DECEMBER. 247 



to be affected by it. We are all unconscious physiogno- 

 mists of the face of Nature; and over a wide tract of 

 country, were the vegetation blasted in autumn by some 

 secret pestilence that had destroyed its vitality, its whole 

 aspect would be such as to sadden every beholder, though 

 unaware of the fatal event. As the human face in sleep 

 w^ears the glow, if not the animation of waking life, so 

 the face of Nature, in her hyemal sleep, has a glow that 

 harmonizes with our feelings and with our sense of 

 universal beauty. 



The wildwood is always full of instruction for those 

 who are mindful either of its general scenes or its 

 minuter objects ; and a ramble on a pleasant winter's 

 day produces on the mind an invigorating effect that 

 might be used as a safeguard against mental depression. 

 The landscape, when undisfigured by art, is never without 

 beauty, and the woods are always redolent of sweet odors 

 that assist in perfecting the illusions that arise from 

 agreeable sights. While the exercise thus partaken in 

 the open air strengthens the body and improves the 

 health, the objects presented for our contemplation are 

 tonic and exhilarant in their action on the mind. What- 

 ever may be the season of the year, to the student of 

 science as well as to the lover of beauty, something is 

 always presented to fix his attention or awaken his ad- 

 miration, and he seldom returns from a woodland ramble 

 without increased cheerfulness and a prospect of new 

 sources of rational happiness. 



