ON THE MANUSCRIPTS OF GOD 



rounding atmosphere receives its daily gift 

 of moisture in the form of vapor, and the 

 tree the food which helps it grow. 



Another gracious habit of leaves is not 

 revealed until the time of their fall, for 

 which they make a unique preparation, 

 charmingly described by Professor Geddes: 

 "Across the base of the leaf-stalk, in a region 

 which is normally firm and tough, there 

 grows inward a partition of soft juicy cells 

 actively multiplying and expanding into a 

 springy cushion, which either foists the leaf 

 off, or makes its attachment so delicate that 

 a gust of wind serves to snap the narrow 

 bridge between the living and the dead. That 

 the scar should have been thus prepared, be- 

 fore the operation, is one of the prettiest 

 points of the economy of woodland nature." 



Another pretty point in nature's drama 

 of the leaves an end of less apparent de- 

 sign is the capriciously beautiful outline 

 patterns made upon the earth and sidewalks 

 by the fallen leaves, especially by those of 

 deep-cut design, like the pin oak's and the 

 red oak's. Very reluctantly does one see 



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