THE &quot;FROZEN-THAWED&quot; APPLE. 81 



eat one first from this side, and then from that, to 

 keep my balance. 



I learn from Topsell s Gesner, whose authority ap 

 pears to be Albertus, that the following is the way in 

 which the hedgehog collects and carries home his 

 apples. He says : &quot; His meat is apples, worms, or 

 grapes : when he findeth apples or grapes on the 

 earth, he rolleth himself upon them, until he have 

 filled all his prickles, and then carrieth them home to 

 his den, never bearing above one in his mouth ; and 

 if it fortune that one of them fall off by the way, he 

 likewise shaketh off all the residue, and walloweth 

 upon them afresh, until they be all settled upon his 

 back again. So, forth he goeth, making a noise like 

 a cart-wheel ; and if he have any young ones in his 

 nest, they pull off his load wherewithal he is loaded, 

 eating thereof what they please, and laying up the 

 residue for the time to come.&quot; 



THE &quot;FROZEN-THAWED&quot; APPLE. 



Toward the end of November, though some of the 

 sound ones are yet more mellow and perhaps more 

 edible, they have generally, like the leaves, lost their 

 beauty, and are beginning to freeze. It is finger- cold, 

 and prudent farmers get in their barrelled apples, 

 and bring you the apples and cider which they have 

 engaged ; for it is time to put them into the cellar. 

 Perhaps a few on the ground show their red cheeks 

 above the early snow, and occasionally some even 

 preserve their color and soundness under the snow 

 throughout the winter. But generally at the begin 

 ning of the winter they freeze hard, and soon, though 

 undecayed, acquire the color of a baked apple. 



Before the end of December, generally, they ex- 



