1796 



ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. 



PART III. 



effected by accidental circumstances, dependent on the different aspects of 

 morning, noon, and evening; on sun and on shade; on the colours of the sky 

 and the clouds ; on the clearness or haziness of the atmosphere, and its con- 

 sequent powers of refraction; on opposition of colour; on the situation of 

 the spectator ; and on many other contingencies, all independent of the local 

 colour of the object, yet all" strongly affecting it. It is impossible, therefore, I 

 repeat, to give in any written description, with tolerable conciseness, sufficient 

 instruction for selecting the colours necessary to 'depict objects so constantly 



varying in their hues. A few simple tints on the pallet, and an hour's study 

 in the forest, will be more instructive than a volume of remarks. The atten- 

 tion and minuteness with which a lover of nature will examine a favourite 

 object, and the truth with which he will consequently be enabled to describe 

 it, are strongly evidenced in the following passage, extracted from Gilpin's 

 Forest Scenery : * I have often stood,' says Gilpin, * with admiration betbre 

 an old forest oak, examining the various tints which have enriched its furrowed 

 stem. The genuine bark of an oak is of an ash colour, though it is difficult to 

 distinguish any part of it from the mosses that overspread it ; for no oak, I 

 suppose, was ever without a greater or less proportion of these picturesque 

 appendages. The lower parts, about the roots, are often possessed by that 



