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VII. 

 SUMMER DAYS. 



ALTHOUGH autumn, winter, and spring have each their 

 own particular charm, there is a luxurious grandeur 

 about summer which no other seasons of the year possess. 

 Life, both plant and animal, is in the full time of its 

 vigour the hopes of autumn, the prophecies of winter, 

 and the promises of spring are now fulfilled. The 

 naturalist feels that he must spend the whole of his time 

 out of doors ; the days are all too short and fleeting to 

 chronicle the vast wonders of summer. Nature's grand 

 and brilliant pageant is an endless procession of 

 interesting sights, accompanied by strange sounds and 

 sweet songs. Even the very clouds assist in making 

 summer's beauty all the more effective and entrancing as 

 they sail solemnly past high up in the blue sky huge 

 fleecy masses of cumuli, whose shadows creep across the 

 hay meadows, and over the fields of shooting corn. 

 There is poetry in the clouds, and music in the fleeting 

 showers as they beat down so fresh upon the thirsty 

 earth and bring out the fragrant perfume of flowers and 

 the delicious aroma of summer foliage. There is magic 



