HABITATION OF PLANTS. 205 



by fire, or by some other means-. Can we imagine tliat the 

 grass and herbs which now afford a soft carpet for our feet came 

 hy chance to grow thus, rather than hard and woody like the 

 trees ? That hy chance the prevailing c9lor of vegetation is 

 grcen^ the color upon which the eye rests with the most agree- 

 able sensations ? Had the prevailing hue of vegetation been 

 red or yellow, with our present organs of sight huw ]iainful 

 would be the sensations excited by these bright colors ! Instead 

 of beholding the face of natm-e w^ith deliglit, we should turn 

 from it, and vainly seek some object on which the eye might 

 repose. Woody shrtibs occasionally alternate with herbs, but 

 they are so placed as not to offer obstructions to the foot of 

 man ; they often grow out of the clefts of rocks, affording a 

 means of climbing almost perpendicular precipices. Large trees 

 are not usually placed so near each other as to prevent a pas- 

 sage between them ; their lowest branches are mostly at a hight 

 sufficient to admit men and beasts under them, and thus few 

 forests are impenetrable. 



314. In cold countries^ w^hether occasioned by distance from 

 the equator or elevation by means of mountains and table- 

 lands, we find the jpine^ fir^ cedar and other resinous plants 

 which furnish man with light and fuel during the dreary season 

 of winter. The leaves of these trees are mostly filiform, or long 

 and narrow, thus fitted for reverberating the heat like the hair 

 of animals, and for resisting the impetuosity of winds which 

 often prevail in those regions. In warm countries trees present 

 in their foliage a resource from the scorching rays of the sun ^ 

 their leaves serve as fans and umbrellas. The leaf of the ha- 

 nana being broad and long like an apron, it has acquired the 

 name of Adam's fig-leaf. The leaves of the cocoa-tree are said 

 to be from twelve to fifteen feet long, and from seven to eight 

 broad. A traveler remarks, that one leaf of the talipot-tree is 

 capable of covering from fifteen to twenty persons. The sol- 

 diers, he says, use it for a covering to their tents. He observes, 

 that it seems an inestimable blessing of Providence, in a coun- 

 try burnt up by the sun, and inundated by rains for six months 

 of the year. In our climate during the warm season. Provi- 

 dence bestows upon us a variety of juicy and acid fruits, cher- 

 ries, peaches, plums, melons, and berries ; — nuts and many fruits 

 are fitted for preservation during the winter, so that we i\re 

 never destitute of some of these bounties. 



315, A remarkable instance of the care of Providence in providing for the wants 

 of man, appears in what is related of the Nepenthes distillatoria, tound amidst the 

 burning deserts of Africa ; the leaf of which is in the form of a pitcher, and the 

 plant possesses the property of secreting moisturef to such a degree, as to form a 



Woody shrubs— Trees.— 314. Trees of cold countries— Trees of warm countries— Fruiu of our nil 

 mate.— 315. A plant tound in the deserU of Africa. 



