THROUGH LEAFY PATHS. 4 1 



like those of spiders' webs, which form the frame- 

 work of the delicate structure. Its shape is 

 beautiful, with sweeps and curves, and its edges 

 are fringed with the finest teeth. What special 

 wood fairy has been appointed to give it such ele- 

 gant proportions, and to cut all of the leaves of 

 the Tiliacece into the peculiar oblique, heart- 

 shaped pattern .-• The largest lobes at the bases 

 are invariably placed toward the young shoots, 

 and the leaves are arranged upon them so as to 

 secure the greatest amount of light and air. 



The Beeches answer to the call of the sun a 

 few days later than the Basswoods. A copse 

 yonder on the hill-side is just beginning to put 

 out its broidery. Little mouse-ears of leaves, 

 clothed with silken hairs, are unfolding from the 

 brown, rusty scales and lengthened buds ; yet, 

 curiously enough, the leaves on the twigs of a few 

 saplings that touch the boles of the larger trees 

 are already more than half grown ! Was it the 

 partial shelter in which the buds were placed 

 during the winter that caused them to gain such 

 a start 1 The Beech-leaves are formed into the 

 most elegant designs. How fresh and beautiful 

 these premature ones appear against the smooth, 

 ashen-gray bark of the old trunks. They are 

 ovals, pointed and evenly scalloped. The straight, 

 prominent veins on the under surfaces, running 

 out to the very tips of the salient teeth, are drawn 



