2IO 



VIGNETTES FROM NATURE. 



beginning to withdraw from the foliage into 

 the permanent tissues, leaving only those 

 beautiful minor principles whose deficient 

 vitality produces the lovely colours of autumn 

 leaves. It is the fashion to say that our 

 English woodlands cannot compare In this 

 respect with American or Canadian forests ; 

 and, no doubt, if we look only at the general 

 effect in the two hemispheres the trite remark 

 is true enough. America has undeniably one 

 tree — the maple — whose foliage fades under 

 that particular climate into graduated tints of 

 crimson, scarlet, orange, yellow, and pale 

 green, in a way that no European leaves have 

 learned to imitate ; and the maples are often 

 abundant enough to give a general tone of 

 brilliant colouring to aa entire landscape such 

 as we seldom see in our damper and mistier 

 England. Besides, the change from summer 

 to autumn comes on more rapidly there than 

 with us : a few consecutive nights of dry, 

 clear frost alter the whole face of nature, as if 

 by magic, from green to gold and purple, in 



