WILDWOOD WAYS 



protected by neither feathers nor fur. 

 Who can tell me by what principle it 

 remains so? Why is the thin-leaved py- 

 rola and the partridge berry, puny creep- 

 ing vine that it is, still green and un- 

 harmed by frost when the tough, leathery 

 leaves of the great oak tree not far off 

 are withered and brown? 



Chlorophyl, and cellular structure, and 

 fibro-vascular bundles in the one plant 

 wither and lose color and turn brown at 

 a touch of frost. In another not ten feet 

 away they stand the rigors of our north- 

 ern winters and come out in the spring, 

 seemingly unharmed and fit to carry on 

 the internal economy of the plant's life 

 until it shall produce new leaves to take 

 their places. Then in the mild air of 

 early summer these winter darers fade 

 and die. Here in the swamp the tough 

 and woody cat-o'-nine-tails is brown and 

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