1796

ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM.

PART III.

effected by accidental circumstances, dependent on the different aspects ofmorning, noon, and evening; on sun and on shade; on the colours of the skyand the clouds; on the clearness or haziness of the atmosphere, and its con-sequent powers of refraction; on opposition of colour; on the situation ofthe spectator; and on many other contingencies, all independent of the localcolour of the object, yet all strongly affecting it. It is impossible, therefore, Irepeat, to give in any written description, with tolerable conciseness, sufficientinstruction for selecting the colours necessary to depict objects so constantly

varying in their hues. A few simple tints on the pallet, and an hour’s studyin the forest, will be more instructive than a volume of remarks. The atten-tion and minuteness with which a lover of nature will examine a favouriteobject, and the truth with which he will consequently be enabled to describeit, are strongly evidenced in the following passage, extracted from Gilpin’sForest Scenery: — ‘I have often stood,’ says Gilpin, ‘ with admiration beforean old forest oak, examining the various tints which have enriched its furrowedstem. The genuine bark of an oak is of an ash colour, though it is difficult todistinguish any part of it from the mosses that overspread it; for no oak, Isuppose, was ever without a greater or less proportion of these picturesqueappendages. The lower parts, about the roots, are often possessed by that