THE WINTER REST. 107 



the December snows. Tliis is especially tlie case 

 in very cold countries, and is true even of Caniida, 

 of the north of Scotland, and of the Yorkshire 

 moors. In such cases the life of the species is 

 altogether interrupted for some months at a time, 

 during which period the entire race has nothing 

 to vouch for it save a number of dried and scat- 

 tered seeds. As a living kind it has ceased for 

 the moment to exist at all, except potentially. 

 But in England and in Northern America most 

 wild annuals shed their seeds in summer or early 

 autumn ; and the seedlings immediately spring up 

 with the first rains, and struggle through the win- 

 ter as best they may with great persistence. Of 

 course the frost cuts oft' a great many ; but a great 

 many more still survive, and these latter amply 

 suffice to carry on the life of the various herbs 

 into the next season. Perennials, on the other 

 hand, may be said for the most part to hibernate 

 and remain torpid just as truly as the dormouse 

 and the garden snail. Nay, they even fatten 

 themselves, as it were, against the cold season. 

 During the whole summer, the leaves, which are 

 the true mouths and stomachs of the plant, are 

 busy every day and all clay long laying up starches 

 and other valuable food-stuffs, under the benign 

 influence of the bountiful sunshine. Hut, as 

 autumn approaches, the plants withdraw the use- 

 ful material from the leaves, now about to fall, 



