80 OUT OF DOORS. 



the wind does pretty well as it likes, especially at this 

 time of year when the foliage is off the protecting belt 

 of trees in front, and nothing is left but their bare 

 branches. Clearly, this is a day for home-work, for 

 avoidance of the elements, and for cheerful fires in de- 

 fiance of the colliers. 



A letter from the editor, urgently requesting an 

 article at once, because the magazine has to go to 

 press so early in November. I had looked forward to 

 a nice bright December day for this task one of the 

 many wintry days when the sun shines clearly, though 

 coldly ; when the sky is blue, when scarcely but the 

 slightest breeze is perceptible, and when the exhilarating, 

 bracing atmosphere almost takes away the sense of 

 cold. Moreover, I had intended to write an article 

 entitled, ' Under the Ground,' as a companion to ' Under 

 the Bark,' but the perpetual rains of the last two or 

 three months have rendered such a task all but useless. 

 There are hundreds of insects which pass their wintre 

 time some few inches below the surface of the earth, 

 and I had thought of taking a limited area, digging et 

 carefully, and jotting down the results; but there is 

 nothing which does so much damage to most insects as 

 wet. Cold they can bear well enough, provided they 

 are not exposed directly to the elements, but wet is 

 more than they can endure, and fairly drowns them, 

 and it is for that reason that insects are often so rare 

 after a very wet autumn. 



Surely no one could be expected to go out in such 



