SPRAT. 155 



freckled with -white blotches or spots, suggestke 

 of, and doubtless originating, the white patches 

 that in-the maturer tree adorn the trunk. ; The 

 buds are conical in shape, pointed, and elegant, 

 and from the diversion from straight lines of the 

 shoots at each node an elegant sort of undulation 

 is given to them. The terminal buds are very con- 

 spicuous, though small, in their dormant winter 

 form ; but their general disposition on each side 

 in alternation occasions the elegant symmetrical 

 appearance of the tree itself, for the graceful 

 dependency of the branches around the trunk is 

 arranged upon the same principle as that of the 

 spray around the branches — for, as Grilpin remarks, 

 ' Nature seems to observe one simple principle, 

 which is, that the mode of growth in the spray 

 corresponds exactly with that of the larger 

 branches, of which, indeed, the spray is the 

 origin.' 



Lime-tree twigs in mid- Winter are lightly and 

 gracefully displayed, and are plentifully furnished 

 with their red and green buds. There is a 

 slight zigzag arrangement' in the Lime twigsj 

 which gives elegq,nt contrast and variety to thfe 



