THE PAGE OF NATUJtE. 65 



minute varieties of tint and form contributed by the 

 lower orders of vegetation the starry flower, the plumy 

 fern, or the umbrella-like fungus upon the ground, and 

 the clustered moss and trailing lichen upon the tree ; 

 and yet it is with these small and apparently insignifi- 

 cant objects that nature shades the picture, balances 

 and contrasts the colouring, clothes the nakedness, and 

 softens down the irregularities and deformities of the 

 whole scene, which would otherwise be stiff and hard 

 as a forest-piece painted by a Chinese artist. 



Lichens are exceedingly diversified in their form, ap- 

 pearance, and texture. Upwards of four hundred and 

 fifty different kinds have been found in Great Britain 

 alone, while altogether between two and three thousand 

 species have been discovered in different parts of the 

 world by the zealous researches of naturalists. In their 

 very simplest rudimentary forms, they consist apparently 

 of nothing more than a collection of powdery granules, 

 so minute that the figure of each is scarcely distinguish- 

 able, and so dry and utterly destitute of organization 

 that it is difficult to believe that any vitality exists in 

 them. Some of these form ink-like stains on the smooth 

 tops of posts and felled trees ; others are sprinkled like 

 flower of brimstone or whiting over shady rocks and 

 withered tufts of moss; while a third species is familiar 

 to every one, as covering with a bright green incrustation 

 the trunks and boughs of trees in the squares and sub- 

 urbs of smoky towns, where the air is so impure as to 

 forbid the growth of all other vegetation. It also creeps 

 over the grotesque figures and elaborate carving on the 

 roofs and pillars of Roslin Chapel, near Edinburgh, and 

 E 



