10 
THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
not to speak of forms of higher life, which await but a 
word from the gentle goddess to come forth in vernal 
beauty. 
We love to follow the path made by some rabbit or 
other wnld creature w^hich leads into mysterious depths of 
forest. The silence would be appalling were it not for the 
instinctive faith in the latent life about us. In places 
the snow is positively blue, w^here, for instance, the 
*'sombrous pines" cast their long shadows westward and 
mark the progress of the sun. Wonderful palaces have 
been built above the little brook which bubbles and 
whispers and laughs as it plays sweet music on the 
tinkling ice. We gaze down colonnades of stately pillars, 
ornate as those ot Thebes. Let Schliemann delve in the 
ruins of Mycenae or Layard of Nineveh ; they cannot 
unearth more wonderful remains. 
It requires good courage, and something of enthusi- 
asm besides, to travel afoot over frozen snow ; but there 
are days when it is quite out of the question for one to 
stay at home. Blue skies, jingling sleigh-bells, and crisp 
air all summon him out of doors. If he can skate he has 
reached the triumph of locomotion, the poetry of earthly 
movement. A perfect skater suggests those exquisite 
statues of the Greeks, w^here a god is represented poised 
as if for flight. The anatomical absurdity of wnngs is 
dispensed with, and he seems to glide along by the very 
force of genius. There may be reason, perhaps, w^hy we 
cannot skate. At such times w^e w^rap up w^ell, and start 
off like some Alpine or Arctic explorer, with a convenience 
at hand of which these adventurers are de])rived ; viz : 
the ready access to a returning trolley car. 
Sometimes kind Nature undertakes a little dramatic 
performance in our back yard, when we engage a reserved 
seat in the house and witness the spectacle in comfort. 
Where is the artist that can paint such a scene ? Does a 
child's imagination even create anything so dazzling and 
bewildering ? Here is a pear tree whose withered fruit is 
transformed into sugared confection. For what fairy 
beauty are prepared these necklaces of pearl? Who 
