84 THE BEECH. 



Convinced, as are all thinking men, of the absolute unity of nature, 

 and with ten thousand familiar illustrations of it lying at our feet, ifr is 

 agreeable to note those more recondite ones which "crop out," as 

 geologists say, where least expected, and under conditions and circum- 

 stances the most dissimilar. Who, for example, at the first glance, 

 recognises in the great class of leaves to which that of the beech is 

 referable, and which is the predominant one in nature, the meanest 

 herb and weed being possessed of it as well as the stateliest of trees, 

 who, at the first glance, recognises in it the idea which is wfought out 

 perfectly and consummately in the human body ! The midrib of the 

 leaf corresponds to and prefigures the spinal column ; the great ribs 

 which strike out therefrom prefigure the bones of the human skeleton 

 which are called by the same name ; the interior is traversed by a 

 multitude of delicate sap -vessels that answer to the veins and their 

 crimson blood ; and over the entire surface is spread an exquisitely- 

 organised skin, through pores in which the leaf absorbs moisture, and 

 perspires, and performs other functions so similar to those of the skin 

 of the human body, that if clogged with dirt or soot, the plant suffers 

 no less severely than a human being who ignores the bath. Nor is 

 this all. Every portion of the blossom of a plant is a leaf curiously 

 modified, so as to perform the various and special functions that 

 pertain to flower-life. Sepals and corolla, stamens and pistil, all these 

 parts are leaves metamorphosed, while in the seed-pod we often find 

 the leaf scarcely altered, as happens in the legume of the pea. Just 

 as the ribs in the human skeleton are so curved and disposed as to 

 form the great pectoral cavity in which lie the most vital organs of the 

 animal fabric, so in the pod of the pea we find the edges of the leaf 

 so brought together as to convert it into a casket for the seeds, the 

 most important part of the plant, and round the history of which are 

 concentrated all the most admirable phenomena of its existence. 

 Leaves scarcely altered, except in texture, similarly constitute the 

 seed-pods of the larkspur, the aconite, and that gay golden blossom 

 of spring, called the marsh-marigold ; and exactly conforming with all 

 these are the great seed-follicles of the South American trees called 

 Sterculias. 



The great glory of the beech is disclosed however in the month of 

 October. The leaves then assume many shades of yellow and amber, 

 and the surface being peculiarly adapted to reflect the light of the 

 setting sun, the spectacle, when the weather is fine and mild, is most 

 effective. Amid the immensely varied hues supplied by oak, and 



