BRIEF REMARKS. 309 



BRIEF REMARKS. 



Autumnal Scenes, by Charlotte. — Those who have looked upon 

 the shadows of the trees as they are reflected upon the ground at this 

 season of the year cannot fail at being struck by the beautiful forms 

 whicli they present. Every twig and branch is as clearly made out as 

 if drawn with a dark pencil upon white paper; there you see endless 

 patterns for embroidery and netting, open work, square or diamond- 

 shaped threads, that seem to run into squares and ovals, crossing and 

 turning in every imaginable direction. In frosty weather, almost 

 every object we look upon is beautifully marked ; from the ragged 

 flakes that hang upon the moss-covered boughs ; the crimson berries, 

 that seem encrusted with the whitest silver ; the dark leaves of the 

 evergreens, along which run pearly lines of frost-work ; the bladed 

 grass, spangled all over with minute pearls, down to the starry and 

 diverging rays, whicli every little hollow that contained water has 

 assumed — all are beautiful. 



But pick up the skeleton of a leaf when only the minute fibres are 

 left, hold it between your eye and the light, and you will confess that 

 never did lady wear a lace collar, woven in the finest frame, of so fine 

 and delicate a texture as the net-work of the fallen leaf; and the 

 graceful Cup-moss, when closely examined, is shaped in the forms of 

 the most delicate cups, and urns, and vases, pale and dark green, and 

 chased with silver, and all as neatly wrought as if they had come from 

 the hand of the most skilful artist. 



Whilst there is much for the naturalist to admire in the beau 

 tiful appearance of the crystallization of hoar frost on the trees and 

 shrubs, and if examined the crystal will be found different in form on 

 every different tree or shrub, there are in our own " fair land " now-a- 

 days more cheering scenes in " Nature's open vegetable field," to me 

 far more pleasing than crystal frost and snow in all their forms of 

 beauty. 



At this gloomy season of the year all flowers are valuable and cheer- 

 ing, especially those growing in the open air. Last December the 10th 

 the day was so beautiful that I could not resist the temptation of a 

 ramble in a neighbouring wood, for there was a dryness about the fallen 

 leaves such as I had but rarely seen in winter. Wandering onward I 

 arrived at a little dell. One side was in shade ; on the other the golden 

 sunshine slept. Strange, there was also a rich yellow light on the 

 shady side of the dell. On a nearer approach I saw hundreds of Prim- 

 roses in full flower; pale and beautiful, there they stood, throwing a 

 sweet fragrance all around. .Such a discovery, a few days before 

 Christmas, would have been a fortune to a London flower-seller ; and 

 had they been dug up by the roots, and offered for sale, a whole dell 

 full might have been disposed of in one day. Here and there, on sunny 

 banks, I saw a profusion of the lovely pale blue Violets ; and in 

 beauteous contrast a neighbouring hedge-bottom was adorned with the 

 bright yellow Buttercup. A pretty grassy glade, too, was bespangled 

 with the ever-admired Day's-eye, or Daisy, especially attracting my 

 attention to infantile hours, when beads of such 1 had formed. On 



