216 THE MOUNTAIN. 



tlieir primal clothing of vegetation. The southeastern 

 slopes of the mountain, also its range of summit-knobs, are 

 generally covered by a variety of oaks, chestnut, firs, and 

 pines, and a number of other trees, those with deciduous 

 leaves greatly predominating. In winter the aspect of this 

 side of the mountain is stark and bare, the monotonous gray 

 of the forests destitute of foliage, prevailing, with occa- 

 sional spots of pines, their dark-green hue visible at all sea- 

 sons of the year. Other parts of the mountain, especially 

 the ranges of depressions of the western sides, on the con- 

 trary, show great extents of evergreen forests. Its eastern 

 slopes and summit in full summer costume present an un- 

 rivaled array of verdure in an endless ocean of leaves, — ^the 

 foliage of the hardier members of the oak family, as the 

 chestnut oaks, with white, red, and black oaks prevailing. 

 To these may be added the chestnut, beech, and several 

 varieties of birch and maple, with linden, poplar, cucumber, 

 hickory, and walnut. 



As the forest is composed of an aggregate of individual 

 trees, and the exact mode of growth of the individual giving 

 at last a general character to the forest, some notice of the 

 manner in which the different trees of the mountain grow 

 may assist in the truthful rendering of its woods. This 

 special portraiture of trees, or the study of the growth and 

 mode of development of each kind of tree, properly belongs 

 to the artistic department of natural science, and is espe- 

 cially attractive to the naturalist who is not a mere catalogue- 

 maker. Besides the exhaustless beauty of the variety of 

 form, and the special attraction of specific styles of growth, 

 this study of the individual tree reveals great laws of science 

 in the necessities which superintend the unfolding of its 

 structure. This style of growth is thus a theme of twofold 

 attraction, interesting to botanical physiologists, and espe- 

 cially interesting to the artist or student of form, — for the 

 different varieties of trees have forms and expressions as 

 different and characteristic as the separate races of animals ; 

 indeed, each individual tree, flower, or rock, is a unit as per- 



