WHEN THE LEAF IS WOO'D 



which decreed its round, dancing leaves to 

 the poplar, its changing leafy glories to the 

 maple, and the aristocratic cuts and rich 

 autumnal tints to the oaks? 



If one can fancy any studio of nature 

 with walls nearer than the blue of heaven, let 

 one picture such an inclosure, completely 

 lined, in graded rows, with the millions of 

 different kinds of leaves fashioned for plants, 

 shrubs, and trees. Perhaps some natural 

 history museum of the future will reserve a 

 large room, showing on its walls, below a line 

 on the level with the eye, samples of all the 

 leaves in the world, if that is a possibility. 

 Such a collection would be an autographic 

 treasure-house; for the leaf is the signature 

 of the tree, or one of them, and as significant 

 of it as a man's autograph is of him. 



One set of columns might give all the 

 round leaves from the smallest leafy circle, 

 and grading up to those big enough to make 

 a hat. Other columns could be reserved for 

 oval leaves, of which there are an unthink- 

 able number, and as unthinkable a number 

 of different ways of notching their outlines. 



151 



