208 INDOOE STUDIES 



and a lighter race. The tendency in us to pare 

 down and cut away every superfluous ounce is very 

 marked. We are great whittlers. Have we not 

 whittled away at the hulls of our ships until we 

 have made the swiftest sailing vessels in the world ? 



The English, in most things, seem to like the 

 look of mass and strength; we like hest the look of 

 lightness and speed. Even the type in which their 

 hooks, newspapers, and magazines are printed is 

 larger than the type in which ours are printed. 

 Indeed, it would seem as if there was not room 

 enough in our great country for generous-sized type. 

 English houses and other buildings all have a look 

 of greater solidity than ours ; their walls are thicker, 

 their tiles heavier. What would they think of our 

 balloon frames over there 1 What would our grand- 

 fathers think of them ? Dickens said the houses in 

 this country looked as if made of pasteboard. 



This lightness and airiness is becoming a fixed 

 national trait, and is in keeping with the general 

 tendency of all natural forms in this country. 

 Nearly all organic growths here show greater refine- 

 ment of form than in the British Isles. Our wild 

 flowers are more graceful and delicate. Our climb- 

 ing plants, the foliage of our trees, the trees them- 

 selves, our grasses and wild weedy growths, are all 

 more slender and fluent in form than the correspond- 

 ing English species. English trees, English groves, 

 have a wonderful expression of solidity and repose. 

 The leaves are larger and stiffer, and adjust them- 

 selves with more ease to the fainter light. Even 



