388 T'he Natural History of Selborne 



preserved ; for snow is the most kindly mantle that infant 

 vegetation can be wrapped in : were it not for that friendly 

 meteor no vegetable life could exist at all in northerly regions. 

 Yet in Sweden the earth in April is not divested of snow for 

 more than a fortnight before the face of the country is covered 

 with flowers. 



