LETTER XL. 



AFTER THE SHOWER. 



The rain of yesterday evening still moisteire the earth; 

 I could introduce you to two or three nations such as I think 

 you will not meet with in the course of your distant travels, 

 I mean, snails, earthworms, toads, &o. j but there are parti- 

 culars connected with their nature and habits, with which 

 I do not like to trust my pen, and therefore I must pass you 

 over to naturalists with less modesty, and at the same time 

 less imagination. 



Among the perfumes which abound after the rain, no one 

 can forget that which the bean exhales from its white blos- 

 soms spotted with blacL They say in the country that it is 

 not safe to pass by a field of beans in blossom, and that the 



