of which God has seen meet to carry on the 
 economy of material things. This being understood, we 
 may mention our instance. One purpose which those 
 animals that feed upon vegetable matter answer in wild 
 nature, is that of supplying food for flesh-eating animals. 
 The animals which furnish such supplies are endowed with 
 powers of very rapid multiplication; so that, while they 
 are useful to the carnivorous animals, in supplying food, 
 the carnivorous animals are useful to them, by so keeping 
 down their numbers, so that they shall not exceed and 
 exhaust the food which is prepared for them, and so become 
 literally exterminated through want. 
 
 It is in this way that all creatures are mutually useful 
 to each other ; and there is not an instance that can be 
 adduced in which this mutual usefulness does not hold 
 perfectly good. The sheep, for instance, fatten the pasture 
 as much as the pasture fattens the sheep ; and if the grass 
 is thin and wiry upon a dry upland, putting sheep upon it, 
 and gradually increasing their number as it improves, will, 
 in time, bring it to the condition of a rich and valuable 
 pasture. Many districts in the sandy part of Poland, 
 from which the surface vegetation had been almost entirely 
 destroyed by excessive cultivation and scanty manure, are 
 at present in rapid progress toward a renewal of fertility, 
 by the people having laid aside the plough, and turned 
 upon the land Merino sheep, the fleeces and surplus 
 carcases of which prove far more valuable to the people
 
 MUTUALLY USEFUL. 199 
 
 than the scanty grain crops which they raised a few 
 years ago. 
 
 These are simple matters, and matters which every one 
 might observe. But it is doubtful whether they are 
 generally observed ; and yet it is impossible even to 
 approach the subject of animals safely without a know- 
 ledge of them. When we come to the animal kingdom, 
 without a knowledge of the principle of this mutual 
 support, we see nothing but rapine and destruction. The 
 sheep eat the grass, the wolf and the fox devour the 
 sheep ; the caterpillar consumes the bud and the leaf, and 
 the bird eats the caterpillar. All is havoc, in short, and 
 every one appears to be destroying another. "When, how- 
 ever, we direct the eye of understanding toward this scene 
 of apparently universal destruction, we find that the whole 
 of it tends as much to the preservation of the destroyed 
 as to that of the destroyer. If, indeed, there is any 
 difference between the two, the destroyer is more im- 
 portant ; because his labours, though destructive to the 
 individual, are preservation to the race ; whereas the 
 individual destroyer preserves itself only by its destroying. 
 There is no doubt that all this must be done within 
 limits ; but the fixing of those limits is safe and sure with 
 Him who, throughout all the kingdoms of nature, in all 
 their departments, saw and sees the end of everything 
 from the beginning. 
 
 Our example is a good illustration of this. The hare is 
 among those animals which multiply very rapidly, and 
 consume a great deal of food. The hare is proverbial for 
 the number of its enemies in the smaller beasts of prey, 
 of which those that are not one-fourth its size can master 
 it. This provision of the meaus of destruction is necessary 
 to regulate the numbers ; and if it is interfered with 
 nature performs her necessary work in another way. Some
 
 200 EPTZOOTY. 
 
 proprietors of land establish what they call " preserves " 
 for hares, from which they carefully exclude both pre- 
 datory animals and men ; and by this means, and also by 
 the preserve being in a well-chosen spot, hares are often 
 multiplied to a vast extent. But there is a limit to 
 tin's, even before there is the slightest appearance of a 
 deficiency of food. The law of nature is not to be violated 
 with impunity, or rather not to be violated at all ; and thus 
 there falls upon the overstocked preserve an unknown 
 fatality, by means of which the animals perish in vast 
 numbers, without the slightest emaciation of their bodies, 
 or any other appearance of disease. For this reason, those 
 who wish to designate it by a name, call it epizooty, or that 
 which falls epi, upon, zoon, the life ; but in what manner 
 it falls they cannot tell by any examination of the 
 individuals which are the victims to it. This is not 
 peculiar to land animals, for it sometimes affects animals, 
 the warm-blooded especially, which inhabit the waters ; 
 and instances have occurred of the shores in some countries 
 being literally covered by the bodies of seals, not exhausted 
 by famine, but well-conditioned and fat, upon which this 
 singular visitation had fallen. This excess of every pro- 
 duction of nature, in consequence of which each has enough 
 for its own wholesome purpose, and plenty to spare for that 
 which depends upon it, is the beauty of the system, and one 
 of the grand distinctions between the works of God anjl 
 the works of man. Man's works require to be supported 
 with something from nature which is external of them ; 
 neither can man so contrive two engines, or two artificial 
 structures of any kind, as that the one of them can of 
 itself in the least degree repair the other, or keep it in 
 order, any more than the individual machine can repair 
 itself. God's machines (so to call them) are, on the other 
 hand, all self-repairing; and they derive their materials
 
 ZOOLOGICAL DIVISIONS. 201 
 
 from each other by means of their own powers, and without 
 any external aid. This applies to every part of nature; 
 but we forbore alluding to it until we came to speak of 
 animals, because in them it is most conspicuous. With this 
 as a general accompaniment to which we need not refer 
 upon particular occasions, for the purpose of showing that 
 the feeding of one animal upon another is not cruelty, in 
 our sense of the word we shall proceed to notice a few of 
 the effects of Spring upon the animated world. 
 
 These may be, in a great measure, confined to land 
 animals ; because the inhabitants of the waters experience 
 comparatively little difference of season. They are also much 
 more conspicuous in certain classes of animals than in others; 
 and of course those in which they are so are best fitted for 
 being subjects of popular description and instruction. 
 
 We may mention, for the sake of our readers who have 
 not paid attention to Zoology the science or knowledge 
 of animals that animals consist of two grand divisions, 
 the one having back-bones, and other bones which are 
 clothed with flesh and skin ; and the other grand division 
 being without bones, and having their external covering so 
 formed as to serve as a sort of substitute. The first grand 
 division contains by far the largest and most interesting 
 animals ; and man, considered as body only, is one of the 
 number; but the second grand division is vastly more 
 abundant in numbers, and the part which the numbers of 
 it perform in the economy of nature, especially as it affects 
 the vegetable tribes, is often highly important. The land 
 animals having back-bones consist of three distinct classes, 
 which are accurately discriminated by the popular name* 
 of beasts, birds, and reptiles ; it being understood that the 
 word " beast " is restricted to such animals as suckle their 
 young with milk. The animals without back-bones, which 
 are smaller individually, but more numerous, are sometimes
 
 202 ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS 
 
 popularly denominated by the general name of insects, 
 though that name properly belongs to only one subdivision 
 of them. To avoid a multiplicity of names, we shall, when 
 we have occasion, use the word "insect" in its proper 
 signification, and apply the general name, " small animals," 
 to every back-boneless animal which is not an insect. 
 
 All land animals have the power of locomotion, or change 
 of place, to some extent or other ; and though this cannot 
 be regarded as the characteristic of animal life, yet it is 
 in this that the influence of Spring is first displayed ; for 
 the genial weather puts the whole animated world into a 
 state of activity unknown during the preceding season of 
 the year. 
 
 Beasts, taking them generally, have no motion, except 
 that of walking on the earth, or swimming a short way 
 across the waters ; and therefore the influence of the Spring, 
 and of all the seasons, must, generally speaking, be met by 
 them in the same localities. It follows, as a necessary 
 consequence of this, that they must require some seasonal 
 preparation, greater in proportion as the seasons of their 
 native places differ more from each other. In tropical 
 countries they resemble the trees, in being in nearly the 
 same state of preparation all the year round ; and, as they 
 can seek shelter, they do not so soon begin to require 
 adaptation to variable seasons as vegetables do.* When 
 we come to very cold latitudes, and cold mountain regions 
 near the snow, we find, however, that there is an adapta- 
 tion of the beasts to their place on the earth. In polar 
 latitudes, and also in Alpine ones, some species wax 
 exceedingly fat previous to the Winter ; and then retire 
 to artificial dens, or holes dug by themselves, in which 
 
 * It is fouiid that some of the tropical mammalia, such as the 
 Tenree of Madagascar, passes the Summer in a sleep very similar 
 to the stal e called liybernat ion.
 
 TO PLACES AND SEASONS. 203 
 
 they pass the severity of the "Winter, not only without 
 eating, but with all the animal functions nearly suspended ; 
 the little waste of their bodies which occurs in this inactive 
 state being supplied by the fat which accumulated upon 
 them previous to their falling into their Winter repose. 
 This mode of passing the "Winter is usually called Jiyber- 
 nafion, which simply means wintering. It is habitual in 
 some species of animals, for they pass into this state every 
 Winter. It is probable, however, that every animal can 
 partially pass into it ; for there have been instances of 
 sheep, and also of human beings, that have remained alive 
 under the snow much longer than they would have done 
 in the open air, without a supply of food. The first 
 influence of Spring upon those hybernating animals is, to 
 rouse them from their slumbers, and prepare them for the 
 grand labour of the year, the production of a new gene- 
 ration, which shall supply their place when they are gone. 
 As the places which such animals inhabit are usually 
 remote from the dwellings of men, and their early habits 
 are obscure, the influence of the Spring upon them is not 
 very easily observed. In those cold latitudes the animals 
 which do not hybernate (and they are by far the greater 
 number), have their vigour secured against the Spring by 
 an addition to the quantity, and by the change in colour, 
 of the hair or fur, which is the general clothing of such 
 animals. It gets much closer, and becomes paler in the 
 colour, often changing entirely to white, as it does in the 
 Alpine hare, which is found near the summits of our 
 loftiest mountains ; and does not descend thence in the 
 Winter, but remains amid the snows without hybernating. 
 Where the difference of seasons is less extreme, and the 
 animals are exposed to the weather, their protection con- 
 sists in the old coat of the year remaining uncast, while 
 the young coat grows among the roots; whereas, if the
 
 204 REPTILES. 
 
 same animals are kept under shelter during the Winter, 
 there is little difference in the texture of their coats all the 
 year round. The influence of the Spring upon this class of 
 animals is, however, more worthy of being studied as a 
 portion of the scenes which they inhabit, than in them- 
 selves considered apart. These animals are found in every 
 latitude, from the equator to the extreme north ; and from 
 the mean level of the earth's surface, to the margins of the 
 snows upon the loftiest mountains. This general distri- 
 bution proves how useful they must be in wild nature ; 
 and we need not point out the usefulness of the domesti- 
 cated species to man, for, in the early stages of society they 
 form his only wealth ; and we can imagine no state of 
 civilisation in which they could be dispensed with. They 
 supply far more human food and clothing, than all the 
 other classes of animals put together ; and they are the 
 only animals that assist man in the performance of his 
 labours. 
 
 The animals which we designate by the general name of 
 reptiles, are cold-blooded ; and though they can exert 
 themselves powerfully when occasion requires, their animal 
 powers are not nearly so vigorous as those of the classes 
 which have the blood warm. Generally speaking, they are 
 impatient alike of the heat of the sun, and of chilling cold. 
 There are however, exceptions ; for several of them sport 
 in the warm sunshine only. Their head-quarters are in the 
 tropical countries in the thick forests, and generally by the 
 margin of the waters. In polar latitudes they are hardly 
 known ; they are but few in any temperate country ; and 
 with us there is but a single one which can be said to bear 
 any conspicuous part in the labours of the Spring. This is 
 the common frog, which reposes in a state of hybernation 
 under water during the "Winter, and which may be both 
 seen and heard at its spring labours, in ditches and small
 
 REPTILES. 
 
 205 
 
 ponds of stagnant water. The character which it gives 
 to the season is, however, but a slight one; and the song 
 which it utters to cheer its labours is far from being the 
 most musical in nature's grand vernal chorus. 
 
 THE FROG. 
 
 The few other reptiles which this country contains do 
 not come abroad until the season is so far advanced that 
 Spring may be said to be over ; and even then their man- 
 ners and mode of life are so obscure, that, instead of 
 obtruding themselves upon the observer, they are apt to 
 elude his observation altogether. They consist of the com- 
 mon toad, and animals somewhat intermediate between that 
 and the frog; two or three small snakes of the harmless 
 class ; and a single poisonous serpent, the common viper,
 
 206 BIED8. 
 
 whose bite, or rather whose venom, is not very deadly under 
 our mild sun and mild atmosphere. These are all obscure 
 and' quiet creatures, living in retirement, hurting nobody ; 
 and so far as is known, doing neither good nor harm to any- 
 thing that concerns man. 
 
 There only remains to be noticed one other class of land 
 animals having back-bones, namely, the birds. As the 
 greater number of these can make their way through the 
 air, they are not hemmed in by the same boundaries which 
 necessarily confine the three former classes, but can range 
 from climate to climate, and from country to country ; and 
 therefore it is in them which we are to seek for the grand 
 displays of vernal action upon animated nature. 
 
 This power of mobility in the birds, and the compara- 
 tively small fatigue with which those that are properly 
 winged for the purpose proceed through the thin element 
 in which their pathway lies, enable them to be at every spot 
 where their presence is more especially necessary, to reach 
 every article of food which is appointed for their consump- 
 tion, and to regulate the numbers of those creatures, 
 whether animal or vegetable, over which they are imme- 
 diately set. Besides being travellers in the air, the birds 
 are in an especial manner children of the sun, and follow 
 that luminary in its apparent declinations. What the 
 impulse is which guides them in their seasonal movements, 
 is beyond the scope of our knowledge ; and therefore we 
 need make no inquiry concerning it, any more than we need 
 inquire why the sun illuminates and warms by its own 
 direct light, while the moon illuminates only by reflecting a 
 portion of the light of the sun, and does not warm at all, 
 or at least very slightly. 
 
 But though we cannot assign the reason, or even guess 
 at it, the fact is certain ; and there is no bird which periodi- 
 cally disappears from one region of the world, in numbers,
 
 MIGRATION OF BIKDS. 207 
 
 which does not proceed to another. There is no bird which 
 is hatched in any one part of the world, and afterwards 
 leaves that part for another, but which returns to spend the 
 breeding season, and hatch its own brood in the place of its 
 nativity. There are also cases quite well authenticated oi 
 this being done with a nicety which human reason could 
 not exceed or hardly reach ; for if a pair of birds have once 
 built a nest in any spot, and escaped casualty so as to 
 return again, they come directly to the same spot ; and do 
 it so nicely that the same pair of house-martens will, for a 
 series of years, return and repair the same identical nest in 
 the same corner of the same window ; or if any accident 
 has rendered that unfit for their purpose, they will build a 
 new nest as near to the place of the old one as ever they can. 
 
 Xo matter what may be the season of the year at which 
 a visiting bird conies to any country or leaves it, we may be 
 always assured that such a bird does migrate, and that, 
 whether they are natives of warmer regions or of colder, 
 no bird ever hybernates. Specimens have, indeed, been 
 found benumbed, under hedges, and in other hiding-places, 
 after the rest of their fellows had quitted the country ; but 
 such birds are always exceptions to the rule, and not 
 observances of it. They are either sickly birds, or those 
 members of very late broods which were unable to accom- 
 pany the rest when the voice of the season warned them ic 
 be gone.
 
 208 MIGRATION OF BIRDS. 
 
 We are but little acquainted with the migrations of birds 
 in the southern hemisphere ; and as the character of that 
 hemisphere is more or less tropical throughout its whole 
 extent, it is highly probable that such birds are regulated 
 entirely by the alternations of rain and drought, without 
 any regard to the seasons of the year, as dependent upon 
 the apparent declinations of the sun. In the northern 
 hemisphere the case is very different. From the diversity 
 of seasons which that hemisphere enjoys in its various 
 latitudes, the supply of bird's food is equally variable, more 
 especially in the case of those birds which feed upon insects 
 and other small animals. After the snows of Winter have 
 fallen, and the frosts of Winter have sealed up the rivers 
 and the lakes, there remains not one of these small animals 
 accessible to a bird ; and therefore all birds whose habit it 
 is to feed upon animal matters, on the land, in the marshes, 
 or by the margins of the stream, must either quit, or they 
 would perish during the rigours of the long Winter. The 
 few that remain upon land must be capable of subsisting 
 upon the buds and tops of trees, the scanty supply of wild 
 berries which countries so dreary afford in the Winter, and 
 the insects which they can pick from the crevices of the 
 bark of trees. Even with us, a bird which feeds entirely 
 upon insects, or the larvae or caterpillars of insects, cannot 
 find food during the Winter, unless it be adapted for seek- 
 ing its food in the waters, or in the mud and sludge upon 
 their margins. We have therefore no winter pasture for 
 such birds ; and as our insular situation renders our Winter 
 less severe than that of the same latitudes on the continent, 
 the insect feeding birds must, during the Winter, find their 
 way farther to the south than they do from us. Those 
 insect-feeders are our sweetest songsters ; and as, in conse- 
 quence of their winter's absence, they are new to us every 
 Spring, we feel an interest in them, which we do not feel in
 
 MIGRATION OF BIEDS. 209 
 
 those birds which spend the whole year within our country, 
 though many of the latter are endeared to us by the fami- 
 liarity which they display, and the protection which their 
 helpless condition, and confiding advances, appear to seek 
 of us during the inclement season. 
 
 As our summer birds retire during the "Winter to more 
 southerly habitations, where food for them is abundant, so 
 those which, if they remained in the extreme north, would 
 be liable to perish there, pay us their annual visits at the 
 time when our summer songsters are gone. These are 
 chiefly water birds and marsh birds ; for though some land 
 birds come, and come in abundance in particular years, that 
 takes place chiefly when the storms in the north are more 
 than usually early and severe. These movements do not 
 affect the birds which remain far at sea, except during their 
 nesting times, so much as they affect those which frequent 
 the fresh waters, and the beaches and shallows along the 
 margin of the sea. The reason of this is obvious ; fre.*h 
 waters and shallows freeze much sooner than water 
 which is deeper, and more impregnated with salt; and 
 thus the shore bird is frozen out, and compelled to 
 take its departure, while the sea-bird, which finds its 
 food by fishing on the broad waters, meets with no incon- 
 venience. 
 
 This southward movement of the birds before the Win- 
 ter's frost, js that which has to be reversed by the operation 
 of the Spring. On the average of years the reversal is 
 complete, and no more. That which is done while the heat 
 retreats southward is undone while it advances northward ; 
 and during those portions both of the Winter and the 
 Summer, when there is comparatively but little variations 
 for several weeks, there are resting places for the wanderers, 
 while their habits and their powers of motion are such, 
 that those which summer in the temperate countries find a 
 
 o
 
 210 RESIDENT BIRDS. 
 
 second summer during the time of their sojourn in places 
 further to the south. 
 
 . The proper breeding season the grand time of activity 
 with all migrant birds is, however, at the greatest distance 
 to which they range from the equator. That is the place 
 of their nativity ; and it is there that they ply their labours 
 with the greatest assiduity, and pour forth their songs with 
 the most apparent delight. 
 
 But in addition to those migrant birds, the one set of 
 which begin to arrive and the other set to depart at the 
 opening of the Spring, there are many which reside for the 
 whole year in the same locality. Birds of this latter class 
 are most numerous at the equator ; and as the seasons 
 become more marked, their numbers diminish, until, in the 
 high latitudes, they are, as has been said, comparatively 
 few. 
 
 With us, these last-mentioned are generally vegetable 
 
 feeders, or indiscriminate feeders upon animal or vegetable 
 
 matters ; and, instead of dispersing themselves over the 
 
 country in the Winter, as one would be apt to suppose, 
 
 they congregate in vast flocks, which often consist of many 
 
 different kinds of birds. While the corn-fields remain clear 
 
 of snow, they find abundance of food in these ; and it is in 
 
 this way that they acquire strength to be able to undergo 
 
 the labours of the Spring, when that season comes round ; 
 
 for, where the seasons are strongly marked, all birds and all 
 
 animals in a state of nature are strictly seasonal ; and the 
 
 Spring is the grand time of action with them. Xor are 
 
 they slow in their obedience to the indications of this their 
 
 favourite season ; for instead of showing any backwardness 
 
 to the performance of their labours, they obviously feel 
 
 more delight in them than in anything else. Those which 
 
 are on the spot feel even the slightest and most transitory 
 
 foretaste of the season. One day the redbreast shall have
 
 ROBIN WHEN SKYLARK. 
 
 211 
 
 . been crouching on the snow, or tapping at the window for 
 his accustomed alms ; but if the frost relents, and the sun 
 of next day shines out warm and kindly, this interesting 
 bird will be perched on 
 the tree, carolling his 
 farewell song of thank- 
 fulness, as if he were 
 about to take his de- 
 parture for the copse, 
 build his nest, and rear 
 his tender young. The 
 little wren, too, which, 
 during the severity of 
 the storm, merely hops 
 from under the fire- 
 wood heap by the cottage door, to see what its little daring 
 bill can capture, gets on the top of the same heap in the 
 warm sun, and begins its sweet little warble. 
 
 If the morning is fine, the sun beats warm, and the 
 sunny sides of the furrows begin to take the " colour of 
 promise," the lark is speedily at the top of the sky, making 
 the fields shiver to his delightfully enlivening melody. 
 Notwithstanding the general attention which this early 
 voice of the Spring, both of the year and of the morning, 
 has received, and notwithstanding all that has been written 
 concerning it in prose or in verse, there is something so 
 exhilarating in the song of the lark, and it is so completely 
 identified with the important labours of the fields, and the 
 happy homes of rustic life, that one never tires of hearing 
 it. The earliest note which charms the ear of the infant, 
 when it is old enough to observe, and taken out to inhale 
 strength from the fresh air of the morning, is the song of 
 the lark ; and the worn-out rustic, who is unable to con- 
 tend longer with the variable weather of the Spring, takes 
 
 o2
 
 212 SONG OF THE LAEK. 
 
 his last farewell of nature in the song of this interesting 
 bird. Its soaring aloft, till it seems but a little brown 
 speck against the blue dome of the sky, or its total dis- 
 appearance in that magnificent expanse, while the notes of 
 its song of invitation continue to thrill sweetly on the ear, 
 impart a train of thought which it is not easy to commit 
 to writing. The slow and solemn Sabbath-morning walk, 
 which a man of right mind often takes, in order to com- 
 mune with his own heart, and prepare him for drawing 
 near to his Grod in the place appointed for . solemn worship, 
 is certainly improved by the song of this bird, which though 
 it differs not on one day in itself from what it is on another, 
 yet brings home to the mind the particular subject on 
 which it is bent at the time. It has often been remarked 
 that those sounds and sights in nature such as this matin 
 song which, upon the working days of the week, cheer 
 man on to the hearty and successful performance of his 
 labour, conduce as much to the timing of the mind to an 
 accordance with the solemn services of the sacred day. It 
 is reported of a certain martyr, that when he was bound 
 to the stake, and the faggots were collecting around him , 
 a skylark mounted on high, and sung over his head ; at 
 which he clasped his hands together, and returned thanks 
 that " there was still one free creature which could pour 
 forth its gratitude to the Giver of aD good according to 
 the dictates of its own heart." 
 
 As a herald of the Spring, there is a certainty about the 
 lark, which can hardly be predicated of any other songster 
 of the early season ; for, though there may be an occa- 
 sional song of this bird from a small height, upon one of 
 those fine days wherewith a lingering Winter is not un- 
 frequently spotted ; yet, when the lark mounts to the top 
 of his flight, and swells his song to the full power of his 
 voice, one may rest assured that the Spring has indeed
 
 MISSEL-THErSH. 
 
 213 
 
 SONG-THRVSH. 
 
 arrived ; and that any relapses into Winter which occur 
 
 after this, will not be either severe, or of long duration. 
 
 Another of the early heralds of the Spring is the missel- 
 thrush, the largest and one of the most mellow-toned of 
 
 our wild songsters. This 
 
 is the largest of the thrush 
 
 tribe, soft in its appearance, 
 
 mellow in its song, local in 
 
 its distribution, and hid in 
 
 the deepest covert of the 
 
 groves. But still it is one 
 
 of those birds which are 
 
 most on the alert for the 
 
 coming of the Spring, and 
 
 most ready to greet with a 
 
 song even a very slight 
 
 promise of the vernal sea- 
 season. It is true that the "Winter is never very severe in 
 places where this bird is to be found ; and as it remains in 
 the shelter of the sprays, it does not feel the Winter so 
 much as those birds which are buffeted by the angry winds 
 upon the open plains ; but still this thrush is a delightful 
 bird of the early season, because so little of the seasonal 
 influence excites it to the delivery of its soft melody ; and 
 even if it is overtaken by one of those short but boisterous 
 snow showers, which so frequently occur in the end of 
 January and the beginning of February, it sings away as 
 if to keep in remembrance that, notwithstanding the little 
 temporary reverse, the Spring will certainly come. It is 
 thus that various members of the animal kingdom forcibly 
 admonish us to trust in the goodness of God, and patiently 
 await his time, if we would but translate their voices to 
 our own proper edification. 
 
 It has often been customary to assign particular days
 
 214 
 
 BOOKS, 
 
 for the commencement of the songs of birds for the year, 
 and also for their beginning the construction or repair 
 of their nests. This, however, like many other matters on 
 which we attempt to apply numerical precision to natural 
 occurrences, is calculated only to mislead. The time at 
 which the native bird shall be excited to song, or to 
 seasonal labour, or that which the Spring visitant shall 
 arrive, is not fixed by the calendar, but depends both upon 
 the place and upon the season.* If there is a low and 
 
 warm district, bounded south- 
 wards by the sea, and shel- 
 tered from the north and 
 north-east by a swelling 
 bank some four or five hun- 
 dred feet in height, and if 
 beyond this latter an upland 
 stretches, then the native 
 birds may be in full activity, 
 and many of the visitants 
 may have arrived upon the 
 warm lowland, while upon 
 the upland all is mute. 
 The rook is a most characteristic bird of the vernal 
 
 BOOK. 
 
 * The observations and records of naturalists at many different 
 localities in the British Islands, show, that the arrivals and de- 
 partures of migratory birds are extremely regular. See White's 
 " Selborne," Knapp's " Journal of a Naturalist," and such 
 periodicals as " The Zoologist," for numerous instances In the 
 tropics and the wanner parts of the world, the migrations of 
 different animals, such as of the land-crab of Jamaica from the 
 sea to the mountains, and vice versa, are wonderfully regular. There 
 is great force and beauty in the Scriptural assertion " the stork 
 knoweth the time of her coming." The arrival of these and other 
 migratory birds is regularly looked for by the inhabitants.
 
 AND THEIR USES. 215 
 
 season, and one to which considerable interest attaches. 
 The family of birds to which the rook belongs are, generally 
 speaking, plunderers of the nests of other birds ; and 
 though this may, indeed must, excite rather a feeling 
 against them with many persons, yet it no doubt has its 
 use in nature, and contributes to the general good of the 
 feathered race. If rooks are not altogether without this 
 propensity, they have it in an exceedingly slight degree ; 
 and the good which they do in other respects is more than 
 a compensation. They are social birds among themselves ; 
 they appear to prefer building their rookeries near human 
 habitations, rather than in remote places ; and they 
 hesitate not to alight in the fields, and follow the ploughs, 
 performing their part in the labours of the husbandman 
 wit unwearie d assiduity. Those larva? of earth beetles 
 and flies, or, more strictly speaking, those beetles which 
 pass their larva state under the ground, feed upon the roots 
 of vegetables, and are often very destructive to young 
 corn in fields, and grass in meadows, by completely con- 
 suming the roots, and leaving the upper parts of the plants 
 to perish, are the chief subjects for which the rooks search 
 the earth so diligently as it is turned up by the plough. 
 These underground destroyers are, individually, of small 
 si/e, but they are exceedingly voracious ; and their num- 
 bers, in some places and seasons, are altogether incredible, 
 so that they resemble, in their destructive ravages, a 
 species of underground locusts. Against such enemies 
 man himself can do nothing ; because a hundred times the 
 produce of the richest field would not repay the expense 
 of clearing it by human labour, even thougli pmrtimble. 
 But the rooks do this in a very i>iirrtu;il manner; so that, 
 where rooks are abundant, the kind of larva- which have 
 been noticed do comparatively little damage. They are 
 exceedingly keen-eyed birds, sturdy walkers, and powerful
 
 216 FAMILIAB ANIMALS. 
 
 on the wing ; and thus they are able to undergo a great 
 deal of fatigue in the performance of those duties which 
 are so serviceable to the farmer. While they walk about 
 on the ploughed fields, there is a strut of importance 
 about them. We do not mean to say that they are in the 
 least conscious of doing good ; far otherwise, for the only 
 inducement which they have to the performance of their 
 field labour is the desire of feeding themselves and their 
 young. Still, some one has remarked, and the remark 
 does not appear to be altogether destitute of truth, that 
 whenever there is familiarity with man, and a strut of 
 importance in the bearing of any animal, that animal 
 always does man service in some way or other, whether 
 man himself has discernment enough for appreciating the 
 service or not. On the other hand, an animal which 
 sneaks into concealment, and approaches the abode of man 
 stealthily, or under cover of the night, always comes for a 
 mischievous purpose ; and, however, useful it may be in 
 wild nature, where man has no dominion, it may invariably 
 be looked upon as a creature which can, and which should 
 be removed, after his dominion is fully established. 
 
 We must not wonder at, or be in any doubt or hesitation 
 concerning this change which takes place in the relative 
 value of many animals, after man takes full possession of 
 that kingdom which his Maker gave him. He introduces 
 the exercise of a power altogether new, and to which there 
 is nothing approaching in the rest of the earth's in- 
 habitants. He brings, or, at all events, he ought to 
 bring, understanding and judgment into the system of 
 nature ; and as his wants are both numerous and urgent, 
 and he is, in a great measure, left to his own judgment in 
 the satisfying of them, it is delegated to him to determine 
 which other animals are to make room for him. This, we 
 are ready to admit, is a matter which cannot be decided
 
 JUDGING OF ANIMALS. 217 
 
 without much knowledge of the nature of animals, and the 
 total absence of all prejudice ; but still it is a point which 
 the Almighty has left for human decision. It is true that 
 the good man is " merciful to his beast," but that means 
 the beast which he finds useful to him ; and though man 
 ought not to torture any living creature with wanton 
 cruelty, yet there is no doubt that he is justified in 
 destroying, and even in attempting to extirpate, that which 
 experience has shown to be contrary to his best interests. 
 
 The experience must be well founded, however ; and to 
 get a proper foundation of experience, for judging rightly 
 upon this point, is one of the many uses of the study of 
 natural history. This does not mean the mere distinction 
 of one animal, or natural production of any kind, from 
 another ; but an accurate knowledge of the part which each 
 acts in nature, and a full understanding of in what manner, 
 and in how far that is conducive to the advantage or the 
 disadvantage of man. There have been errors in this respect 
 in the case of the rooks ; and instances could be mentioned 
 in which the people of a district, after no small expense and 
 labour in the destruction of these birds, found their crops 
 so much more seriously injured by those small animals 
 which the rooks destroy, that they were glad to get them 
 back again at far more labour and cost than had been 
 necessary for the previous destruction. 
 
 That rooks do sometimes pull tufts of grass, and young 
 plants of corn, of potatoes, or of other cultivated vegetables, 
 is no doubt true ; but it will in general, if not in every 
 case, be found that there has been a worm at the root which 
 would have more effectually destroyed the plant than the 
 rook does. That at certain seasons of the year, they levy 
 contributions on the produce of the fields, we do not mean 
 to deny ; and as little do we mean to deny that those in- 
 sectivorous birds of song which clear the fruit-trees of
 
 218 ECONOMY OF BOOKS. 
 
 caterpillars in the early season, and so prevent the total 
 failure of the fruit-crop, do return to the garden, after the 
 supply of caterpillars fails, and take a portion of the berries. 
 But if the depredations which they commit in this respect 
 are fairly weighed against the services which they perform, 
 it will be found that the former are really but slight in 
 comparison. 
 
 Besides the usefulness of their services, rooks are very 
 interesting birds in their economy. The assiduity with 
 which they build their nests, the severe chastisement which 
 they inflict upon such members of the community as are 
 dishonest in the procuring of sticks for this purpose, the 
 attachment of the pair to each other, their diligence in 
 feeding their young, and the perfect harmony which subsists 
 among all the families of a community so numerous as that 
 of a rookery often is, not only oiler very pleasing subjects 
 for rational contemplation, but furnish lessons of instruc- 
 tion and reproof which ought not to be slighted. 
 
 It is a common saying in many parts of the country, that 
 these interesting and well-known birds lay the first stick of 
 their nests, or begin the repairs of their old ones, on the first 
 day of March. There is, however, no fixed day for this. In 
 very open winters, in the warmer districts of the country, 
 they sometimes begin their labours early in January, if not 
 at the very beginning of that month ; while in the late 
 seasons, in the cold districts, their labours sometimes do not 
 begin till April. The fact is, that there is no fixed time for 
 any labour of animals. They are stimulated by a particular 
 character of the season ; and whether that arrives sooner or 
 later, they obey it as a matter of course. It often happens 
 that they begin their labours before the Winter sets in ; if 
 the "Winter happens to be late, they have again to suspend 
 them ; but if they once have begun and once have paired, 
 the pair keep together through good weather and through
 
 EAELY MIGRANTS. 219 
 
 bad, until a temperature arrives which shall suit them for 
 the grand labour of the year ; and then they double their 
 diligence in nest-building in proportion as the commence- 
 ment has been made. 
 
 The same circumstances which tempt the early resident 
 songsters to tune their notes, and the rooks to begin to repair 
 their habitations, often bring from the shores of the sea those 
 running birds which winter there, but breed in the upland 
 moors, such as lapwings, plovers, and other species. These 
 birds often coming too early, are overtaken by a renewal of 
 the storm ; and when the snow-flakes beat around them, the 
 whistling of the plover, and the wailing of the lapwing 
 upon the wild moors, have something in them which 
 is singularly plaintive. On such occasions the plover 
 generally keeps the ground, and runs from bush to bush 
 until it finds one fit for its shelter ; but the lapwing 
 dares the storm, and tumbles about amid the driving 
 flakes, in its very peculiar style of flight, and uttering its 
 very peculiar cry. It has been remarked, however, that 
 there is never any severe weather of long duration after 
 the appearance of the lapwing inland upon the moors. 
 
 It is just as impossible to lay down any fixed date for the 
 first appearance upon their summer grounds of those birds 
 which are seasonally migrant within the country, as it is to 
 determine the precise day on which a bird permanently 
 resident in the same place shall begin its song, or that on 
 which a stranger from a far country shall arrive. One thing 
 is certain, namely, that those birds which remain per- 
 manently within the country, whether they remain all the 
 year in the same place, or shift from place to place with the 
 seasons, are regulated as to the time of their Spring activn\ 
 by circumstances which occur in the country ; and therefore 
 we have a sort of guide to the time at which we may expect 
 them to be called into activity.
 
 220 SPRING PLUMAGE. 
 
 The case of those which come to us from distant coun- 
 tries is a good deal more difficult; because, though we 
 know very little ahout the matter, we have reason to 
 believe that they are impelled by the state of the regions 
 which they leave, instead of attracted by that of those to 
 which they come. The latter can have no influence upon 
 them till their arrival. 
 
 After they do arrive, however, in the south of our island, 
 the state of the weather has a considerable influence upon 
 their progress northwards, and also upon their pairing, 
 commencing their labours, and beginning their songs. 
 The males of most of the species come first. The cause 
 of this is not exactly known. It is possible, however, 
 that the season sooner takes effect upon male birds than 
 upon females. In external appearance, especially in the 
 colours of the plumage and the naked skin, where these 
 are subject to change in the breeding season, the males 
 always undergo greater changes than the females ; and 
 those changes are invariably an increase of brightness 
 and beauty. "Whether these changes of colour are pro- 
 duced directly by the influence of the season, or indirectly 
 by the general stimulus given to the system of the birds, it 
 is not easy to determine ; nor is it of much importance 
 whether it is the one or the other, but it is certain that 
 many of those pleasing little creatures assume a gayer 
 livery in the vernal season, and are inspired with a corres- 
 ponding degree of additional spirit and energy.* 
 
 These preparations, whether in the resident bird or in 
 that which comes from a distance, appear to be highly 
 
 * Alfred Tennyson, the poet laureate, in his " Locksley Hall," 
 alludes to this . 
 
 "In the Spring, a fuller crimson conies upon the robin's breast; 
 In the Spring, the wanton lapwing gets himself another crest ; 
 In the Spring, a livelier iris changes on the burnished dove."
 
 SONGS, NOISES, AND TOICES. 221 
 
 necessary for the purpose of carrying them through the 
 labours which they have to perform at this season of the 
 year. Nor is it unworthy of remark, that, while birds are 
 at this season the most laborious of all creatures, they are 
 the most cheerful and sprightly. At other seasons they sit 
 moping and solitary upon the twigs, or crouch down upon 
 the ground, as if they were lifeless. At this time, on the 
 other hand, they are all bustle and activity, and the harder 
 they labour they appear to require the less rest. In this 
 we have a beautiful instance of the benevolent kindness of 
 the Creator to his creatures, in not only fitting each for the 
 general station that it fills in nature, but in so varying the 
 adaptation as that its vigour is always exactly in proportion 
 to the demand that there is upon it. If little is required 
 for the time, correspondingly little is imparted ; but if great 
 energy is needed on a particular occasion, and for a par- 
 ticular purpose, the measure of that energy is always 
 brought up to that of the necessity there is for it. 
 
 Besides their great beauty and variety, and the vast 
 interest which they impart to the activity of the vernal 
 season, there is something peculiarly worthy of our notice 
 in the songs of the feathered tribes. Birds are the only 
 animals which have song ; for though bees hum, beetles 
 drone, crickets chirp, and various other insects emit sounds, 
 not one of these sounds can be considered voice. None of 
 them is produced by the mouth of the animal, or any part 
 of the breathing apparatus acting upon the breath. They 
 are all the results of the striking of external parts, either 
 against the atmosphere, or rapidly against each other ; aud 
 they are as inseparable from the motion of the creatures 
 as the sound of the wings of some birds is from the style 
 of their flight. We have mentioned the lapwing, and thru' 
 is no bird which, has more peculiarly sounding wings than 
 it has. In its nesting-time upon the moors, when it is
 
 222 SONGS, NOISES, AND VOICES. 
 
 excited in an extraordinary manner, as it always is by the 
 passing of a dog near its nest, it tumbles about in the air 
 with apparently frantic motions ; and ever and anon it 
 twitches down to within a very short distance of the 
 invader, and on the turn, its wings give a report as if it 
 had discharged a small pistol at him. Nor is it at all 
 uncommon to see a cur sneak off, crouching and whining, 
 from this demonstration of the bird, as if he were appre- 
 hensive of being shot. 
 
 Those sounds of wings and external parts, whether they 
 occur in birds or smaller animals, have however no relation 
 to voice, and none of them has any modulation, or bears 
 even the slightest resemblance to song. The songs of the 
 birds, on the other hand, are distinct vocal sounds ; and 
 there is a very peculiar provision made for the power and 
 compass of their musical instrument, to which there is 
 nothing equal or even resembling in any other class of 
 animals. The beasts, or mammalia (sucklers of their 
 young), as they are technically called, all have voiee to 
 some extent or other, but that voice is never musical ; and 
 what is remarkable, it is incapable of improvement by 
 artificial teaching. Many birds can be taught to pipe with 
 the greatest accuracy musical airs, even though they 
 contain semi-tones and trills, which are of very difficult 
 execution by the human voice, or upon a musical instru- 
 ment. Not a few, also, can be taught to articulate 
 words, and sing songs, equally true to the sense and the 
 music. "When we find, in birds, which have little external 
 resemblance to human beings, those perfect imitations of 
 what may be regarded as the most pleasing sounds of the 
 human voice, analogy would lead us to conclude that we 
 should have the same imitations in greater perfection from 
 the mammalia, and especially from those mammalia which, 
 externally and internally, have the nearer resemblance to
 
 VABIOUS SOUNDS AUD VOICES. 223 
 
 human beings, the monkey, and still more the apes. Those 
 creatures, more especially the monkeys, are certainly noisy 
 enough ; but whether the sounds which they utter happen 
 to express pleasure or pain, satisfaction or anger, they are 
 invariably disagreeable ; and in some of the tropical forests, 
 where the loudest tongued species are numerous, their 
 bowlings are terrific to one unacquainted with them. If 
 we were to muster the whole list of this class of animals, 
 we should not be able to find a single approximation to 
 music, or anything which could be called a spirit-awakening 
 cry. There are no doubt many of the voices of those 
 animals which are agreeable to us. The baying of the 
 watch-dog, for instance ; the bleating of the ewe, and the 
 little voice of her own lamb, which alone answers to her 
 out of the hundred which may be sporting together on the 
 green sward. But in these, and in all cases in which the 
 voices of beasts are pleasurable to us, the pleasure is not 
 in the voice itself, but in something we associate with it. 
 When we are weary and worn with wandering in an 
 unknown and thinly-inhabited country, the barking of a 
 dog is always pleasant to the ear ; but it is so because it 
 gives us hope that we are near a human dwelling ; we love 
 the deep sound of the watch-dog wafted on the still air of 
 a dark night, because it announces to us that the faithful 
 creature is on the alert, and at his post, while his master 
 sleeps in perfect security. In like manner the bleating of 
 the ewe, and the response of the lamb, give us pleasure by 
 the example they afford of tender attachment between the 
 mother and the offspring. 
 
 How different are the songs of birds from all these ! 
 They are all musical, and every one of them is a song of 
 joy and excitement, both to the utterer and to those for 
 whose sake it is uttered. The male bird is the prime 
 songster; and generally, though not always, the only our.
 
 224 
 
 YABIOUS SOUNDS AND TOICES. 
 
 This song, too, is given immediately before, and during the 
 severest labours of the birds ; and therefore it in some way 
 contributes to spirit them on to those labours, and bear 
 them up under their pressure. The fact is not universal ; 
 but it is pretty general that those birds which build 
 elaborate nests, are much more vocal than those which form 
 rude ones, or no nests at all. The gallinaceous birds of 
 rich plains, such as partridges and pheasants, have cries, 
 which are often shrill and piercing, and have much tone in 
 them, but they never upon any occasion amount to anything 
 that deserves the name of music. Resident birds have also, 
 generally speaking,* less song than migrant ones, and birds 
 which frequent the open downs and the bleak moors have 
 less than those which nestle in the groves and thickets. 
 The sky-lark may seem an exception to this, but it is not 
 one in reality ; for, though the sky-lark does not frequent 
 the woods, it is a comparatively concealed bird upon the 
 ground, among the brown clods during the early part of 
 
 the season, and among 
 the tall herbage after the 
 season is farther advanced: 
 Sufficient attention has 
 not, however, been paid to 
 this curious subject for 
 enabling us to say what 
 the specific effect of song 
 generally, or of any one 
 song in particular, has 
 upon the birds which utter 
 it. That it is connected 
 WOOD-LARK, rith the grand labour of 
 
 the year, there is not the least doubt ; for if the female or 
 
 * There are some notable exceptions, such as the thrush, blackbird, 
 linnet, &c.
 
 SPEING SOUNDS. 225 
 
 the nest is destroyed, before the brood are brought to 
 maturity, the male bird sings anew ; an unpaired male singa 
 throughout the whole season ; and a male kept in captivity, 
 and removed from the natural influence of the seasons, sings 
 at all times of the year. These songs, especially the last 
 mentioned, are unnatural ones, however; and though we 
 admire them because we can hear them at times, and in 
 places where their wild song cannot be heard, they want 
 the natural freshness and hearty glee with which the free 
 denizen of the air pours forth his notes, when the Spring 
 is young, and all is full of hope. The confined bird may 
 be taught to imitate human music, and that it can be PO 
 taught is curious ; but the wild note in free nature is that 
 which is most pleasing to a rightly-constituted ear. 
 
 Our resident birds, the Spring bleatings of our flock.*, 
 and other sounds produced by creatures which summer and 
 winter with us, give us the beginning of the Spring ; and 
 there are some of the very remote and elevated parts of 
 Britain in which the season has scarcely any other music 
 than is afforded by these. In the richer districts, however, 
 the case is different ; and the wanderers from afar come 
 thronging in, one after another, as the Spring advances. 
 Xo two of these have exactly the same note ; and no two 
 of them adopt exactly the same locality as a nursing-place 
 for the year. Not a few of them also resort only to par- 
 ticular districts; and as they must do so, because tliose 
 districts are best adapted for feeding them, their distri- 
 bution becomes a key to some other parts of the history 
 of nature. They and their food require a little more notice 
 than we have already given them ; but as this chapter is 
 long, we shall make them the subject of the next.
 
 CHAFER VIII. 
 
 SPRING-VISITANT BIRDS, AND THEIR FOOD. 
 
 THE Spring movement of the fea- 
 thered tribes, as accompanying, or 
 rather as following, the apparent decli- 
 nation of the sun, is not only one 
 of the most marked features of the 
 vernal season, but is one which more 
 than most others, proves to us that 
 the provident goodness of the Almighty 
 Ruler extends equally to every portion 
 of our globe, and to every creature by 
 which any one portion of it is in- 
 habited.
 
 MOVEMENTS OF BIBDS. 227 
 
 At the time when the birds begin their northward move- 
 ment, food for them has failed in the extreme south, in 
 consequence of the long-continued heat and drought of 
 the antarctic summer. They therefore begin to move north- 
 ward, guided no doubt by the supply of food, just as sheep 
 are guided along the more verdant parts of an extensive 
 hill pasture, where they shun those places that afford them 
 no subsistence, and follow the lines of the fertile ones, 
 however crooked these may be. These' birds proceed by 
 stages; and though the movement extends a considerable 
 way southward of the equator, it has, in different species of 
 birds, its beginning over a very extensive range of latitude. 
 When driven southward by the severity of the Winter, the 
 bird makes no voluntary journey : it is impelled by natural 
 circumstances, and it moves not an inch farther than those 
 circumstances impel it. 
 
 In the winter 'movement southward, the birds are, 
 generally speaking, congregated into flocks; and those 
 flocks always alight at the first place which can furnish 
 them with a supply of food ; and there they remain until 
 that supply is exhausted, or until it is cut off from them by 
 the weather. When either of these happens, they make 
 another stage southward, and so continue till they reach a 
 place where they can find a supply even in the depth of 
 Winter. The line, of distinction between birds which 
 migrate from country to country, in the direction of north 
 and south, and those that migrate between the warm and 
 the cold latitudes, in the same country, without any par- 
 ticular reference to north or south, or any other direction, 
 is not however so well defined as that we can distinctly 
 separate the one from the other. We might expect this. 
 because the birds follow their food ; and as some of them 
 will naturally follow it in one direction, and SOIIH- in 
 another, we can easily see that the flock which originally
 
 228 MOVEMENTS OF BIEDS. 
 
 moves from a high northern latitude, by being frozen out, 
 must naturally leave a portion in the favourable grounds 
 of each country over which it passes. This must hold true, 
 whatever be the latitude of the most northerly or Summer 
 station of the birds ; and thus during the Winter they are 
 distributed over all places where a supply of food for them 
 is to be found, so that nothing is lost. There is a con- 
 siderable difference of this southward movement in different 
 seasons. If the Winter is comparatively open and mild in 
 the north, the migrants are fewer ; and they do not extend 
 their excursion so far toward the south. If, on the other 
 hand, the Winter is uncommonly early and severe, they 
 migrate in greater numbers, and extend farther. Those 
 "Winter excursions necessarily have very considerable in- 
 fluence upon the opposite migration in the Spring, especially 
 as to the time at which the Spring birds arrive. Conse- 
 quently, some general knowledge of it is essential to a right 
 understanding of the other. 
 
 The high latitudes are the centre and capital of Winter's 
 empire the place where cold displays the greatest of its 
 strength. Accordingly, it is from these regions that the 
 character of Winter throughout the empire is taken. The 
 year 1836 afforded at least some illustration of this. The 
 polar winter probably set in early and with great turbu- 
 lence ; and the consequence was a considerable fall of snow, 
 accompanied by keen frost, even in the valley of the 
 Thames, as early as the latter part of October, a circum- 
 stance of rare occurrence in that part of England. Such a 
 season must tend to drive the birds southward more early, 
 and in greater numbers, than if, as happens in the majority 
 of years, there had been no frost of any consequence until 
 January. How far southward the rigour of such a season 
 may extend, depends on the power which the south has of 
 resisting the invading storm. This, again, depends upon
 
 SEVERE WINTERS. 229 
 
 the dryness of the preceding period ; and the early snow- 
 storm of 1836 was owing to the heavy rains in the 
 preceding months, and the consequent cooling both of the 
 earth and the air by evaporation. As cold air, from its 
 greater density, always invades the warmer place, our cold 
 atmosphere must invade the countries to the south of us ; 
 and thus no state of the south can entirely prevent the 
 advance of an early and severe winter from the northern 
 regions. 
 
 We need not say that if the severity of the weather 
 drives the birds farther to the south in one winter than in 
 another, they must be later in returning northward in the 
 Spring ; and this is one of the reasons why calendars 
 stating the particular day of the arrival of any bird can 
 never be accurately applied. 
 
 When the Winter is very severe, heavy snows fall, and 
 continue in much more southerly places than when the 
 Winter is milder. But though the early setting-in of those 
 storms may injure the late crops, which are not then 
 gathered in, it must not be thence inferred that they bring 
 nothing but desolation and ruin. The most bitter cup 
 which the bountiful Father of all presents to his creatures, 
 is always sweetened with mercy ; and there is no one 
 season, however disagreeable it may be to us, however 
 destructive to our artificial labours, which does not 
 only bring an ultimate good along with it, but also an 
 antidote in part, at least, to its own severity during the 
 time. The early Winter comes with its chilling frost, 
 which alone would destroy the more tender vegetation ; but 
 along with the frost there comes the mantle of snow to be 
 thrown in merciful protection over the suffering earth. It 
 may thus happen, and it certainly often does happen, that a 
 severe Winter is followed by a season of extraordinary 
 plenty both for man and animals. Among others, the birds
 
 230 FOOD OF SPRING BIEDS. 
 
 are often driven far and long from the regions of the north, 
 in order that the feast which nature provides for them 
 there may be more abundant on their return. 
 
 In considering the movements of the feathered tribes, 
 we must not lose sight of these circumstances; and we 
 must also bear in mind, that while they are driven 
 southwards by the cold, they are invited northwards by the 
 returning heat, which brings a supply of food northward 
 while the southward supply is diminishing. 
 
 By far the greater number of migrant birds, whether 
 they come to us in Summer or in Winter, feed chiefly 
 upon animal matters, in great part insects, and small 
 animals. The "Winter, even with us, cuts off the land 
 supply of these to a very great extent. Very many of 
 them die off entirely at the end of the season, and exist 
 during the Winter only as eggs, which the parent insects 
 have deposited in the places best adapted for being hatched 
 by the returning season. A vast number of these are 
 deposited on plants ; but they are, generally speaking, too 
 dimunitive for being seen by birds, or of affording any 
 considerable supply of food, even though they were seen. 
 Others exist in the earth, the waters, and the mud at the 
 bottom of the waters, in the state of larvae, or, as we call 
 them in common language, grubs or caterpillars. It is for 
 the purpose of feeding upon those larvae, that many water- 
 birds quit the north in the Winter, and resort to the fens, 
 the pools, the streams, and the oozy banks of the estuaries 
 of rivers in this country. Several individuals hide them- 
 selves, in the mature state, in holes and crevices, where 
 they hybernate, or remain inactive, without feeding or 
 motion, during the Winter. In short, we can hardly name 
 a situation in which the rudiment or the means of life, in 
 insects and other small animals, is not treasured up during 
 the Winter, in order to be ready for the renovating in-
 
 PRODUCTIVENESS OF INSECTS. 231 
 
 fluence of the Spring. In severe weather they are all 
 dormant, however, and not to be found by the birds. This 
 is the more complete the higher the latitude, and conse- 
 sequently the colder the "Winter : and the display of insect 
 life is long in proportion to the duration of the Summer. 
 The number of insects, independently of other small 
 animals, which are in concealment during the Winter, is 
 immense. Britain, as compared with other countries, has 
 an under rather than an over supply ; and yet the species 
 which have been discovered in the British islands amount 
 to at least ten thousand ; and it is impossible to say how 
 many additional species may be yet discovered. The 
 rapidity with which some of these multiply is beyond all 
 imagination; and were the facts not well-authenticated 
 one would not believe them. Of these insects, it is often 
 the very small ones which are most destructive of vegeta- 
 tion ; and the destruction is perpetrated, not when they are 
 in the perfect or last stage of their being, but chiefly when 
 they are larvae, or in the first stage from the egg. There 
 are no doubt exceptions to this, but it is the general rule ; 
 and the time when the Spring-visiting birds are with us is 
 the great time for those larvae. 
 
 Of creatures so numerous in species, and so utterly 
 countless in individuals, it is not possible to convey any 
 adequate notion, except in a work expressly on the subject. 
 We may mention, however, the Spring exertions of a single 
 female of some of the species. The extent of those exer- 
 tions shows that they must commence their labours betimes 
 in the season. Very many of the colonies of wild bees, 
 which make their nests in holes of the earth, or collections 
 of moss, and which construct waxen cells, and collect honey 
 with so much assiduity during the Summer, die away, with 
 the exception of a few females, which creep into hiding- 
 places, and remain dormant there till the warmth of the
 
 232 PRODUCTIVE POWERS 
 
 new season calls them forth. These females are, however, 
 left by nature in such a condition that each of them can 
 found a colony and rear a brood. The little creature has 
 to find her own food, to make her nest, to construct cells 
 fit for the hatching of her eggs ; and all this in a very short 
 time, and without the slightest assistance. Generally 
 speaking, however, she succeeds ; and her first care is to 
 rear a working family, which shall farther assist in the 
 labours ; and it is not till the season be somewhat advanced 
 that matured males and females are produced in the nest. 
 The labours of many other insects are as severe as these ; 
 and some of their structures are highly curious, far sur- 
 passing anything which occurs among the larger animals. 
 
 One of the most singular races are the aphides, which, of 
 different colours, and under dift'erent names, infest various 
 species of plants, such as the rose, the cherry, the common 
 bean, and a variety of others. The colonies of these, like 
 those of the last-mentioned, generally proceed from a single 
 female, or from an egg which produces a single female in 
 the Spring. Some idea of the numbers of these little 
 creatures may be formed when we consider that several 
 species consist of at least twenty successive generations in 
 the course of the Summer ; and that the number of even 
 the fifth generation of these twenty has been ascertained to 
 amount to very nearly six thousand millions. 
 
 Indeed, when we consider that the rudiments of insect 
 life, and of that of other small animals, are scattered every- 
 where, over the land, throughout the waters, and upon 
 everything which the land produces, we are constrained to 
 think that this is the portion of nature which is prepared 
 and fitted for the action of the Spring. The individuals in 
 all these cases, are of comparatively small size ; but this is 
 made up by the amazing fertility and the rapid succession 
 in which the power of this fertility is exercised. Upon a
 
 OF INSECTS. 233 
 
 subject so much above even our comprehension, it is impos- 
 sible to state with numerical precision what would be the 
 result of this production if insects were not restrained, by 
 their being made to support other departments of nature. 
 It is not, however, too much to say, that if all the eggs of 
 insects which are deposited upon the leaves and other parts 
 of plants, in this country, were to come to maturity, they 
 would not leave a single green leaf upon a tree. If those 
 which 'are deposited in the earth were in like manner to 
 come to maturity, they would not leave a single herb upon 
 its surface ; while if those which are deposited in the water, 
 and remain there, were all to come to maturity, and con- 
 tinue their increase, they would thicken every pool and 
 stream to the consistency of mire. Even this is a very 
 slight and imperfect view of the amazing energy of life 
 which is possessed by these little creatures; for it is no 
 exaggeration to say, that, were their powers to be exerted 
 to the full extent for only a very few years, and were such 
 a result possible from the nature of its substance, they 
 would, in those few years, convert the whole matter of the 
 earth itself into insects. 
 
 It is true that this tremendous power is never worked to 
 the full measure ; but that is no argument against its exist- 
 ence. The powers wherewith the Almighty has endowed 
 matter, in order that it may accomplish the purposes of his 
 will, are not subjects which we can measure with a line, 
 weigh in a balance, or sum up by our imperfect and limited 
 arithmetic. They are ordained by him to control matter, 
 to work it into those combinations, and mould it into those 
 shapes which he has ordained. As he has appointed them, 
 so has he given them strength for the perfect accomplish- 
 ment of their labours. This strength no resistance of 
 merely inactive matter can successfully oppose ; and there- 
 fore he has wisely set the one of them to regulate and
 
 234 AECTIC WINTER. 
 
 control the other, and preserve them in those bounds which 
 are conducive to the greatest good of the whole. When 
 we reflect on these matters, we cannot but feel that there is 
 a natural as well as a religious truth in the declaration of 
 Holy Writ " G-od hath chosen the weak things of the 
 world to confound the things that are strong." 
 
 Such are the germs of provision, which lie ready to be 
 called forth in such abundance, as not only to continue 
 their own species to the full amount which nature requires, 
 but to furnish an ample store for many resident animals of 
 a larger growth, and also for those migrants which come 
 from distant lands. The fresh water fishes, many of the 
 small mammalia, as well as many of our resident birds, are 
 supported during the season of their greatest activity upon 
 this provision of insects and other small animals ; for those 
 birds which, during the Winter season, collect seeds in the 
 fields, or wild berries and other little fruits from the hedges 
 and bushes, feed their young almost exclusively, and them- 
 selves in great part, upon insects and small animals, during 
 the nesting time, when their labours are most severe. But 
 notwithstanding the abundant portion which is thus 
 afforded to the larger inhabitants of the earth, the waters, 
 and the air, the numbers of insects and small animals that 
 is left is great everywhere ; and it is so immense in some 
 places, that they literally encumber the atmosphere, and 
 darken the sun, as if they were thick clouds of driven snow. 
 Over some of the marshes in Canada, when the heat of the 
 Summer sun beats strongly upon that country of extreme 
 seasons, woe to the man who takes shelter under a marsh 
 tree, from the fervour of the burning sun. Gnats and 
 musquitos are congregated there in myriads ; so that, before 
 he can effect a retreat, every naked part of his skin is ting- 
 ling and smarting, and his clothes are so loaded with the 
 little pests, that it is not without great difficulty he can
 
 ARCTIC WINTER. 235 
 
 shake them off. In the marshes of polar Europe, the 
 numbers are not quite so great; but still one who visits 
 those marshes when they are bound up in the ice and snow 
 of Winter, and again after the heat of the sun has awakened 
 the germs of life which then lay dormant, would be quite 
 astonished at the transition. 
 
 In the case of Winter, there is not a living thing not 
 one little wing in the air. The sun has set for the long 
 night of Winter ; and the dominion of that season is com- 
 plete and tranquil. There is not even a perceptible particle 
 of moist in the atmosphere ; for as the sun, which is the 
 grand agent in its ascent, has totally withdrawn his beams 
 for the time, Winter has congealed every atom of water, 
 and added it to the snowy mantle wherewithal those lands 
 are protected, to be ready for the powerful action of their 
 brief but vigorous Spring. In Summer, again, the sun 
 which awakens those germs of insect life is constantly pre- 
 sent for some time, and nearly present the whole day for 
 much longer ; therefore, the powers of life in the waters 
 are worked to their full extent, and the mighty swarms to 
 which we have alluded are the result. 
 
 In such places it is the waters chiefly which bring forth 
 this seasonal life. Trees are but few there ; and the soft 
 bud and tender leaf which support the caterpillars of but- 
 terflies and moths in such a country as Britain, are hardly 
 known. Hence the abundance of such countries for the 
 supply of birds is by the margins of the morasses, the pools, 
 and the other waters ; and therefore the birds which move 
 northwards, to breed there, are mostly either water birds or 
 birds of the margins of the waters. 
 
 This abundant supply in the polar lands draws such birds 
 northwards in vast flocks ; and they leave the more south- 
 erly places as a provison for others. 
 
 If such latitudes as our own are considered, the water or
 
 236 
 
 SWIFTS. 
 
 shore birds which migrate to us in the Spring, are exceed- 
 ingly few, though those which feed upon land insects and 
 their larvae, in the trees, on the ground, or in the air, are 
 numerous. 
 
 The air visitants which feed upon insects are among the 
 most characteristic, or at all events the best marked of the 
 whole. They are of smaller size, and their prey is different, 
 but still there is some resemblance between them and the 
 birds of prey, properly so called. Like those, they are 
 divided into day-feeders, and feeders during the night, or at 
 all events, during the twilight. The former are the swallow 
 tribe. The swifts are at the top of the sky, incessantly on 
 
 the wing during the sea- 
 son of their labour, seldom 
 alighting on the ground, 
 and quite incapable of 
 walking upon it. They 
 generally build their nests 
 in the most lofty situa- 
 tions, such as towers, 
 steeples, and the crevices 
 of lofty cliffs. The fleet- 
 ness of their wings is such 
 that they have little to 
 fear in their proper element, the sky, while they do not 
 interfere with what is going on at the earth's surface. The 
 swallow, known from the rest by the deep fork of its tail, 
 even when it is on the wing, occupies the next highest posi- 
 tion. It builds in chimneys and other lofty places, though 
 not so high as the swift. The house martin is one of 
 those birds which claim the closest neighbourhood with 
 the human race. The corner of the window, the pro- 
 jecting eaves of the roof, and such situations, are those 
 in which it builds its curious clay castle ; and it is under- 
 
 SWIFT.
 
 237 
 favourite returns 
 
 HOUSE MARTIN. 
 
 SWALLOWS. 
 
 stood that this interesting little 
 again and again, for many 
 successive years, to the 
 same spot. The other is 
 the sand martin, which ex- 
 cavates holes in the banks, 
 in which its nest is lodged 
 with great safety. The sur- 
 faces of pools and streams 
 are the places where the 
 martins and the swallows 
 find the greater part of 
 their food, though the 
 house-martin rids those with 
 whom it lodges of great 
 numbers of house-flies ; and for this, as well as for the 
 familiarity of its manners, the ingenuity of its architec- 
 ture, and its personal neatness and beauty, it is a bird 
 which nobody molests. 
 
 The only night or twi- 
 light bird at all allied to 
 these, is that which iu 
 common language is very 
 improperly called the goat- 
 sucker. It is improperly 
 so called, because, instead 
 of sucking goats, its bill is 
 so constructed that it can- 
 not suck at all. This bird } 
 in its plumage and its whole 
 structure, only that it has 
 no weapons that could in- 
 jure another bird, resembles the owls. It feeds on night 
 insects, which it catches in the air, not at a very great 
 
 THE GOAT-S: ( KI:I;.
 
 238 SWIFT. SWALLOW. GOAT-SUCKEB. 
 
 height. The prey consists of course chiefly of moths and 
 twilight beetles. 
 
 Though this division of our birds is brought to us by the 
 Spring migration, no one of them comes to us in the Spring 
 as it stands in the calendar, unless it be in the very 
 warmest districts in the south. The martins are generally 
 the first to arrive, then the swallows, and lastly the swifts 
 and the goat-suckers, which very rarely make their appear- 
 ance in any part of Britain before the middle or even 
 toward the end of the month of May. Our true Spring 
 months are March, April, and May ; and in the northern 
 and upland parts of the country, Spring may be said to 
 extend into June ; for among the mountains it is not 
 uncommon to meet, in the beginning of that month, with 
 those brief snow showers and sunny gleams between, which 
 characterise April in more southern parts, and indicate that 
 the contest between the two great seasons of the year is at 
 its height. 
 
 The birds of which we have spoken delay their coming 
 until there shall be food for them on the wing. The 
 insects which are bred in the water, and spend the greatest 
 part of their brief existence in sporting over its surface 
 are the first to make their appearance ; and as the martins 
 and swallows feed chiefly in such places, they come before 
 the swifts and goat-suckers, the former of which hawk in 
 the upper air, and the latter near the surface, but still over 
 the land rather than over the water. 
 
 None of these birds utter anything which bears the 
 least resemblance to a song. In some states of the atmos- 
 phere the swifts screech in a harsh and piercing key ; and 
 the goat-suckers utter a booming or jarring sound as they 
 fly along ; but none of these is very agreeable. StiJJ. this 
 family of birds is of great service to vegetation ; for they 
 eat full-grown insects, just when they are in a condition for
 
 SONGS OF THE 8TRAKGEES. 
 
 239 
 
 depositing their eggs: and thus they tend more to keep 
 down the numbers, than those birds which feed upon 
 caterpillars. The goat-sucker, in particular, is highly 
 useful ; for its chief food, at least at one season of the year, 
 consists of those large beetles known by the name of 
 chafers, because the full-grown insects injure the leaves 
 of trees and other plants ; and the larvae of the chafers are 
 among the most destructive to the roots of grass and corn. 
 
 Our other summer birds which come to capture indis- 
 criminately insects and their larvae, upon trees, upon the 
 ground, or in the air, are far more numerous ; and the 
 services which they render are of course far more important. 
 They come earlier than the birds which hawk in the air ; 
 because the caterpillars are hatched before perfect insects 
 appear. Some come earlier and some later, according to 
 the nature of their food ; and they also divide the land 
 among them, one taking one locality, and another another. 
 
 They are our song birds by way of eminence; for, 
 though many of our native birds sing pleasantly, there are 
 none that are equal to these ; 
 and, besides, the songs of our 
 native birds have rather be- 
 gun to abate before these little 
 strangers arrive, and they 
 are not resumed till the 
 strangers have departed, 
 though some of our native 
 birds, the males of the year's 
 breed especially, sing in the 
 Autumn, and occasionally 
 even in the Winter. The 
 bold and familiar red- TIIE REDBREAST. 
 
 breast, for example, often sings sweetly from n tn-o 
 close by the window, at times when there is not another
 
 240 INTEREST OF SPRING BIEDS. 
 
 song uttered by any individual of the feathered race. 
 Those birds which are so very characteristic of the maturity 
 of the vernal season, are very differently distributed in 
 different parts of our country. Being all birds which 
 retire to more southerly latitudes, when the supply of 
 insects begins to be over, they are of course more numerous 
 in species, as much as in individuals of the same species, 
 in the southern parts of the country than in the northern. 
 Some, and those the sweetest songsters of the whole, never 
 reach the north or even farther than the middle of the 
 country, and where they do come they are not found in the 
 hilly parts. This is the case with the sweetest, and 
 probably least seen of all our songsters, the nightingale, 
 which has been so often described that we need repeat no 
 part of the description, and whose cheerful song of en- 
 couragement and joy has been so ridiculously fabled as a 
 voice of lamentation, for bereavement, uttered by the 
 widowed female. The female of this species does happen 
 to sing a little sometimes, though but seldom, and not very 
 well ; but the male is the grand songster, and his is any- 
 thing but a song of sorrow. 
 
 To those who visit the fields and the groves during the 
 Spring, for the purpose of breathing the healthful breeze, 
 studying the beauties of nature, and admiring the wisdom 
 and goodness of Nature's Author, those visitant birds 
 which come to us in the very blush of the blooming season, 
 and give voice to nature when decked out in the choicest 
 ornaments of the year, are among the most delightful 
 subjects connected with the time. 
 
 But the study of them goes much farther than this; 
 and when we examine them aright, we do not fail to per- 
 ceive that their usefulness is far greater than the pleasure 
 which we derive in listening to their songs. This, indeed, 
 is a general truth in nature ; and clearly proves to us that
 
 BEAUTY AND UTILITY. 241 
 
 there is nothing there which merely serves to feast our eyes 
 with an unmeaning spectacle, and our ears with an un- 
 availing sound. In what man produces by art, the beauty 
 and the utility are sometimes separated ; but this is never 
 the case in nature. There is not a substance or a creature 
 which G-od has made, or an event brought about by those 
 natural causes which he has appointed, that entices us by 
 its beauty, without involving something which will repay 
 in usefulness the attention we bestow upon it. JN"o doubt 
 there are many cases in which we remain ignorant of 
 this usefulness, but in every such case the fault is in 
 ourselves and not in nature ; and the connection between 
 the fair and the valuable has been so clearly established 
 in so many cases, that it holds out the strongest induce- 
 ment for us to follow up, by the most diligent inquiry,.; 
 every natural subject which presses itself strongly upon 
 our attention. The Book of Nature is fair and ample; it is; 
 spread wide before us ; we are endowed with the capacity 
 of reading it if we will but learn ; and therefore we stand 
 not only inexcusable, but self-condemned, if we go down to 
 pur graves in ignorance of the many enjoyments which Grod 
 has thronged around our temporal condition, to humble our 
 vanity, to alleviate our suffering, and to bring us back to 
 the knowledge of how insignificant we, and all our boasted, 
 doings are, in comparison with the smallest work of Him 
 who created the heavens and the earth, and endowed us 
 with discernment and understanding, so that, if we will,- 
 we may appreciate the goodness of our God, and reverence 
 and serve him accordingly, by obedience to his moral laws, 
 and true faith in the mysteries of that glorious redemption 
 which is so clearly revealed in his word. 
 
 In the case of these summer birds, the discovery of their 
 usefulness is a matter of no difficulty. We see with cur 
 own eyes the ravages which many species of caterpillars
 
 242 USES OF BIBDS. 
 
 commit where there are no birds to consume their 
 numbers, where they are not accessible to birds, or where 
 they breed so rapidly, owing to particular states of the 
 weather, as that the birds are unable to keep them within 
 due bounds. How often do our turnips, our hops, and 
 numerous other cultivated plants, nearly or totally fail, 
 in consequence of the ravages of some minute insect, 
 which cultivators popularly know by the name of "the 
 fly." How often are whole orchards left not only without 
 a fruit to ripen, but without a leaf, and with the twigs 
 wrapt up in the nets of caterpillars which have feasted 
 for their time, and undergone their transformation; and 
 how often do the larvae of insects invade our dwelling- 
 houses, and spoil our provisions, our clothes, our books, 
 and many other articles ! Now if only a slight stagnation 
 of vegetable growth, occasioned by a bleak dry wind from 
 the east, or any other cause, can produce effects so 
 disastrous wherever that cause operates ; if this happens 
 (and that it does to some extent or other, every season 
 bears witness), let us just consider what would be the 
 condition of us and all our possessions, if the whole of 
 these insect plagues were let loose upon us, without any 
 controlling power to regulate their numbers. "Were such 
 to become the case, all that would remain for us would be, 
 to be wretched for a part of one summer, and never to 
 behold another. To save us from this, the birds have, 
 among other instruments, been appointed by Him who 
 guides us in all matters wherein we cannot guide our- 
 selves. Therefore, when we pursue this branch of the 
 subject in a rational manner, and as far as the proper use 
 of our reason will lead us, we find that it terminates as 
 every such inquiry terminates, namely, in the heart-felt 
 conviction, that if we were not preserved by the ever- 
 providence of a merciful God, we could not
 
 BAYAGES OF INSECTS. 243 
 
 keep the means of life, or the life itself, even for a single 
 day. To him, therefore, be the gratitude and the 
 praise, for sending his protecting messengers from afar, 
 and teaching them so to watch over the springing of 
 the earth, as that the year may be crowned with his 
 bounty, and all may be fed, and worship and revere the 
 Almighty Giver! 
 
 But how stands it with the insects, from whose ravages 
 these birds come to protect us ? Are they destroyers, 
 and nothing but destroyers ? It cannot be, for they 
 are part of the creation by the same God as we ourselves ; 
 and we have it upon a record which cannot lie, that when 
 the work of creation was finished, by the sixth myste- 
 rious day of the great work coming to a close, " God saw 
 everything that he had made, and behold, it was very 
 good." 
 
 Now, in the case of these insects, and of all the little 
 animals which we are apt to consider as noxious to us, 
 there is as much evidence of his goodness as there is in 
 any other created thing. The quantity of matter, cast off 
 by the living world, and passing into a state of corruption, 
 is very great at all times ; and in the warm season especially 
 it is so abundant, that if there were not some means of 
 changing its form, and making it wholesome for the time, 
 the living world would be buried in its own rubbish. To 
 prevent this, is the general -purpose of those insects and 
 small animals ; and it will invariably be found that they 
 congregate in the greatest multitudes where their labours 
 are most necessary. Even when they attack and destroy 
 a crop, they act in the manner which is best for the passing 
 time, how short soever the duration of that time may be ; 
 and it is only when they interfere with man's artificial 
 arrangements that he can consider them as hurtful. The 
 whole system of nature is a system of mutual support ; 
 
 <j 2
 
 244 USES OF INSECTS. 
 
 and every portion of it is conducive to the perfection of the 
 whole. 
 
 In this matter of the summer birds and the summer 
 insects, there is an accommodation of one part of nature 
 to another, which 'is equally worthy of our study and our 
 admiration our study, for the instruction which it affords ; 
 and our admiration, as a specimen of that unity and har- 
 mony which run through the whole system of nature. 
 
 The latter part of the Spring and the early part of the 
 Summer, according as the months run in the calendar 
 though the real Spring, in as far as its effect upon nature 
 is concerned is the busy time with the birds, a time at: 
 which their labours are proportionably greater than those 
 of any other animals at any one season of the year. The 
 mammalia hate little else to do than to find their own food. 
 A few, no doubt, dig burrows, and form beds of withered 
 vegetables for their young. But their labours in this 
 respect bear no proportion whatever to those of the birds 
 in the construction of their nests, many of which are so 
 elaborately made, that human art cannot imitate them. 
 The incubation, too, is a severer task than the mammalia 
 are called upon to perform ; and nature provides food for 
 their young in the early stage, not only without effort on 
 the part of the parent animal, but absolutely Avith pain to> 
 her, if it is not consumed. The bird, on the other hand,- 
 must feed its young on the produce of its labour ; and as 
 that produce is in very small quantities, and often difficult 
 to be procured, while the young are in general exceedingly- 
 voracious, and require a vast deal of feeding, the labour i& 
 very severe ; such, indeed, as nothing but a winged creature 
 would be able to endure, unless some preparation were made 
 expressly for it.* 
 
 . * As an example of the labour of a bird during the season of 
 incubation, the case of the house-sVallow (Hirundo vrbica) may be
 
 ANIMAL LABOUKS. l>-3 
 
 The insects and other small animals oi' the season are 
 exactly such a preparation. With the exception of those 
 which establish colonies, construct nests, and build cells, 
 the insects and other small animals have no labour to 
 perform at this season, except the finding of their own food ; 
 and the juiey bud, the soft leaf, and the readily-flowing sap 
 of plants, supply them with abundance, easily accessible, 
 and of the most nutritious quality. It is true that many 
 of those caterpillars make nests for themselves, by spinning 
 webs, rolling up leaves, and various other operations ; but 
 these are trifling labours compared with the labours of the 
 birds ; and while they are in the state of caterpillars, the 
 state in which birds feed most abundantly upon them, they 
 have no labour to perform but such as tends to the main- 
 tenance of the individual. The labour, if labour it can be 
 called, which is the mere depositing of their eggs, is, in the 
 annual ones, performed in the previous Autumn ; so that 
 one may say, that those eggs have no more self-exertion in 
 coining to maturity than a seed has in sprouting or a fruit 
 in ripening. 
 
 The more abundant that insects and small animals are 
 during the breeding season of birds, as compared with 
 what they are at other times of the year, the more com- 
 pletely are they seasonal, and the less labour is required of 
 any one single species for the production of their myriads. 
 They are the children, of the season, called forth by the 
 general warmth of the sun; and if that warmth did not 
 come upon them and excite them, they would b'e dormant 
 for centuries, indeed for ever. It is true that every germ 
 is from a parent, for without this there can be no pro- 
 duction of even the smallest animal ; but still the germ 
 
 quoted. An observer, in Scotland, closely watched a pair of these 
 birds for a day, when they had four yonn- oiu-s. The n.-ircnts vNiti-d 
 the nest 307 times.
 
 246 PRODUCTION OF INSECTS. 
 
 would be nothing availing without the excitement of the 
 season. "We must not, therefore, be too severe upon the 
 ancients, ignorant as they were of the true nature of G-od, 
 and his attributes and superintending providence, for 
 having conjectured that the actual production of these 
 creatures was equivocal or spontaneous, resulting from the 
 influence of the sun upon the mud as its first origin for 
 this is what is seen ; and without the knowledge of the 
 truth, that there can be no species of creature without 
 creation by God, there was nothing to induce or guide men 
 to the previous and obscure part of the insects' history, 
 until God had revealed himself in his word.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 INFLUENCE OF THE SPRING UPON MAX AND HIS LABOUBS. 
 
 THE reviving energy of the Spring has a different 
 influence upon man from what it has upon any other 
 member of the terrestrial creation. This follows from the 
 compound nature of man. As possessing a material and 
 mortal body, he is as much under the influence of the sun, 
 and of every other natural cause and agent of the seasons, 
 as any other creature formed of flesh and blood. But as 
 possessing an immortal spirit, which is not matter, nor 
 subject to any of the laws of matter, he is beyond or above 
 the influence of natural causes. It is true that the mind 
 sympathises in every sensation of the body, whether 
 pleasurable or painful, constantly, though in a manner so 
 mysterious, that we cannot understand it any more than we 
 can understand the connection between the two parts of 
 our compound nature. The mind seems to mourn under 
 the anguish of the body, and to be uplifted in the body's 
 enjoyments. But, notwithstanding this, we cannot believe 
 that? the mind in itself undergoes the slightest change ; 
 for,, being simple and immortal, and beyond the action of 
 every physical agency, however great, we know of nothing 
 that can change it, but the power of that Almighty One to 
 whom it owes its being. Consequently, it must be in the 
 connection between the two, that this apparent sympathy 
 of the mind with the body lies. "When we say that the 
 mind is energetic and happy, all that we can menu is. that 
 he impressions of the body are imparted to it, t'm-ly and
 
 248 MISD A.XD BODY. 
 
 fully. When we say that the mind desponds, or sinks 
 down under the pressure of any bodily state, all that we 
 can mean is, that some physical derangement of the body, or 
 some distraction of the senses from their proper objects and 
 mode of working, prevents it from conveying to the mind 
 those clear and forcible perceptions which it conveys when 
 healthy and composed. In like manner, when, in the extreme 
 decrepitude of human life, or under the pressure of severe and 
 long protracted disease, we say that the mind is enfeebled, or 
 that it is gone, all that we can mean is, that the frail 
 body is so exhausted that it can no longer act the part 
 of that ready and obedient servant to the mind, which it 
 did in the days of health and vigour. 
 
 These are distinctions which we must constantly bear 
 in mind, when we would examine the influence which 
 any season, state, or change of the physical world has 
 upon man ; because, if we omit the distinction, we 
 necessarily judge of man as of the beasts that perish, 
 and consequently our judgment is erroneous. 
 
 In this compound nature, man has an advantage over 
 every other terrestrial creature, which is immeasurably 
 great ; for it does not diifer in degree merely, it differs 
 'in kind. The human body, taking it in all its organisation, 
 is the most perfect body in animated nature. Of other 
 living creatures, some excel it in one particular faculty or 
 capacity, and some in another ; but there is none which, 
 throughout the whole frame, is furnished with such general 
 sensibility, or of which the senses, whether seated in 
 particular organs, or partaken in by all parts of the system, 
 are capable of bringing in so much and so varied informa- 
 tion. The eye of the eagle, for instance, is more keen than 
 the eye of man, and it discerns a little animal down in 
 the valley, from a height above the mountain-top, from 
 which man could with difficulty discern nny but large
 
 SENSES OF ANIMALS. 
 
 2i9 
 
 objects. But the eye of the eagle, notwith- 
 standing all its keenness, has no perception 
 of the beauty of that landscape which it 
 commands from its lofty post in the sky. The 
 eagle is said, incorrectly no doubt, but still 
 it is said, to be capable of gazing on the sun. 
 But even were it true, as it is not, the eagle's 
 gaze could never make the slightest effort to- 
 ward determining the distance or the magni- 
 tude of that luminary, or its influence upon the 
 economy of the earth. The bloodhqund can 
 track the prey upon the slot, with a certainty 
 and a perseverance which are perfectly in- 
 comprehensible to us ; but he has no per- 
 ception of fragrance, and no knowledge of 
 that which is delightful or offensive to the
 
 250 SENSES OF ANIMALS. 
 
 smell; for he will pass the sweetest flowers with the 
 most perfect indifference, to proceed eagerly upon the 
 scent of tainted carrion. It is the same in the case 
 of every animal ; all their senses and faculties contribute 
 merely to the preservation of the individual, and the 
 continuing of the race ; and there is not in them a single 
 trace of any one faculty for such observation as can lead to 
 improvement. They minister to the animal, and they do 
 nothing more. Wholly of the present world, they are 
 obedient to its vicissitudes, and they finally mingle with its 
 dust without return. 
 
 It is different with man, even considering him simply as 
 body, for every faculty which the human body possesses 
 gives the most convincing evidence that it is intended and 
 made for ministering to something more than the body. 
 Thus, while the other animals are part of the season, and 
 wholly under the control of its laws, man stands apart in 
 his immortality ; and though the body is of necessity 
 obedient to seasonal influences, the mind remains free, to 
 exercise its grand function of observing what goes on, and 
 learning wisdom from it. The irrational animals are thus 
 wholly occupied by the season, and carried along with it, 
 whithersoever it lists, while man is enabled to turn it to a 
 lesson of instruction. 
 
 But we have said that the mind sympathises with the 
 body, and that the body of man, viewing it in all its 
 faculties, has far more sensibility than that of any other 
 living creature. Therefore, independently of the lesson of 
 wisdom, man is fitted for deriving greater direct and 
 immediate pleasure from the return of a pleasurable season. 
 Nor do we fail to observe this, in every member of the 
 human race, whom an artificial mode of life has not 
 deadened to those impressions which come from simple 
 nature. In remote villages, where pomp and luxury are
 
 FEELIXG OF SPRING. 2-31 
 
 unknown, and where the thoughts are regulated by the 
 vicissitudes of the year, and not by those of courts, 
 fashionable parties, or mercantile adventures, it is delight- 
 ful to observe the awakening energy which is inspired by 
 the Spring. 
 
 To see this in its perfection, we must take our place of 
 observation, not where the Winter is a doubtful season, 
 freezing and thawing, or showering and shining, in alter- 
 nate days or weeks, but where it is confirmed and decided 
 \V inter, lasting for a considerable time. This is necessary, 
 because, in order to see a proper display of the effect of 
 Spring, Spring must have something to contend with, both 
 in the habit of the people, and in the condition of the 
 country around them. 
 
 Let us suppose, then, that we are to observe the coming 
 of the Spring, in some district where the Winter has been 
 decided, but neither alpine nor _ polar; a district where all 
 the immediate fields are under cultivation or pasturage, 
 spotted over with substantial farm homesteads, and happy 
 and healthy villages ; where the wants of the human race 
 are not inordinately multiplied by luxury, but where every 
 necessary and comfort of frugal country life is readily 
 accessible, and abundantly supplied to all ; a district, in 
 short, where there is will to be industrious, intelligence 
 to be observant, and the enlightenment of the spirit to 
 breathe religion. For all these elements, in the place and 
 in the people, are requisite, in order that the Spring may 
 come in the fulness of its beauty, and be turned to account 
 as the bountiful kindness communicated in such a season 
 deserves. 
 
 The confirmed winter storm, we shall suppose, has fallen 
 early in January, as it frequently does in such places, and 
 has not fallen after long-continued rains, which always 
 make an unsettled and -disagreeable winter, but when the
 
 252 THE WINTER STORM. 
 
 ground is comparatively dry; and up to the time of the 
 storm's coming, the autumn-sown crops looked promising, 
 and the labour of the fields in preparation for the Spring 
 was well advanced. We are farther to suppose that the 
 snow-storm is not the result of any temporary disturbance 
 of the mere local atmosphere; but that it is occasioned by 
 the steady setting-in of the north winds. The mountains, 
 "which we are to suppose to be situated some distance to the 
 northward, and occupying a considerable space, have been 
 in great part clad with snow since October; and latterly 
 the snow has been creeping downward and downward, the 
 snow clouds being seen forming and descending upon the 
 mountain valleys, but without reaching the country with 
 which we are more immediately concerned. The south 
 wind has still kept its hold over the cultivated land, and 
 the frosts have been only occasional, and by no means 
 severe. One evening, after a day of unwonted tranquillity, 
 dense clouds appear like great snowy mountains in the 
 northern ,part of the horizon, while the few clouds which lie 
 in streaks across the setting sun, are intensely deep in 
 their shadows, and equally bright in their lights. As the 
 evening closes in, the clouds disappear, the stars are un- 
 usually brilliant, and there is not a breath of air stirring. 
 The old experienced farmer goes out to take his wonted 
 nocturnal survey of the heavens, from which long observa- 
 tion at the same spot has enabled him to form a tolerably 
 correct judgment of what will be the state of the weather 
 in the morning. Two or three meteors, brilliant, but of 
 brief duration, shoot along a quadrant of the sky, as if they 
 were so many bright lights of the firmament dropping from 
 their orbits. He returns, and directs his young men to 
 prepare for what may happen, as there will certainly be a 
 change of the weather. 
 
 The air is perfectly tranquil when the family retire to
 
 THE WIXTER STOHM. 253 
 
 their early piUows, to find that repose which healthful 
 labour sweetens and never misses. But, just at the turn of : 
 the night, the south gives way, the north triumphs, and 
 the whirlwind, herald of the victory, lays hold of the four 
 corners of the house, and shakes it with the shaking of an 
 earthquake. But the house, like its inhabitants, is made 
 for the storm, and so stands secure and harmless, while the 
 wind thunders in the fields around, every gust louder than 
 another. In a little, its sound is muffled without being 
 lessened ; and the snow is heard battering at the windows 
 for an entrance, but battering in vain. Morning dawns ; 
 but every lee and eddy is wreathed up, the snow still 
 darkens the air, and reeks along the curling wreaths, as if 
 each were a furnace. The first care is to provide for the 
 safety and support of the domestic animals ; and this being 
 done, as there is health and plenty in the abode, the family 
 ply their in-door labours with their wonted cheerfulness. 
 For two days and two nights the storm rages with un- 
 abated violence ; but on the third day the wind has veered 
 more easterly, blows rather gently, and though the snow 
 falls as thickly, it falls uniformly over the whole surface. 
 This continues for two or three days more; and on the 
 evening of the last of these days, the sun. which has not 
 been visible for nearly a week, looks out just before setting, 
 as if promising a morning visit. The night remains clear, 
 with keen frost, and the wind steady at north, and blowing 
 very gently. The sun rises bright in the morning, the 
 storm is over, and the weather remains unbroken for four 
 or five weeks. 
 
 The air is so completely clear of humidity, that out-door 
 labours and out-door sports become pleasant ; and as there 
 are many labours, especially those of carriage, which can 
 be performed in such weather, these, with the healthful 
 recreations of the country, render the time a time of
 
 254 COMING OF 
 
 industry and glee ; and they who experience such winters 
 as this, and are rightly provided for them, are more healthy 
 and more vigorous, and therefore more happy, than those 
 who are subjected to the variable weather of open winters. 
 
 "When the appointed days of the snow-storm are 
 numbered, a disturbance again takes place in the atmos- 
 phere, but it is of a different kind from the former. There 
 are little sheets of lightning, playing momentarily in the 
 lower atmosphere, and the lustre of the stars is diminished, 
 but still there is no cloud ; the wind, however, dies away to 
 a dead calm toward evening, and all is ready for the 
 breaking of the storm. That operation is the first per- 
 formed by the Spring ; and we shall borrow the words of 
 the " British Naturalist," wherein to describe it : " As the 
 Spring air gets the mastery, which is aided by the conden- 
 sation which takes place during the night, it rises to a 
 wind, the sound of which cannot be mistaken. The 
 rigidity of trees, window-frames, and. other wooden fabrics, 
 through which it passes, is relaxed ; the withered grass and 
 reeds, where these are exposed, moisten, and the rattling 
 and thumping are succeeded by murmuring harmony, in 
 which, compared with the others, there is a good deal of 
 music ; and as the morning advances, and the animals come 
 abroad, and man begins to be active, the hard metallic 
 sound is gone, and there is a softness about nature. There 
 is also a delightful transparency in the atmosphere, because 
 the little spiculce of ice is gone ; and the heat of the air is 
 too much occupied in converting the snow and ice into water 
 for changing much of that into vapour. "When the change is 
 accompanied by rain, it is far more pleasant at the time, 
 and there is a danger, almost a certain one, that the Spring 
 will be treacherous ; and that, in consequence of the great 
 heat required for melting the snow, and the evaporation of 
 the rain together, frost will return long before the process
 
 THE SPBIXG. 255 
 
 of thawing, so comparatively slow, is completed. The slow 
 melting of snow by rain, compared with that by a warm 
 atmosphere, which is constantly shifting by the wind, can 
 be easily understood, when it is remembered that the water 
 which falls, even if it had the temperature of the greatest 
 summer heat, would be cooled down to the freezing point 
 in melting half its weight in snow. But, as the tempera- 
 ture can only be a little above freezing, the water will have 
 the temperature of 32 deg. before it has cooled perhaps one- 
 tenth of its weight ; and as the water is a bad conductor of 
 heat, and great part of the action of the oblique rays of 
 the sun reflected away from its surface, a rainy breaking of 
 a storm is almost sure to be followed by frost, if it do not 
 happen when the season is far advanced. The dry thaw is 
 the one which ushers in the Spring most pleasantly and 
 most certainly, and it is so far fortunate that it is most 
 common in those regions where, from the length of the 
 Winter, vegetation requires to be called soonest into 
 action." Vol. ii. pp. 102104. 
 
 In such a situation, and under such circumstances, as 
 those which we have attempted to describe, the storm not 
 unfrequently passes away in what is emphatically termed a 
 gentle thaw ; and when this is the case, the Spring comes 
 under the most favourable circumstances. The snow is 
 dissolved by atmospheric influence alone, without any rain 
 from the clouds ; although there are generally light clouds 
 hovering about, ready to produce rain, if returning frosts 
 should render a contest of the elements necessary. Besides 
 its mere pleasantness, the gentle thaw is attended with 
 several beneficial consequences. In the first place, there is 
 no flooding of the low grounds, and no washing of the soil 
 from the elevated ones ; but the snow forms a trough for 
 the discharge of the water into which it is melted, and thus 
 the coldest of the snow-water does not reach the surface of
 
 256 A GENTLE THAW. 
 
 the land. In the second place, the water produced by the 
 melting of the snow, sinks gradually into the earth : and 
 the earth has been opened to receive a greater store than if 
 it had been pelted by rains during the Winter. This is 
 occasioned by the radiation of the heat from the lower 
 strata of the earth, which is confined by the snow, and 
 turned back again to act upon the earth. In the third 
 place, this last circumstance produces a beginning of the 
 Spring under the shelter of the snow, which could not have 
 taken place with free exposure to the atmosphere. The 
 blade of the plant is protected; and the roots have heat and 
 moisture, and the air is excluded from them. They are 
 thus placed under the most favourable circumstances, and 
 they are stimulated accordingly. The difference in this 
 respect is very considerable ; for if, owing to the action of 
 the wind during the fall, or to any other cause, one portion 
 of a field has been exposed to the air while the frost con- 
 tinued, and another covered by the snow, it will be found 
 that vegetation upon the part which the snow covered will . 
 be fresh, green, and vigorous, long before that upon the 
 exposed part shows any decided signs of action. This, by 
 the way, is the real cause why Spring is so rapid, and meets 
 with so few reverses where the Winter is firm and decided, 
 but of moderate length, than it does where the Winter is 
 variable. 
 
 In such a place as we are alluding to, the Spring wind 
 usually freshens as the snow disappears ; and this both 
 quickens the melting of the snow, and dries the surface of, 
 the ground. By the time that there are only a few little 
 patches of snow remaining in nooks, and under the shelter 
 of thick hedges, the skylark is on the furrow or the stubble, 
 and the pastures are soon fit both: for sheep and cattle. 
 Already the children can gather snow-drops under the 
 hedge, and daisies on the green, which is new to them after.
 
 EABLT SPBING LABOURS. 257 
 
 its winter concealment. When the clods begin to dry, the 
 lark soars aloft at the streak of dawn, calling the plough- 
 men to their labours. Nor are they backward to obey ; for 
 they and their teams have been rested during the storm, 
 and thus return to their labour with fresh vigour. Xot 
 many days will elapse from the time that a field was snow- 
 clad, until a dozen shares be cleaving, and a dozen plough- 
 boards turning the surface; and such portions of the 
 surface as were not ploughed in the Autumn will soon be 
 ready for receiving the seed of the expected crop. Plough- 
 ing is easy under such circumstances; because the snow, 
 with the action of the heat under it, have rendered it 
 mellow and easily divided ; and a more kindly tilth may be 
 obtained by one ploughing after a snow-storm which departs 
 gently, than by two, or indeed by any number of plough- 
 ings, when the naked surface has been battered by winter 
 rains, and there has been no natural action to break the 
 clods. 
 
 During the continuance of the snow, the wild birds are 
 sorely pinched, and they throng to the stackyard and farm- 
 court, acquiring a degree of boldness and confidence almost 
 equalling that of domestic animals. The magpie, notwith- 
 standing the habitual wariness of his character, comes close 
 to the farm-house or the cottage, watching for a share of 
 whatever he may find. The rooks fly far and near with 
 weary wing, and seek the margins of streams, or the shores 
 of the sea, if these happen to be within the range of their 
 flight. All the resident birds, indeed, approach the abodes 
 of men ; and the hares, and the deer, where the latter exist, 
 leave the cover of the woods, and levy nightly contributions 
 on the cottage gardens. All wild nature, indeed, m 
 countries where man inhabits, acknowledge his dominion 
 during those times of severity, in the most pleasing way in 
 which dominion can be acknowledged, that if, by claiming
 
 258 THE BIEDS IN EABLT SPRING. 
 
 his protection. This approach of the animals to seek the 
 bounty of man, when wild nature fails them, is a tribute on 
 their part to his superior resources ; and, rightly improved, 
 it ought to teach man kindness to them at all times, and 
 charity with no stinted hand in those times of sore distress. 
 That they are for his rational use, we do not deny ; but the 
 bond of nature is never single. There is a reciprocity, the 
 violation of which is a crime ; and because man has recourse 
 to those wild creatures in his necessities, the bond of heaven 
 is upon him to do his best to succour them in theirs ; and 
 if he heeds it not, he is an undutiful son, and justly forfeits 
 his Father's love. When the storm has relented, and the 
 governing Spring leads the young year on apace, all those 
 wild creatures are in motion, and repaying, to the best of 
 their abilities, the small pittance which subsisted them 
 during the storm. While every bud was cased in snow, or 
 bound in frost, the little tits, and birds of that class, 
 resorted to the corn-ricks, and with curious dexterity drew 
 straws, in order to satisfy their hunger with the few grains 
 which the straw brought along with it. Where are they 
 no\v, and what are they doing ? They are in the orchard ; 
 and no sailors among the ropes, or monkeys among the 
 branches, ever moved so quickly and so adroitly as they are 
 moving from twig to twig and from bud to bud. What are 
 they doing ? " Stripping the trees of their fruit-buds ; 
 fetch me the gun," says the ill-informed gardener. Stay, 
 rash spoiler, and first learn, before you do. Wherever one 
 of these pretty little birds is plying its bill with so much 
 assiduity, there is " a worm in the bud " a nascent cater- 
 pillar is there ; so that every bud which that little bill 
 searches, will bring you an additional apple in the Autumn. 
 Therefore, let the birds alone ; go to your work with dili- 
 gence during the day, and to your book at night, and you 
 will be a happier, wiser and better man.
 
 THE LAMBS. 
 
 259 
 
 The rooks, too, which performed 
 long and weary journeys for a 
 scanty meal during the time that 
 the earth was sealed up, and which 
 then uttered not a voice, and moved 
 not a stick towards the construc- 
 tion of their air-pendant cradles, 
 are now cawing away as blithely as 
 larks ; and whilst some are flying 
 hither and thither, removing the 
 broken sprays which disfigure 
 the lawn, others are clearing 
 the meadows and the fields ; 
 and all is activity, industry, 
 and delight. 
 
 In brief space the lambs are 
 dropped ; and ere long they are 
 frisking and gambolling over 
 the now renovated pasture. 
 The grass upon that pasture is ^* 
 still short, but it is tender and 
 sweet ; it supports the mother 
 in her weakness, and tempts the 
 young to nibble ere yet it can 
 reach the ground, without as- 
 suming a strained position for 
 that purpose. Sheep, when white 
 and clean, and on a dry and 
 wholesome pasture, which can in 
 no wise affect the health of 
 creatures of such delicate 
 constitution, are at all 
 times among the most 
 delightful sights in
 
 VILLAGE flAEDENS. 
 
 rural economy. But lambing time is one of peculiar inte- 
 rest, because it gives a sure promise of future abundance ; 
 and there is such simplicity and such tenderness in the 
 display, that the mind is insensibly led to higher and holier 
 thoughts. When we see the attention of a judicious shep- 
 herd upon these occasions, we cannot refrain from thinking 
 of the unspeakable condescension and kindness of Him 
 who " feeds his flock like a shepherd, gathers the iambs 
 with his arms, and carries them in his bosom." 
 
 By the time that the season is fairly confirmed, the 
 leisure-hours of the cottagers are spent in the pleasing 
 labour, or rather amusement, of trimming their little gar- 
 dens, and getting in their early crops. There is no sort of 
 village occupation which men, women, and children set 
 about with greater glee and animation than this ; for, inde- 
 pendently of the hope of the produce, there is a pleasure 
 to the simple and unsophisticated heart in " seeing things 
 grow," which perhaps they who feel the most are the least 
 able to explain. Certain it is, however, that it would be 
 highly desirable, that not only every country labourer, but 
 every artizan in towns, where these are not so large as to 
 prevent the possibility of it, should have a little bit of 
 garden, and should fulfil the duty which devolved on man 
 in a state of innocence, " to keep it and to dress it." It is 
 impossible for anyone who has not carefully attended to the 
 subject, to be at all aware how strong the tie is which 
 binds man even to a little spot of his native earth, if so be 
 that he can consider it as his own, and that he himself, and 
 those on whom he loves to bestow it, are to enjoy the fruit. 
 This is the very strongest natural hold which binds a poor 
 man to his country, and to all those institutions which are 
 established for the well-being of society. Show me the 
 cottage, the roses and honeysuckles on which are neatly 
 trimmed and trained, and the garden behind is well stocked
 
 INTEREST OF A GARDEN. 261 
 
 with culinary herbs aud a fe\v choice flowers, and I will 
 speedily find you a cottager who never wastes his time or 
 his money, or debases his mind, and learns " the broad road 
 which leadeth to destruction," in the contamination of an 
 alehouse. If the garden is neat, one may rest assured that 
 the cottage, however humble it is, is the abode of content- 
 ment and happiness ; and that, however simple the fan- muv 
 be, it is wealth and luxury in full store to the inmates, 
 because they are satisfied with it, and grateful for the pos- 
 session of it. 
 
 It is not easy to point out all the advantages which flow 
 from such a state of things, both to those who enjoy it, 
 and those who observe it. People of cultivated minds and 
 refined taste are often fond of vegetables ; and if they find 
 that one in humbler life possesses the same taste, a brother- 
 hood of the heart is instantly established, which brings them 
 near to each other as men, and children of the same 
 common Father, whatever may be the difference of their 
 stations in society. Upon the humble cultivator himself, 
 the effect is still more. Attached to his rural home, his 
 little bit of ground, and his favourite plants, his mind has 
 always a resting-place, and therefore he is not subject to 
 be tossed about by the same gales of passion as they who 
 have no home, because they will not make a home of that 
 place where they remain for the night, in growling and 
 discontent at the weight and irksomeuess of those labours 
 which sit light as a feather on our happy cottager. 
 
 As the Spring advances, the days lengthen, and the fields 
 become dry, the labours of husbandman and cottairr 
 increase in number and activity the Spring wheat ami the 
 oats are got into the ground, and harrowed down, and all 
 the other labours of the fnrm proceed with in<-: 
 energy. The evenings, to the labourer, after the .-tipulated 
 toil for the master is over, are now so encoura^im. that he
 
 226 A FAMILY EVENING. 
 
 can cultivate his garden with equal pleasure and success ; 
 the beans, the early French beans, and all those little crops 
 in which productiveness and beauty are united ; and if a 
 child claims its square yard of the garden, it plants and 
 sows its tiny crop, with as much hope and exultation as the 
 man who cultivates hundreds of acres. The elder children, 
 who had diligently attended school in the Winter, heedless 
 of the snow, now suspend their education, in order to tend 
 the flocks and herds, or do such little offices about the farm 
 or the cottage as are not too great for their strength. They 
 are active and healthy, and their labours are duly prized 
 and praised the sweetest reward which youthful exertions 
 can receive ; and so they work away willingly to the full 
 bent of their strength. The younger children, whose legs 
 were too short for the snow, now replace the elder at 
 school ; and as there is still an hour of artificial light after 
 the fast fading twilight has obliged the father to give over 
 the dressing of the garden, each is more ready than another 
 to show him how perfectly it has conned over its little 
 lesson. Delighted with the approbation of a kind father, 
 the little things go happy to bed, sleep soundly till the 
 morning, and are eager for school next day, in order to win 
 the double approbation of the teacher in school, and the 
 parent at home. 
 
 There is another very happy effect of this pleasure of 
 domestication, so to express it, which ought not to be over- 
 looked. Kind-heartedness and affection in the family, and 
 with the neighbourhood, produce an attachment to the 
 worship of God, and to the house wherein the assembled 
 people sing his praise, and breathe the sincere prayers of 
 devout hearts to his eternal throne. We shall not stop to 
 inquire how it happens ; but no one, who has been in the 
 habit of observing, can deny the fact, that the homeless 
 man and the churchless man are names applicable to the
 
 LITTLE LABOUBERS. 263 
 
 same individual; while he who loves his home and his 
 family, never fails to love the temple of his God ; and as 
 his desire during the six days of the week is to the former, 
 so his desire on the sacred day of rest, the sabbath of the 
 new covenant, the weekly commemoration of the rising of 
 our blessed Lord from the dead, is toward the house of 
 prayer, where men assemble together to encourage each 
 other in the performance of those sacred duties which the 
 Grod of all goodness has appointed, as the easy means by 
 which favour and acceptance in his sight, through the blood 
 of the Mediator, may be obtained. 
 
 By the time that the sowing of the seed commences, the 
 hedges are sprinkled with green buds, the trees begin to 
 expand their leaves, and the fruit-trees to come into the 
 full blow of their petals. This is a second signal for the 
 birds to come to their labours ; because an immense number 
 of caterpillars are now brought to light, which were pre- 
 viously hidden from the keenest glance of these sharp-eyed 
 little watchers. On their former visits they came in 
 comparative silence ; but now the influence of the season 
 is strong upon them, and they come with songs, filling the 
 air with sweet sounds, and every sorid more gladsome than 
 another. The early flowers have now also expanded their 
 blooms, and collected in their nectaries that honey which is 
 to regale the early bees. Nor are the winged emblems of 
 industry ungrateful for the rich banquet which they receive 
 when the store which they laid up in Autumn begins to be 
 exhausted ; for the honey is most abundant in the niv1:ir\ , 
 just at the time when the anthers of the flower an- in the 
 best condition for shedding that fertilising dust, which is 
 essential to the maturity of the seeds, and consequently to 
 the race of the plant. Here, again, we have a beautiful 
 instance of reciprocal benefit. Without the flowers, no bee 
 or other insect which feeds on honey could possibly exist ;
 
 264 SPEING NOT TO BE DESCEIBED. 
 
 and without the bee or other insect, the flower would in 
 many instances bloom in vain.* Thus we find throughout 
 the whole compass of widely extended and indescribably 
 diversified nature, there is a mutual dependence, and a 
 reciprocal advantage, which in all cases binds the one part 
 of it to the other. It would be impossible to express in 
 words the numerous cases of this which occur at any one 
 place during any one Spring. Indeed, it is not desirable 
 that they could be so expressed ; because, though anyone 
 should be so endowed with knowledge, and with the faculty 
 of expressing that knowledge, as to be able distinctly to 
 describe the whole, he would be merely robbing his readers 
 of a pleasure which they can enjoy to the full extent, only 
 as the reward of their own personal labours. "We are 
 unequal to the task of thus describing ; yet, were we 
 conscious of full power for that purpose, we would refrain 
 from using them in mercy to the reader, and use our every 
 exertion in persuading him to go and enjoy the pleasure 
 for himself. The chosen draught of which every lover of 
 nature may drink, can be had, in its freshness and purity, 
 only at the living fountain of nature ; and if we attempt 
 to fetch it away in the clay pitchers of human description, 
 it loses all its spirit, becomes insipid, and acquires an earthy 
 taste from the clay. Therefore, he who would enjoy nature 
 must go directly to nature, and take nothing at second- 
 hand, excepting a simple hint as to the way in which he 
 should go, the giving of which is all our ambition and all 
 our desire. 
 
 As the Spring still farther advances, the gratifications of 
 the Spring multiply in even a higher proportion. The 
 lambs grow apace ; the fleece of the sheep gives promise of 
 
 * Darwin, in his lately published work on " Natural Selection," 
 has shewn that most of the Leguminous plants require the visits of 
 insects, such as bees, to render them capable of producing seeds.
 
 CONCLUSION. 265 
 
 abundant clothing ; the cattle throw off their winter coata, 
 and appear sleek and fat; the working horses, released 
 from part of their toil, gambol lightly in the enclosures ; 
 our native birds come into the full power of their song ; 
 the strangers arrive, in numbers and at times according to 
 the situation of the place ; not a leafless spray is to be seen 
 in wood or copse ; not a naked clod on the corn-field ; the 
 meadows are enamelled with flowers; the uplands are 
 scented with blossoms ; insect life is on the wing ; the 
 cuckoo has sung again and again ; the hay-fields wave 
 gracefully in the breeze, and begin to tempt the scythe 
 of the mower yet one little week, and, lo, it will be 
 Summer. 
 
 Such are the leading causes, and the more remarkable 
 characters of the Spring, which is the grand time of promise 
 for the year, and upon which the Summer and the Autumn 
 in a great measure depend. " As men sow, so shall they 
 reap," is a natural truth, as applied to the year, and to the 
 improvement man makes of the advantages of the year. 
 In the seasons of the life of man, it is of still greater 
 importance. The days which are appointed us here upon 
 earth, are the spring time of a year which will never end. 
 If we " sow the wind " in the present life, we may lay our 
 account with " reaping the whirlwind " eternally. But if, 
 in humble dependence upon God, and earnest prayer to 
 him for the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit, we 
 sow true faith in Jesus Christ, we shall reap eternal life. 
 
 THE END.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 ABELE, me ..... 178 
 
 Acotvledonous plants ... 123 
 
 Action and resistance, principles of 66 
 
 illustration of . . 67 
 
 of nature in the Spring . . . .56 
 
 of the sun to be judged of by effects produced . 55 
 
 of buds . . . . . .146 
 
 Active parts of plants ..... 136 
 
 Adaptation of the earth to solar influences . . .59 
 
 Affection, parental ..... 30 
 
 Africa, karoos of South . . . . .87 
 
 Air, a non-conductor of electricity ... 89 
 
 spring of the . . . . . .18 
 
 benefits of the .... 20 
 
 vibrations of the, the immediate causes of the seasons . 19 
 
 Alder, the 172 
 
 Alps, glaciers of the . . . . . .03 
 
 Aloes, the ...... 132 
 
 America, North, very little rain in parts of, during summer . 83 
 Ancient vines in Italy . . . . .150 
 
 Andes, climate of the ..... 109 
 
 lesson to be learnt in the . . . . 112 
 
 mines in the ..... 
 
 potato and dahlia, natives of the . 
 
 spring in the, described by Humboldt . .109
 
 268 INDEX. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Anemones ....... 192 
 
 Animal kingdom, effects of Spring upon the . . .57 
 
 Animals and plants, difference between . . . 197 
 
 familiar and nocturnal .... 216 
 
 grasses the prevailing food of vegetable-feeding . 124 
 two grand divisions of .... 201 
 
 voices of some, agreeable . . . 223 
 
 Aphides, productiveness of .. . . . 232 
 
 Asia, Central, in great part a desert . . . 83 
 
 Astrology, judicial, a delusion . . . .45 
 
 foundation of . . . . 45 
 
 how exploded . . . .45 
 
 Astronomical times . . . . . 54 
 
 Atmosphere, effects of changes of temperature upon . . 62" 
 
 ' ' gravitation in the earth upon the . 65 
 
 electric action of the . . . .90 
 
 ' leading properties of the ... 64 
 
 susceptibility of the, to changes . . 62 
 
 Axis of the earth always in the same position ' . . 50 
 
 BALANCE-SPRING, the, of a watch . 
 
 Beauty and utility, never separated in nature 
 
 Ben Nevis ,//... 
 
 Bible, the, instructive in natural history . 
 
 Birds, confined, may be taught to imitate the human voice 
 
 freedom of . 
 
 migrations of . . . . 
 
 movements of 
 
 resident . . .- . . , 
 
 songs of, distinct vocal sounds i 4 
 
 Spring plumage of . . 
 
 visitant, and their food 
 
 Blair, Rev. Robert ..-.-... 
 Body, human, most perfect in nature 
 
 relations of the, to the mind ... . 
 
 Books, necessity for Gospel doctrine in 
 Book of Nature, ignorance of, inexcusable . .
 
 INDEX. 26 9 
 
 Breaking of the dawn, the 
 
 Britain, climate of, how affected . . . .96 
 
 instrumental in the spread of the Gospel . . 34 
 
 winter comparatively mild in . . . 97 
 
 Spring flowers, few in . . .167 
 
 Brown, Robert, " Botanicoruin facile princeps " . . 123 
 
 Buds of ti ees always formed in Autumn . . 145 
 
 Bulbous roots ... . . . . 155 
 
 Burns, Robert, on the morning dew ... 28 
 
 CALTHA palustris . . 189 
 
 Canada, extremes of heat and cold in . , 99 
 
 goose, harbinger of Spring . . . .103 
 
 seasons in ..... 98 
 
 winter in, described ..... 100 
 
 Cape Town, Spring at ..... 85 
 
 Carbonic-acid and water chief food of plants . . . 145 
 
 Causes adapted by the Creator to results . . . 1 20 
 
 Celandine, the . . . . . .170 
 
 Cinquefoil, the strawberry-leaved .... 183 
 
 Children among the flowers ..... 155 
 
 Christianity, ignorance of, unfits for the study of nature . 37 
 
 Christians, duty of . . . . .35 
 
 Clematis, the . .... 192 
 
 Climate, adaptation of plants to changes of . . .114 
 
 man adapted to changes of . . . 112 
 
 wild flowers an index to . . . .121 
 
 Colours of the spectrum . 26 
 
 influence of, in the distribution of heat . . 26 
 Coltsfoot ...... 
 
 Cotyledonous plants . 
 Crassulaceae, the . 
 
 fermented liquors made from the . .131 
 Creation felt to be the work of one God . 
 Cryptogamous and phenogamous plants 
 
 DAFJODIL, the
 
 270 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Dahlia, the . . . . . . Ill, 155 
 
 may furnish food for man .... Ill 
 
 Daisy, the common ...... 169 
 
 Daphnes, the . . . . . . 174 
 
 " Daughter of springs," the . . . . .24 
 
 Day, advantage of taking the, at the beginning . . 23 
 
 " Day-spring," the . . . . . .24 
 
 to be highly prized ... 24 
 
 cheering and penetrating influence of the . 25 
 
 of human life .... 29 
 
 "from on high" . . . .32 
 
 Death, conflict with ..... 162 
 
 Deception, sources of . . . . . .43 
 
 Dew, the, in the morning . . ' . . . . 27 
 
 poetical allusions to the . . . .27 
 
 Dewdrop, varying colours of a .;. -.. . . 27 
 
 Dicotyledonous plants ..... 123 
 
 Disease, natural means of recovery from . . . 163 
 
 Drought and moisture ..... 132 
 
 Dunkeld, potato in tower of Cathedral of . . . 70 
 
 EARLY rising, advantages of . . . . 27, 28 
 
 Earth, motion of twofold. . . . . 46 
 
 action of the sun upon the surface of . .52 
 
 adaptation of, to solar influences . . 59, 78 
 
 annual motion of the .... 50 
 
 axis of always in the same position . . .50 
 
 changes in plane of motion of produce the Spring 51 
 
 circumference of the . . . . .47 
 
 distance of from the sun . . . _'., 47 
 
 hourly motion of the . . ,,- .47 
 
 influences of the sun comes to the in straight lines 51 
 
 length of yearly path of the . v . .47 
 
 north and south poles of the . . . 51 
 
 one hemisphere of always acted upon by the sun . 57 
 
 orbit of the not a perfect circle x . . . 50 
 
 lies in one plane . ,.... . . 51
 
 INDEX. 271 
 
 PAGK 
 
 Earth, pressure of the atmosphere upon the . . 65 
 
 value of the mass of water in the ... 65 
 
 waters upon the surface of the ... 75 
 
 Education, grand point in .... 39 
 
 often spoiled in the nursery . . .160 
 
 Elm, the ..... \ji 
 
 Endogenous and exogenous plants .... 127 
 
 Epizooty 200 
 
 Equinoctial points, the .... 53 
 
 Equinoxes, the ...... 53 
 
 Equisetum arvense ...... 187 
 
 Error, sources of . . . . . . 44 
 
 Evaporation, a means of cold . . . . .75 
 
 Evening, a delightful Spring .... 195 
 
 Evergreens, abundant in cold latitudes . . . 123 
 
 Evidences of the being and attributes of God . . 82 
 
 Exogenous wood, section of . . . . . 141 
 
 Eye, experiment on the ..... 43 
 
 FASHION, influence of ..... 195 
 
 February, not a wild flower month in the British Islands 169 
 
 Fig, double flowering of the . . . . .151 
 
 Flower-buds . . . . . . 1-Vi 
 
 Flowering, preparation of plants for . . . . 149 
 
 Flowers, children among the . 105 
 
 of the Spring . . . . .1 3'.i 
 
 wild, an index to climate . . I - 1 
 
 Flowering plants, most interesting and useful . . .119 
 
 Freshness of young life .... 29 
 
 Frog, the common .... 
 
 Frost, effects of on the human body 
 
 vegetable and animal food . . . !"'> 
 Fruit-trees, ancient 
 
 GALLINACEOUS birds, cries of . 
 
 Garden, advantages of a . 
 
 Geography, physical and natural, necessity of .
 
 272 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Goat-sucker, the ...... 237 
 
 Goldenalla Alpina, the . ' ! '*. : '' c V ' r - %:' . 170 
 " Good Monsoon," the . v : - ; * .- . 85 
 
 Goodness of God ...... 158 
 
 Gooseberry, the ..... . 131 
 
 Gospel dispensation, the . . ... . 33 
 
 Grasses the prevailing food of grazing animals . . 124 
 
 Gravitation . . . . . 59 
 
 Grey of the dawn . . . . . .26 
 
 HAND, the human . . . &% . 22 
 
 Hares, multiplication and consumption of . .199 
 
 Hazel-nut tree, the . . - . . . 173 
 
 Health the heritage of man . . . . .161 
 
 Heat, effect of on atmospheric air ; ., . 19 
 
 action of belongs to chemistry . . . .75 
 
 Hemispheres, the . . . . ; < 52 
 
 illuminated . . . . .58 
 
 proportions of land and water in the . 81 
 
 differences of the seasons in the . . 81 
 
 Hen-bit dead Nettle, the . '?.', ' -. < . 171 
 
 Herbaceous plants ...... 153 
 
 roots . . . . 154 
 
 Holly, the .- . 146 
 
 Horsetails, the . . . . . ' ' . 187 
 
 House-leek, the . . . . . . 131 
 
 House.Martin, the . .- ' . ; -< s 236 
 
 Hybernation . . ! . ' "*'' . . . 203 
 
 Hybernaculum, the . . . . .146 
 
 IMMORTALITY, an argument for - .- . . . 196 
 
 Indestructibility of seeds, usefulness of to man . ..* 126 
 
 Indian Fig, the . . - :'-*. - -, . 131 
 
 Insects, ravages of . . . . .215, 242 
 
 productive powers of ' . . ',*-- 231 
 
 are they only destroyers ?. . ; * . 243 
 
 necessary to plants . . .. v" . 264
 
 IX DUX. 
 
 Inlands in the Pacific Ocean, gardens of the world 97 
 
 civilisation of the . 97 
 
 LABOUR of Spring confined to removal of winter snow . 103 
 
 Labours of birds in Spring . 244 
 
 Lands, new, often formed in the sea 127 
 
 Lark, song of the ... . 211, 224 
 
 certain herald of Spring . . 212 
 
 Lapwing, the . . . 219, 221 
 
 Laurel, the common . . 146 
 
 Lichens and mosses . . 133 
 
 Life, how preserved . . 243 
 
 Light, effects of little understood . . i; ( J 
 
 influence of ..... 69 
 
 more easily refracted than heat . . .70 
 
 vegetables require ..... 70 
 
 instance of . . . .70 
 
 Lightning and thunder, causes of . . 90 
 
 absence of in polar regions . .107 
 
 Localities, adaptation of . . . . . 131 
 
 Lombardy Poplar, the . .178 
 
 MAN. advantages of ..... 248 
 
 adapted to changes of climate and situation . .112 
 
 ,, fallen and frail .... 35 
 
 his constitutional heritage . . .161 
 
 should be addressed as conversant with God's Word 36 
 
 .Magpie, the .... . 257 
 
 Martyr, anecdote of a ... 212 
 
 Marigold, the common field . .155 
 
 ,, the marsh . . . 189 
 
 .Mainspring of a watch or clock 
 
 desires and passions of mankind resemble a 23 
 
 Matter, all action of must be material 45 
 mass of in the world 
 
 Medullary rays, the . 
 
 Mezereon, the
 
 274 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Migrant birds, regularity of their return . . '. 207 
 
 early . . >., . . 219 
 
 Mind, relations of to the body .... 248 
 
 Modes of growth, plants distinguished by . . 124, 136 
 
 Monocotyledonous plants . . . . v " . 123 
 
 Monkshood . . . -''.' V* . . 191 
 
 Monsoon, the good . . . . . 85 
 
 Motion, axis of ..-'.. 49 
 
 plane of . . . . . . 49 
 
 Morning birds, song of the . . . . .27 
 
 landscape, beauty of the ... 27 
 
 of life, importance of . . " . .29 
 
 necessity of improving ... 31 
 
 Mountains . . . . . . .74 
 
 climate of . ." . . . 109 
 Mushrooms ....... 136 
 
 Mutual usefulness of all creatures . . .' 198 
 
 NATURAL causes, our being dependent upon . . .36 
 
 phenomena, do not admit of a general description 41 
 
 truths illustrative of Divine . . .40 
 
 Nature, beauty and utility never separated in . 241 
 
 books on, in favour with intelligent men . . 36 
 
 gradual movements of . '. . - . 41 
 
 history of, only found in revelation . . . 246 
 
 inviting to observation . ; -"; . . 36 
 
 language of universal =>,.! . . .40 
 
 parts of, accommodated to each other ' ..'" ; . 244 
 
 student of, in danger of idolatry . . .37 
 
 study of, incapable of imparting a knowledge of the 
 
 true God . . . . . 37 
 
 New lands formed in the sea . j &r v . 127 
 
 Nightingale, the . . . . V . 240 
 
 Nursery, education in the . . .." . .160 
 
 PACIFIC Ocean, islands of the .... 96 
 
 Pallets of a watch . . ' . . . .22
 
 275 
 
 
 
 PJLG1 
 
 Parental affection ..... 30 
 
 Pendulum, the ... 67 
 
 Perennial snow ..... 63 
 
 Physical geography, necessity of knowledge of . .80 
 
 Plane of motion ...... 49 
 
 has no absolute position in space . . .50 
 
 Plants, divisions of .... 119, 122 
 
 distinguished by mode of growth . . . 124 
 
 distinguished by annual increase . . . 127 
 
 endogenous and exogenous . . . .127 
 
 evergreen and deciduous . . . . 127 
 
 flowering and flowerless .... 120 
 
 number of species of . . .129 
 
 on different soils ..... 121 
 
 proportions of flowering and flowerless . . 123 
 
 seeds of indestructible. . . . .125 
 
 water and carbonic acid, chief food of . 145 
 
 Plovers 219 
 
 Poplar, the 178 
 
 monkish story concerning the . . . 180 
 
 unsafe timber . . . . .180 
 
 Potato, the . . . . . . Ill, 155 
 
 in tower of Cathedral of Dunkeld. . . 70 
 
 Potentillas, the .... . 184 
 
 Promise and fulfilment ..... 34 
 
 Providential care of all creatures . . .57 
 
 BAIN, effects of . 
 
 the former and the latter 
 
 clouds, formation of 
 
 storms, explanation of . 
 Ranunculacese, the 
 
 dyes from flowers and roots of .192 
 
 Reason and revelation, the balance-spring to the life of man 
 Recovery from disease, natural means of 
 Reptiles of Britain 
 Resistance and action, principles of . 
 
 s 2
 
 276 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Robin redbreast, the . . '. ' 210, 239 
 
 Rooks, the .... V 214 
 
 depredations of, slight compared with their services 218 
 
 economy of . . . : ' / . . 218 
 
 usefulness of . _ .^ ... j , 215 
 
 Roots, action of in endogenous plants .* . . 128 
 
 ,, tuberous . , v , ...{. 155 
 
 Rotation on axis at right angles to plane of motion . . 49 
 
 SALVATION, universal proclamation of s , ; ' ! . 34 
 
 Sea, measurement of waves of the . , .84 
 
 Seasons, the, cannot be studied apart from each other . 38 
 
 changes of, how produced . . . .44 
 
 our distinction of, more imaginary than real . 54 
 
 reduced to two .' . . , . . .55 
 
 Seed-leaves . . . .122 
 
 Seeds of plants indestructible . '. . 125 
 
 ,, some germinate at any time of the year . , ( 134 
 
 Scotland, mountains in . L^. . ,. , 63 
 
 Sleep, necessity for . * . . ' . . 28 
 
 effects of, counteracted by excess . t. . 28 
 
 Sloe, the . . . "V , .. ., r '''. " 174- 
 
 Snakes of Britain, the ' . " ; . 205 
 
 Snowdrop, the . . 167, 168 
 
 Snow-storms, early effects of, in Britain . "' ." ' . 99 
 
 Snow, perennial . . 63 
 
 Soils, plants on different . . , , y ^ t ^^ 
 
 Solar influences . . ' " rt -'"^' -/r < ^> ^ 
 
 adaptation of the earth to . ,. . 59 
 
 action of, upon water . . . 72 
 
 lessened at the poles . . ' . .' . 133 
 
 Song of the lark . f \ .^ ' . '.. . '. ' 211 
 
 Songs, noises, and voices ... . ;-,.-, ;,..-,, 221 
 
 of the strangers . . ., ^ ,. 239 
 
 South Africa, equinox in . . . . .84 
 
 violence of the Spring in . .. . 86, 88 
 " South-easter off the Cape " . . ''.'"."* . 85
 
 INDBX. >;;- 
 
 Spectrum, the . . 
 
 distribution of heat over colours composing the . 26 
 
 Spider-plant, the 
 
 Spring action of exogenous plants . 139 
 
 adaptation of vegetable races to the . 93, Hf> 
 
 advance of the . ' of, [ 
 
 annual birthday of all nature ]!).-, 
 
 ,, at the equator jyg 
 
 at Cape TOMTI . 35 
 
 birds, interest of 210 
 
 calls up varied and delightful emotions . 17 
 
 coming of the, described . . . 251 
 
 danger to plants in the . 56 
 
 ,, definition of the . 41 
 
 differently named in other languages . . 17 
 
 difficult to characterise . .55 
 effects of the, upon the vegetable and animal 
 
 kingdoms . . . . . :,; 
 evening, a delightful ..... 195 
 few words of so many and appropriate applications as 1 s 
 flowers few in Britain ..... 167 
 
 general characterictics of the . . 38 
 gratifications of, multiplied 
 
 greenness, descriptive character and attribute of the 17 
 
 has one general meaning . . . 18, SO 
 
 has no action upon seeds . . . . 1 .'H 
 immensity of power which produces the 
 
 in different latitudes and localities . 80 
 influence of, upon animals .... 194 
 
 man and his labours il? 
 
 in polar latitudes . . .97 
 
 labours of birds, insects, and animals . 345 
 ,, labour of, in northern countries, confined to removal 
 
 of winter snow . . I't.'J 
 
 light and heat, chief agents in the . M 
 metaphorical sense of the word 
 or elasticity of the air
 
 278 INDEX. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 Spring, or elasticity, grand source of all material action . 19 
 
 of a \ratch or clock . . . .20 
 
 instruction afforded by the . 21 
 
 peculiar and proper meaning of the word . 19 
 
 perpetual in high latitudes ... 96 
 
 phenomena of, entirely terrestrial . . .42 
 
 preparation of vegetables for the . . 134 
 
 range of inquiry into causes of the, limited . 44 
 
 revival of the . . . . . 42 
 
 South African . . . . .88 
 
 the busiest time of the year with the birds . 56 
 
 the season of toil with plants and animals . . 56 
 
 the time of showers .... 87 
 
 twofold . . *. - . . .79 
 
 what parts of plants act under influence of the 134 
 
 Spurge-laurel and Spurge-olive .... 174 
 
 Squill, the two-leaved ..... 182 
 
 Stability, grand principle of . .. < . . .66 
 
 Strong in death, the . * . . . . 162 
 
 Summer temperature in deserts and dry places . {. . 83 
 
 the grand season of nature's bloom . . 159 
 
 Sun, the, shines alike in all places ' .!: . . . 117 
 
 the same at every period of the year , ^ - 43 
 
 no action of but by natural causes . . .45 
 
 the centre round which the earth revolves . 51 
 
 reciprocal action between the earth and the . . 59. 
 
 Sunbeams, rate of motion of .... 60 
 
 effects of the upon the atmosphere . ., . 61 
 
 Sunrise ........ 26 
 
 Superstitions . . . . . . . . 180 
 
 Surfaces, reflection from different . ". ; . v 76 
 
 simple experiment on . < :. > l ..-:-> . . 76 
 
 Swallows . . . . . < .it* . 236 
 
 do not hybernate, as formerly supposed . ^ . 19 
 
 Swifts . . . . . , . 236 
 
 System, chiefly necessary for professional students . . 88
 
 IITDEI. 279 
 
 m 
 
 TEMPORALES ..... 109 
 
 Tennyson, Alfred on the Spring .... 220 
 
 Thawing, effects of. .... 104 
 
 Thrush, the .... 213 
 
 Timber, structure and qualities of ... 140 
 
 Time, once lost, never found ... 29 
 
 Toad, the common ..... 205 
 
 Tongue, a, planted in everything about us . . .21 
 
 Tonnentillas, the ..... 184 
 
 Training of youth . . . . . .30 
 
 Trees, instruction to growers of . . . .139 
 
 Tropical seasons generally . . . . .95 
 
 Tubers and tuberous roots .... 155 
 
 Tussilago farfara ...... 185 
 
 " UXSEEN things never deceive us " ... 44 
 
 Usefulness, mutual, of all creatures . . .198 
 
 Utilitarianism ...... 164 
 
 Utility and beauty never separated in nature . .241 
 
 VEGETABLE Kingdom, effects of Spring upon . . 37 
 
 races, adaptation of to the Spring . . ( J3 
 
 tribes, knowledge of the should be possessed by 
 
 everybody .... 119 
 
 Vegetables, preparation of, for the action of Spring 134, 152 
 
 Vines, ancient 
 
 Viper, the ... . .205 
 
 WATCH, machinery of a, described 
 
 Water, as essential as air to growing nature . 
 
 a non-conductor of electricity 
 
 and carbonic acid chief food of plants 
 Waters, solar influence upon the . 
 Waves of the sea, measurements of 
 " What moves ? " 
 Willow, the 
 
 charcoal 17 r >
 
 280 
 
 IXDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Wind, violence of the . . . ^ .34 
 
 Winds, causes of ..... 88 
 
 Winter in Canada . . 100 
 
 Winters, severe . . .-' . 228 
 
 Artie . . i . . 235 
 
 Wood-lark, the .... .224 
 
 Word, necessity of understanding the nature and power of a 17 
 Wren, the *$ . .211 
 
 Wych-elm, the . . 172 
 
 YEAR, meaning of the word . . .47 
 
 Yew, the . .180 
 
 Young, Dr. Edward, anecdote of . 44 
 
 Youth, training of . . . . .30 
 
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 of practical Christianity." Englishwoman's Magazine, January, 1852. 
 
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 exceedingly felicitous. The work is thoroughly Protestant and evangelical], 
 nd hence an admirable and seasonable antidote to popery. We hope it will 
 have an extensive circulation." Wesley Banner, Feb. 1852. 
 
 " Thja poem is entitled to no mean rank as a poetical composition. It con- 
 tains passages of great power and pathos, and is sustained by large and scrip- 
 tmral views." Evangelical Magazine, Feb. 1852. 
 
 " He (the author) possesses a most felicitous ear for rhythm, an extraordinary 
 command of poetic diction, and a power, it would seem, of rapid composition 
 of very rare occurrence." Br>tih Quarterly, Feb. 1852. 
 
 His (Montgomery's) poetry represents many of the most familiar, and at 
 the same time the most healthful, tendencies of the English national mind. 
 'Luther' is replete with vigorous reasoning, and characterised by what we may 
 a'.l a certain point of beauty, and a stately magnificence of verse in those 
 passages in which the beanties of nature are portrayed, or the faith and honour 
 of the great Redeemer are vindicated." English Review, April, 1802, p. 1". 
 
 " No poetic work has ever been more enthusiastically welcomed than this. 
 That the present is a SIXTH edition speaks emphatically enough for its 
 popularity. It is quite plain, indeed, looking merely to its commanding circu- 
 lation, that ' Luther' is addressed to faculties higher than the merely sesthe'ic, 
 and has pppealed to those grand and abiding sympathies of intellect and heart 
 wl-ich submit neither to the vicissitudes of taste nor the caprice of fashion. 
 We need scarcely say. in bringing this notice to a close, how cordially, at this 
 particular juncture, we welcome this new and extended edition of ' Luthor.' " 
 Dublin Warder. Oct. 2': 1851. 
 
 " In point of thought, energy of diction, and stability of structure, a more 
 elaborate or more nobie poem has scarcely ever been constructed." Bel/'i 
 Me*enger, Oct. a">, 1851. 
 
 " He has treated the subject with considerable poetic power both of thought 
 nd expression. The structure of the work is novel, admitting of any degre 
 of expansion, and the author, in the course of his narrative, has taken occasion 
 to introduce full and clear expositions of the leading doctrines of Christianity. 
 'The poet's retrospect and patriot's conclusion' comprises a fine evolutioH of 
 tlr-cfrht, fiCCcnpuaiCg Sy 65 CQ&oreS O." patri-vi *. uOfOaOTbJ fofeii.: nf 
 pressed i passsges of great poetic beauty." Norfolk Chronielt. Nor. 22. IrO. 
 
 " ' Luther ; or, Rome and the Reformation,' is decidedly the best of his poems 
 f any considerable length. The fact that it has already reached the sixth 
 litioii is proof o f its merit. . . . It is an excellent book for the drawing- 
 rx>m." Edinburgh Witness, Not. 26, 185 
 
 London; JAMES BLACKWOOD, Paternoster Ro\v.
 
 HEZEKIAH AND SENNACHERIB : a Parallel : or, God'i 
 Promises and Power His People's Delight and Securitv, 
 with an Examination of the Angel of the Lord, contem- 
 poraneous Jewish and Assyrian History, and the Millen- 
 nium. By the Rev. J. G. ANGLEY, M.A. Fcap. 8vo 
 price 5s. cloth. 
 
 "The design of this work is evident from its title-page God's promises and 
 power Ins people's delight and security. This proposition is learnedly, and In a 
 devotional spirit, elucidated throughout the various chapters The reader of the 
 bouk may find in it much to instruct, for the author parallelises the history as 
 given to us by Mitred penmen, prophets, and historians, with the account of the 
 wine events which have descended to us from other sources. The lessons de- 
 doced are comforting to the Christian reader. Most of the chapters are pleasing 
 concluded with appropriate poetical stanzas. Leicetttr Adrertiur. 
 
 TWENTY-SEVEN SERMONS and a FAREWELL SER- 
 MON, preached in St. George's Church, Barnsley. By 
 the Rev. W. J. SHOCK, B.A., Incumbent of Hayfield, 
 Derbyshire. Post 8vo., cloth. Second Edition. Price 7s. 6cL 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 "These are sound, earnest, simple, and pnictic.il discourses. They are appro- 
 priately divested of all obscure or complicated meaning: but they are not the 
 less pure or elevated in teaching There are lessons which we may all learn with 
 profit. Avoiding controversy. Mr. Brock has treated of those prominent truths 
 which are parts of our common Protestantism : and we remark throughout a 
 steadfast aim to preach the truth as it is in Jesus in all its force and intensity. 
 We can heartily recommend these sermons for family use." Church and StaU 
 Gazette. 
 
 "His views are Scriptural, his enforcement of Christian doctrine warm. We 
 are, therefore, glad to recommend the volume to our readers " Church of Bny- 
 land Magazine. 
 
 "The sermons before us are of a high order, both with respect to beauty of 
 composition and power of thought. It is pleasing also to see that the author is 
 as much deserving of commendation for the truly evangelical feeling which his 
 sermons display, as for the grasp of mind which is so evident in them." Church 
 <if Enrj'and Quarterly Review. 
 
 " Mr. Brock's sermons are evidently written ad /></;>u/<im, as all parish discourse* 
 should be. They have the advantage of being on texts of a striking character, 
 which confer on them taking titles. The sermon on l>et. xxxll. 11, 12, is thus 
 treated. . . . The unity of the subject is well sustained, which we think a 
 first-rate excellence in a sermon ; and all the illustrations and argument* are 
 founded on the very beautiful figure of the text." C-tncal JvurnaL 
 
 Great earnestness of spirit, and an earnest desire to impress upon men's 
 minds the practical truths of religion." John Bull. 
 
 "These sermons do considerable credit to the writer, and encourage the nope 
 that he will produce something decidedly above the average of the printed 
 sermons of the day." Literary Churchman. 
 
 "The sermons are very instructive, their subjects well chosen and replete with 
 interest, and their tendency highly practical mid stimulating. In style they are 
 plain and easy to be understood, without ever becoming bold, or low, or feeble." 
 London Quarterly Review, 
 
 "The author's prasp of divin 'ruth is firm, clear, and comprehensive, the divi- 
 sions of his sermons are always natural, ami sometimes exceedingly felicitous 
 the warmth and fervour of spiritual life tiows in every page, and not -.-Mom wi 
 meet with turns of thought very striking in the put hoi with which they move \\ 
 heart, or the power with which tbcy impress the conscience." AM of U. 
 (.'hur cites. 
 
 LONDON: JAMES BLACKWOOD, Paternoster ROT
 
 Uniform with the " Successful Merchant." 
 HEADINGS for YOUNG MEN, MERCHANTS, 
 MEN OF BUSINESS, &c., containing numerous 
 Maxims, Truisms, and Articles on Probity and on 
 the Management of Business on Sound and Honour- 
 able Principles, forming a most excellent guide for 
 all. Crown 8vo., price Is. 6d. 
 " Miwh that may very profitably be remembered." Globe. 
 
 Activity is not always Energy 
 
 Advice to a Reckless Youth 
 
 Advice to a Young Tradesman 
 
 Aids and Hindrances to Success 
 in Mercantile Pursuits 
 
 A Model Warehouse 
 
 Anecdote for Young Men enter- 
 ing Commercial Life 
 
 Aphorisms for Business Men. 
 
 A Word to Young Men 
 
 A Word to Merch-mts 
 
 A Wheeling Article 
 
 Be careful of Small Things 
 
 Business first, then Pleasure 
 
 Bye-and-Bye 
 
 Carlyle's Advice to Young 
 Men 
 
 Character and Capital 
 
 Cheer up 
 
 Choice of Friends 
 
 Competition in Trade 
 
 Courage 
 
 Delays 
 
 Depend on Yourself 
 
 Difficulty and Perseverance 
 
 Duty of Trusting to Ourselves 
 
 Easy Way of Gaining or Losing 
 Five Years of Life 
 
 Energy versus Despair 
 
 Energetic Men 
 
 Firmness important to the Mer- 
 chant 
 
 Four Good Words 
 
 Gambling 
 
 Getting on in the World 
 
 Good Advice 
 
 Habits of a Man of Business 
 
 How to Prosper in Business 
 
 How to make Money 
 
 Importance of Trifles 
 
 Industry and Integrity 
 
 Industry and its Blessings 
 
 Integrity the Foundation of 
 
 Mercantile Character 
 Integrity of Character 
 It will never Do to be Idle 
 Keep your Promise 
 Make a Beginning 
 Maxims for Guidance through 
 
 Life 
 
 Moral Agriculture 
 Much Wisdom in Little 
 Necessary Hints to those that 
 
 would be Rich 
 
 Never Do too much at a Time 
 Now ! 
 Parsimony and Economy in 
 
 Trade 
 
 Perseverance 
 Pick up that Pin. or hints for 
 
 Business Men 
 Rules for Reading 
 Save, Save, Save ! 
 Self-Reliance important to the 
 
 Merchant 
 Self-Reliance 
 Sincerity and Insincerity 
 Steadiness of Purpose 
 Stick to your Business 
 The Beginings of Character 
 The Good Merchant 
 The Man of Business and the 
 
 Business Man 
 
 The Man retired from Business 
 The Right Aim 
 The Right Man for Business 
 The Secret of Success 
 The True Man of Business 
 To Day and To-Morrow 
 To-Morrow 
 
 What a Man of Business should be 
 What a Merchant should be 
 What is Luck? 
 Wild Young Men 
 
 LONDON : JAMES BLACKWOOD, Paternoster Sow.
 
 THE EAETH: Its Physical Condition and most 
 remarkable Phenomena. By "W. M. HIGGIKS, 
 Fellow of the Geological Society. Fourth Edition, 
 with numerous Illustrations. Fcap. 8vo., cloth, 
 price 3s. 6d. ; or gilt edges, 4s. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. L The Earth in relation to the Universe. 
 
 II. Celestial Appearances 
 
 w i III. The Atmosphere and its Properties 
 
 , FV. Atmospherical Phenomena Dependent on the Distribu- 
 
 tion of Heat 
 
 V. Phenomena Dependent on the Distribution and Condi- 
 
 tions of Light. 
 
 VI. Phenomena Dependent on the Distribution of Electri- 
 city. 
 
 n VII. Phenomena Dependent on Terrestial Magnetism. 
 VIII. Interior of the Earth. 
 
 IX. Land and Water. 
 
 X. Superficial Temperature of the Earth. 
 
 EELIGIOUS LECTUEES on the PECULIAE PHE- 
 NOMENA of the FOUE SEASONS. By Professor 
 HITCHCOCK. Second Edition. 18mo, cloth, price 
 Is. 6d. ; or gilt edges, 2s. 
 
 " Much that may very profitably be recommended."- Globe. 
 
 THE BEAUTIES OF NATUEE. By B. A. EDWABDR. 
 Fcap. 8vo., cloth, gilt edges, price Is. 6d. 
 
 HUNGAEY, AND OTHEE POEMS. By EDWABD 
 
 SUTTON. Fcap. 8vo., cloth, Is. 6d. 
 FLOEENCE : A Tale. By M. E. HAMMOND. Crown 
 
 8vo., cloth, price 7s. 6d. 
 
 ALFEED STATJNTON. By J. STANYAN Bioo, Esq. 
 Crown 8vo., cloth, price 10s. 6d. 
 
 THE BOOK OF MANY NAMES. Fcap. 8vo., cloth, 
 price Is. 6d. 
 
 " There is an arbitrary name, whereunto the idea attacheth," 
 Tupper. 
 
 " There is decided originality about this little volume. The 
 authoress has been at immense pains to collect and distribute under 
 appropriate headings as many English surnames as in the course of 
 newspaper reading she was able to accumulate. The result is highl} 
 amusing. The authoress has certainly displayed great industry, and 
 industry deserves success." Belfutt Newt-Letter. 
 
 LONDON: JAMES BLACKWOOD, Paternoster Eow.
 
 BERTHA DAELEY ; or, Life in her Husband's Cura- 
 cies. By L. H. B. Crown 8vo., cloth, price 
 10s. 6d. 
 
 " It is clearly and carefully written. The characters are well drawn, 
 and life, as it comes under a curate's observation, in a poor and popu- 
 lous district, is faithfully portrayed. The description of the Chartist 
 risings in Yorkshire have a touch which reminds us of Miss Bronte's 
 graphic narratives of similar outbreaks .... The work is instructive 
 and suggestive, yielding high moral teaching, with orthodox preach- 
 ing." A thenceum. 
 
 " Bertha Darley, or Life in her Husband's Curacies by L. H. B. 
 James Blackwood. This Volume must be classed in the category of 
 Religious Novels ; but rises far superior to most of its contemporaries, 
 in its ennobling spirit of toleration in its freedom from sectarian bias, 
 and in the purity of its Christian doctrine. It places in a clear and 
 forcible light the duties of a Minister of Christ's Church over the 
 flock of which he is the guide and pastor. It marks out a path divested 
 of all the rancorous hatred inspired by the factions of theological 
 disputant, whilst the orthodoxy of the true Church is maintained and 
 supported. It points out the errors which have led to the alienation 
 of many of the poor in their affection towards the clerical establish- 
 ment which ought to foster them. It shows, that in those Catholic 
 countries where the poor are tended by the Clergy, the Church is 
 venerated as a Mother, and that the same feeling is dominant amongst 
 the humbler classes in our own country, requiring only to be 
 awakened by the voice of kindness and sympathy." Here a long 
 quotation is given. " This extract will sufficiently indicate the views 
 of the Author, and the style in which the book is written. It is an 
 able and rather remarkable work, and may serve to urge forward 
 the laudable movement recently begun with so much promise, for 
 extending the benefit of the church's ministrations amongst the very 
 owest portion of the community." Morning Post. 
 
 " Bertha Darley is a rather spoilt child, and an heiress in a 
 small way, whose childhood has the usual incidents of quarrels with 
 modern governesses, and friendships with quaint but exemplary nurses. 
 She grows, and completes a childish attachment by engaging herself 
 to Henry Darley, the son of a country neighbour. He enters the 
 army, but, having taken a serious turn, leaves his profession for the 
 church." Press. 
 
 " It is a well told story, of a serious caste of thought, and it exhi- 
 bits the narrative powers of the author in a very pleasing light. It 
 is a story that will reward perusal for its sincerity and right feeling." 
 Observer. 
 
 " She relates her adventures during the changeful fortunes of her 
 husband's life of curateship with spirit, and with no inconsiderable 
 amount of humour." Critic. 
 
 " There is much good to be gleaned from this ' Bertha Darley,' who 
 gives evidence of possessing a warm heart and a clear head." . . . 
 '' Cleverly and carefully written." Manchester Examiner. 
 
 London: JAMES BLACKWOOD, Paternoster Kow.
 
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