J76 OBSERVATION ON NATURE. 



opened its flowers when put into a very dark place, 

 but shut them at night, even when artificial light 

 was introduced. 



Trees show how beneficial the light is to them, 

 by their branches being generally thicker and more 

 full of leaves on the side exposed to the sun than 

 on the opposite one. And the knowledge of this 

 circumstance is very useful to the Laplanders, who 

 are unacquainted with the compass, and would lose 

 their way in their long journeys, through wild 

 districts without roads or paths, if they were 

 not guided by this and other natural appearances, 

 which enable them to distinguish the points of north 

 and south. The inhabitants of several other coun- 

 tries also make great use of their observations on 

 the periodical appearances of plants. Some tribes 

 of American- Indians plant their corn " when the 

 " wild-plum blooms," or " when the leaves of the 

 " oak are about the size of a squirrel's ears : " and 

 some of their months are named from the state of 

 vegetation ; one being called the budding month, 

 another the flowering month, one the straw- 

 berry, and another the mulberry month; and the 

 Autumn is expressed by a term which signifies 

 "the fall of the leaf." 



