t^t STUDLES OF NATURE» 



of tapers, and of aloes ; but thofe which are def- 

 tined to arife out of the midft of herbage, have 

 items of different tints of brown; fuch are the 

 trunks of moft trees, and the ftalks of fhrubs. 

 The alder, for example, which thrives amidft the 

 graffy turf, has ftems of an alh-coloured gray; but 

 the wallwort, which entirely refembles it in all 

 other refpects, and which grows immediately on 

 the ground, is green all over. The mugwort, 

 which grows along hedges, has reddifh flems, by 

 which it is ealily diftingtiifhable from the neigh- 

 bouring fhrubs. Nay, there are, in every genus 

 of plants, certain fpecies which, by their fhining 

 colours, feem to have been formed for terminating 

 the limits of their claffes. Such is, in the forb 

 genus, a fpecies called the Canadian fervice tree, 

 the branches of which are of a coral red. There 

 are, in the willow tribe, ofiers whofe fcions are as 

 yellow as gold ; but there is not a fingle plant' 

 which does not detach itfelf entirely from the 

 ground which furrounds it by it's flowers and by 

 it's fruits. 



It is impoffible to fuppofe that fo many varieties 

 fliould be mechanical refults of the colour next to 

 which bodies are placed ; for example, that the 

 bluifh green of moft mountain-vegetables lhould 

 be an effect of the azure of the Heavens. It is 

 worthy of being remarked, that the blue colour is 



not 



