12 SYLVA-V WINTER. 



horizon and produces an effect which, a meridian 

 sun cannot do.' But it is not merely the general 

 effect of the play of sunshine — through clouds — 

 upon the forest as a whole that is noticeable ; for 

 the peculiarities of individual trees add largely to 

 the beauty of the scene. Gilpin does not say 

 very much upon the wintry aspect - of the forest, 

 but what he does say is well worth quoting. 

 ' Great beauty also,' he remarks, ' arises in 

 Winter, from the different tints of the spray. 

 The dark-brown spray of the Birch for instance 

 has a good effect, among that of a lighter tinge ; 

 and, when the forest is deep, all this little 

 bushiness of ramification has, in some degree, the 

 effect of foliage.' Ho adds, ' The boles of trees 

 likewise, and all their larger limbs, add, at this 

 season, a rich variety and contrast to the forest ; 

 the smooth and the rough, the light and the dark, 

 often beautifully opposing each other. In Winter 

 the stem predominates, as the leaf in summer. It 

 is amusing in one season to see the branches 

 losing and discovering themselves among the 

 foliage ; and it is amusing also, in the other, to 

 walk through the desolate forest, and see the 



