222 Gilpin's forest soeneet. 



the leaves to Vicar's Hill, as soon as they should 

 appear. The man, who had not the least doubt 

 about the matter, kept his word, and sent me 

 several twigs, on the morning of the 5th of January, 

 1782, a few hours after they had been gathered. 

 The leaves were fairly expanded, and about an 

 inch in length. From some of the buds two leaves 

 had unsheathed themselves ; but, in general, only 

 one. 



Through what power in Nature this strange, 

 premature vegetation is occasioned, I believe no 

 naturalist can explain. I sent some of the leaves 

 to one of the ablest botanists we have had, the late 

 Mr. Lightfoot, author of the Flora Scotica, and 

 was in hopes of hearing something satisfactory on 

 the subject. But he is one of those philosophers, 

 who are never ashamed of ignorance, where at- 

 tempts at knowledge are mere conjecture. He 

 assured me, that he neither could account for it 

 in any way, nor did he know of a,ny other in- 

 stance of premature vegetation, except the Glas- 

 tonbury Thorn. 



The philosophers of the forest, in the meantime, 

 account for the thing at once, through the influ- 



