48 EFFECTS OF COLD ON THE WYCH 



nearly fed for its change, becomes heavy, and commonly 

 falls to the earth from the spray, and we can see them 

 crawling along the paths, or even upon the clothes of 

 persons that have walked under the trees where they 

 have fed : though this creature is very often found in 

 considerable numbers throughout the summer and au- 

 tumn, yet by reason of some fatality, the moth is by no 

 means so common an insect as might be expected from 

 the profusion of its larvae. 



We have no indigenous tree that suffers from the ad- 

 vance of the winter season so early as the wych elm. 

 A few others may manifest its approach nearly as soon, 

 but they become augmented in splendor by a touch 

 of the frosty air, not ruined and denuded like our elm, 

 which contributes no grandeur, no beauty, to our au- 

 tumnal scenery, as its leaves curl up, become ' brown, 

 and flutter from their sprays, when growing in exposed 

 situations, as early often as the middle of September, 

 by constitutional mechanism alone, even before the 

 beech or the maple seems sensibly affected by the cold. 

 This character of itself marks a difference from the 

 common elm, which preserves its verdure, except from 

 accidental causes, long after this period ; and then, 

 when its season arrives, the foliage becomes tinged with 

 a fine, mellow, yellow hue, contributing a full share 

 with other trees to the character and splendor of autumn. 

 The wych elm may occasionally be desirable in the few 

 days that our northern summer requires its deep shades, 

 but will not otherwise afford pleasure or beauty in the 

 shrubbery or the park as an ornamental tree, as its 

 leafless sprays announce too early the unwelcome ter- 

 mination of our floral year, and its sober russet foliage 

 is scattered at our feet without preparation or a parting 

 smile. 



Trees in full foliage have long been noted as great 

 attractors of humidity, and a young wych elm in full 

 leaf affords a good example of this supposed power ; 

 but in the winter of the year, when trees are perfectly 

 denuded, this faculty of creating moisture about them 

 is equally obvious, though not so profusely. A strongly 

 marked instance of this was witnessed by me, when 



