THE MOUNTAIN. 133 



of the wintry covering of the earth, and the con- 

 version of cheerless plains into flourishing pastures 

 and corn-fields. 



One can scarcely help observing here the strong 

 analogy which exists between animal and vege- 

 table life ; an analogy made sufficiently evident by 

 comparing the habits of each, on various occasions, 

 but more particularly so in the present instance. 

 In the more temperate regions of the globe, the 

 appearance assumed by almost all plants during 

 the summer months presents a very striking con- 

 trast to their state during winter. They either 

 perish entirely at the first approach of cold, or die 

 down to the ground, retaining the living principle 

 in the roots only. In this latter case respiration 

 ceases ; the transmission of sap is almost, if not 

 quite, suspended, the plants themselves suffering 

 no injury. In some cases they shed their leaves, 

 flowers, and fruits, the trunk and branches re- 

 maining in a state of sluggish inactivity, till the 

 returning heat of summer, or that produced by 

 artificial means, shall have called them to renewed 

 action ; or, like the Northern and Alpine plants, 

 they remain buried beneath the snow, unaltered 

 in appearance, and awaiting only the return of 

 genial weather to burst into life with redoubled 

 activity. 



Just so is it in the animal world. The quick- 

 ly growing, and quickly perishing, Mushroom is 

 equally the child of a day with the May-fly, 

 which in the morning dances along the surface of 

 the stream, in the evening finds a grave in the 

 same element. The butterfly, beneath the en- 

 livening influence of a summer's sun, sports its 

 few weeks, or perhaps months, fulfils all the 



