THE RANGE OF VEGETATION 37 



ferently from seeing only a few in a garden or in a 

 hot-house. Here on the spot we feel close in touch 

 with Nature's own heart. We see Nature's pro- 

 ductions springing up fresh and new straight from 

 the very fountain source. We have the joy of being 

 able to stretch out a hand and pick a flower direct 

 from its own surroundings, and to fondle it, 

 examine it all round, admire its colour, form, and 

 texture, compare its beauty with the beauty of 

 other flowers and settle wherein its special beauty 

 lies. We shall never be able to give to even the 

 most exquisite orchid or the most perfect lily the 

 same affection that we give to the primroses and 

 violets of our native land. But we may be sure that 

 our Naturalist- Artist, w r hen he gathers together in 

 his mind the impressions which have been made 

 upon him by his passage through the tropical forests 

 to the alpine uplands and thence to the limit of per- 

 petual snow, will find that his sense of the variety 

 of beauty to be found in trees and leaves, in ferns 

 and flowers, has immeasurably expanded. He will 

 have acquired a firmer grasp of plant life as a whole. 

 He will have a truer measure of the beauty in it. 

 And irresistibly, but most willingly, he will have 

 been more closely drawn to Nature's heart. 



