THE MAPLE AND THE SYCAMORE. 141 



one of these pimples is in reality a little cell, the 

 habitation of some creature still more minute, and 

 having the entrance barricaded with tufts of white 

 hairs, very interesting to examine with the micro- 

 scope. We admire the architectural grandeurs of a 

 great city. How many millions of quiet little 

 abodes are here, exquisitely beautiful in design and 

 finish, which we never even see, or seeing, pass by 

 with indifference and incuriousness ! The sycamore, 

 in its turn, is extremely liable, towards autumn, 

 to have its leaves patched with great round spots 

 of black. These have their origin in a parasitic 

 plant of fungoid nature, named by the learned, 

 Rhytisma acerina. 



The October tinting varies considerably. While 

 the sycamore presents no colour of interest, the 

 maple turns to a deep, clear yellow, the more re- 

 markable since in the sugar-maple of Canada and 

 New Brunswick, the colour assumed before decay 

 is an inexpressibly-brilliant red. The last-named 

 tree is celebrated also for its copious supply of that 

 saccharine sap which, when subjected to certain pro- 

 cesses, becomes "maple-sugar." A similarly- con- 

 stituted sap exists more or less' abundantly in all the 

 species of Acer, but it is ordinarily too thin and 

 watery to be used like that of the true sugar- 

 maple. Another excellent product of these trees is 

 the wood. Many species have been esteemed for 

 this from time immemorial. The Romans were par- 



