STUDY V. 



299 



trees, which have then arrived at full maturity. 

 To thefe ihe has added, here and there, the fcarlet 

 clufters of the forb-apple, which, fparkling afar 

 over the whitenefs of the fnows, invite the birds 

 to an afylum ; fo that the partridge, the moor- 

 cock, every fpecies of fnow-bird, the hare, the 

 fquirrel, frequently find, under the fhelter of the 

 fame fir, a lodging, food, and the means of warmth. 



But one of the greateft bleflings of Providence 

 to the animals of the North, is, the clothing of 

 them with furred garments of long and thick hair, 

 which regularly grow in Winter, and fall off in 

 Summer. Naturalifts, who confider the hair of 

 animals as a fpecies of vegetation, are at pains to 

 account for this growth and decay, from the influ- 

 ence of heat. They pretend to fupport their fyf- 

 tem by the inftance of the human hair and beard, 

 which grow rapidly in Summer. But I would afk 

 them, how it comes to pafs that, in cold countries, 

 horfes which, in Summer, are fleek and fmooth, 

 affume, in Winter, a long and fliaggy coat, like 

 the fleece of a fheep ? To this they reply. It is the 

 internal heat of their body, increafed by the exter- 

 nal a6lion of the cold, which produces this won- 

 derful phenomenon. 



This is all very well. But I am under the ne- 

 ceflity of objeding, that cold does not produce 



this 



