62 VOICES FROM THE WOODLANDS. 



such elements as cause the gradual decomposition of vege- 

 table mould ; and by their active ministry my acorn cradle, 

 upborne by winds from out the far-off forest, found a 

 resting-place prepared for its reception. Next uprose a 

 gas from off the watery bed of yonder torrent, which flows 

 now, as then it flowed, when not even the smallest sapling 

 bent beside its waters, and, acting on the surface of the 

 rock, began its work. Fissures were thus formed; and 

 then came frost, garnishing, as with a magic wand, every 

 shivering blade of grass and fern, till the coarsest herbage 

 glittered to the wintry sunbeams, as if gemmed with 

 diamonds ; freezing such drops of water as trickled from 

 the surface of the rock into its small fissures, and then, 

 expanding them with giant strength, rent the strong rock 

 itself asunder. For a mighty power was inherent in those 

 rain-drops small though they were, and such as an infant's 

 hand might have brushed away causing them to act on the 

 calcareous and alkaline elements of stone, holding within 

 them, as men speak, carbonic acid in solution. This came 



