14 JANUARY. 



the root, which, secure in their underground 

 retreat, are preparing their fresh shoots, leaves, 

 and flowers, in secret, to burst forth at spring 

 with renewed splendour; but herbs and trees 

 which are exposed to all the severity of the 

 open air are not the less safe. Their buds com- 

 pactly defended by a strong coat of resinous 

 matter, which may be abundantly seen in the 

 horse-chestnut at the time of its unfolding, and 

 moreover by that vis vita; which vegetables as 

 well as animals possess. This last wonderful 

 power imparted to plants by our beneficent 

 Creator, has been most clearly shown by an 

 experiment of the simplest kind ; one which 

 any person may repeat. A bud cut off in a 

 sharp frost and suspended from its parent tree 

 during the night will be found to be com- 

 pletely frozen through, while its fellows, still 

 upon the tree, will not be in the least injured. 

 This will be the case even if the severed bud 

 be enclosed in a glass, and perfectly defended 

 from the external atmosphere. This property, 

 by which buds, consisting of leaves firmly 

 wrapped together, and within them the flowers, 

 in fact, all the richness and glory of the coming 

 year, are preserved, cannot be sufficiently ad- 

 mired. 



Towards the end of the month, the throstle 

 is seen under sunny hedges and southern walls 



