HELIOTROPES. 269 



LETTER LXXXVL 



TO THE SAME. 



SELBORNE. 



" Monstrent 



Quid tantum Oceano properent se tingere soles 

 Hyberni; vel quae tardis mora noctibus obstet." 



They show 



Why winter-suns so rapidly descend, 

 And what delays the tardy nights extend. 



GENTLEMEN who have outlets might contrive to 

 make ornament subservient to utility ; a pleasing eye- 

 trap might also contribute to promote science ; an 

 obelisk in a garden or park might be both an em- 

 bellishment and an heliotrope. 



Any person that is curious, and enjoys the advantage 

 of a good horizon, might, with little trouble, make 

 two heliotropes, the one for the winter, the other for 

 the summer solstice ; and these two erections might 

 be constructed with very little expense ; for two pieces 

 of timber frame-work, about ten or twelve feet high, 

 and four feet broad at the base, and close lined with 

 plank, would answer the purpose. 



The erection for the former should, if possible, 

 be placed within sight of some window in the com- 

 mon sitting parlour; because men, at that dead 

 season of the year, are usually within doors at the 

 close of the day ; while that of the latter might be 

 fixed for any given spot in the garden or outlet, 

 whence the owner might contemplate, in a fine 

 summer's evening, the utmost extent that the sun 



