298 STUDIES OF NATURE. 



which arc not rcfinous, continue with us, in fiill 

 verdure, at all feafons. 



Without having recourfe to mechanical caufes, 

 the effecls of which always contradicfl themfelves, 

 whenever you attempt to generalize them, why 

 not recognize, in thefe varieties of vegetation, the 

 fleady and uniform direftion of a Providence ? 

 That Providence has affigned to the South, trees 

 always green, and has clothed them with a broad 

 foliage, to fhelter the animal creation from the 

 heat. In another refpeft, likewife, have the ani- 

 mals of hot climates been tenderly cared for, in 

 being provided with clothing denuded of hair, 

 confequently, light and cool ; and in having their 

 habitations garnifhed with green ferns and liannes, 

 ever frefh and ever comfortable. Neither has 

 bountiful Nature negledled the animals of the 

 North. She has fpread as a roof over their heads, 

 the ever green firs, whofe lofty and tufted pyra- 

 mids ward off the fnow from their roots, and whofe 

 branches are fo well furnifhed with long gray 

 moffes, that the trunk, is rendered almoft invi- 

 fible; for a bed, fhe has accumulated a bank of 

 mofs on the ground, in many places more than a 

 foot in thicknefs ; and the foft and dry leaves of 

 many trees, which fall precifely at the approach of 

 the inclement feafon : finally, their provifion, too, 

 is laid up in ftore, namely, the fruits of thofe very 



trees. 



