INTRODUCTION. 



5 



mental attire ; yet the verdant moss and the 

 enlivening ivy remain on the giant form of the 

 gnarled oak, and invest the less rugged struc- 

 ture of the tall and feathering elm, and the 

 more delicate aspen. Should the snow cover 

 with its spotless mantle the broad mead, it 

 will elegantly ornament the trees, encrusting 

 their stouter branches ; festooning along the 

 hedge rows, or hanging in full drapery, as it 

 drifts through them and hangs over the bank. 

 If, instead of the overwhelming snow storm, 

 we are presented only with the hoar-frost, 2an 

 any thing be more beautifully rich than its fil- 

 lagree operations ? The firmness and dryness 

 which the frost gives to the ground, renders 

 walking safer and more pleasant than in some 

 of the milder but more humid seasons. The 

 cold too shuts up in a torpid state many of 

 the reptile race ; they sleep, unwilling and un- 



