304 STUDIES IN THE FIELD AND FOREST. 



Nature never entirely conceals the beauties of the 

 field and wood save when, for their protection, she 

 covers them with snow. The faded remnants of last 

 summer's vegetation may have but little positive beauty ; 

 but to the mind of the naturalist they are attractive on 

 account of the lessons they afford and the sentiments 

 they awaken. But there are objects in the wood which 

 are neither faded nor leafless ; and many that are leaf- 

 less still retain their beauty and the appearance of life. 

 Besides the evergreens, many of the herbs that bear the 

 early spring flowers still retain their freshness, and 

 spread out their green leaves in the protected nook or 

 in the recesses of the fern-covered rocks. The leaves 

 of the wild strawberry and the cinquefoil are always 

 green in the meadows, and those of the violet on the 

 sheltered slope of the hill. The crowsfoot and the ge- 

 ranium are in many places as fresh as in May ; and 

 the aquatic ranunculus and the wild-cresses are brightly 

 glowing with their emerald foliage, in the depths of the 

 crystal watercourses that remain unfrozen beneath the 

 wooded precipice, or in the mossy ravines of the forest. 



These phenomena are doubly interesting as evidences 

 of the continued life of the beautiful things they rep- 

 reseut, and of the invisible and ever watchful provi- 

 dence of nature. Every step we take brings under our 

 review other similar curiosities of vegetable life, which, 

 by reason of their commonness, often escape our obser- 

 vation. On the sandy plain the slender birch-trees are 

 loaded with thousands of purple aments, suspended 

 from their flexile twigs, all ready to burst into bloom at 

 the very first breath of spring. In the wet lands, where 

 the surface is one continued sheet of ice, the crowded 

 alder-bushes are so full of these embryo blossoms, that 

 their branches seem to be hung with dark purple fruit ; 



