January — L ichen. 4 3 



the delicate coloring in its neighborhood, as a scarlet 

 coat kills a modest landscape in the Academy. Or 

 you may have the fine rich green of broom, most valu- 

 able in itself, especially in large masses, yet by its very 

 richness likely to make you feel more acutely the wintry 

 poverty of the decayed vegetation around it, and the 

 naked branches overhead. A judicious artist might 

 avail himself of these materials, but he would never 

 permit them to injure the unity of his work, a kind of 

 unity necessary in human art, but outside of the aims of 

 Nature. The seasons when Nature is most harmonious 

 are the late summer and the earliest weeks of autumn, 

 but in winter and spring she colors accidentally and in 

 patches. Woods in the mass, however, are often grandly 

 harmonious even in January, with their rich brown in 

 nearest scenery passing through purple in the middle 

 distance to a deep neutral tint on distant hills. On the 

 edges of woods the white stems of the birches tell very 

 effectually against dark purple as silvery lines, even at 

 a considerable distance. In the immediate foreground 

 all lichens and mosses assume an unusual importance 

 during winter ; in the case of the mosses because they 

 are really more brilliant, as they prosper and grow in 

 moisture, whilst the lichens gain a more than common 

 degree of prominence from the comparative poverty of 

 the decayed vegetation around them. There are hedges 

 so invaded by pale green tufted lichen that it becomes 

 in winter the principal element of their coloring ; and 

 not a disagreeable element, being delicate in hue not- 

 withstanding its opacity. 



