1796 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



IGtl 



effccted by accidental circumstances, dependent on the different aspects of 

 morning, noon, and evening ; on sun and on shade ; on the colours of tlie sky 

 and the clouds ; on the clearness or haziness of the atmosphere, and its con- 

 sequent powers of refraction ; on opposition of colour ; on the situation of 

 the spectator ; and on many other contingencies, all independent of the locaJ 

 colour of the object, yet all strongly affecting it. It is impossible, therefore, I 

 repeat, to give in any written description, with tolerable conciseness, sufficient 

 instruction for selecting the colours necessary to depict objects so constantly 



1642 



varying in their hues. A few simple tints on the pallet, and an hour's study 

 in the forest, will be more instructive than a volume of remarks. The atten- 

 tion and minuteness with which a lover of nature will examine a favourite 

 object, and the trutli witli which he will consequently be enabled to describe 

 it, are strongly evidenced in tlie following passage, extracted from Gilpin's 

 Forext Scencri/ : — ' 1 have often stood,' says (iilpin, 'with admiration before 

 an old forest oak, examining tlie various tints which have enriched its furrowed 

 stem. The genuine bark of an oak is of an ash colour, though it is difficult to 

 distinguish any part of it from the mosses that overspread it ; for no oak, I 

 suppose, was ever witliout a greater or less proportion of these picturesque 

 appendages. The lower parts, about the roots, are often possessed by that 



