Footnotes from the page of nature or first forms of vegetation: With illustrationsMacmillan & Company, 1861 - 294 pages |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 32
Page 7
... higher and more conspicu- ous plants , yet they constitute the sole vegetation of very extensive regions of the earth's surface . Every part of the globe , within a thousand feet of the line of per- petual snow , is redeemed from utter ...
... higher and more conspicu- ous plants , yet they constitute the sole vegetation of very extensive regions of the earth's surface . Every part of the globe , within a thousand feet of the line of per- petual snow , is redeemed from utter ...
Page 10
... higher orders of vegetation . Nature is incessantly work- ing out vast ends by humble and scarcely recognisable means . The features of the earth are being continually altered by the germination and dispersion of the algæ , mosses , and ...
... higher orders of vegetation . Nature is incessantly work- ing out vast ends by humble and scarcely recognisable means . The features of the earth are being continually altered by the germination and dispersion of the algæ , mosses , and ...
Page 12
... higher purposes to serve in this world than mere subservience to the physical wants of man . There is a much higher utility than the mere temporary and worldly one . ternal life , indeed , should not the first things required , but the ...
... higher purposes to serve in this world than mere subservience to the physical wants of man . There is a much higher utility than the mere temporary and worldly one . ternal life , indeed , should not the first things required , but the ...
Page 15
... higher walks of literature , science , and art . The study of these plants has also a tendency to elevate and enlarge our conceptions of nature ; its vast- ness and complexity , its incommunicable grandeur , its all but infinity ...
... higher walks of literature , science , and art . The study of these plants has also a tendency to elevate and enlarge our conceptions of nature ; its vast- ness and complexity , its incommunicable grandeur , its all but infinity ...
Page 22
... higher tribes of vegetation . In them the most exquisite symmetry and beauty are deve- loped , a beauty not of a glaring or obvious character , but refined and spiritual , consisting in delicacy of tint , in the imperceptible gradation ...
... higher tribes of vegetation . In them the most exquisite symmetry and beauty are deve- loped , a beauty not of a glaring or obvious character , but refined and spiritual , consisting in delicacy of tint , in the imperceptible gradation ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
abundant acid Agaricus algæ Alpine animalcules animals antheridia appearance Arctic regions beautiful botanists called capsules cells circumstances colouring matter common confervæ containing covered crustaceous cryptogamic curious decaying destitute developed diatoms disease earth employed exceedingly existence extremely ferns filaments flowering plants forests frequently frond fructification fungi fungus genera genus green ground growing growth Highland Himalayas Iceland moss immense inches inhabitants islands Lapland leaves lichens living luxuriance mass Médoc Melville Island microscope mildew minute moist moisture mosses mould mountains mushroom mycelium naked nature objects observed occurs oidium orchil orcine organs oxalic acid pale patches peculiar possess produced profusion remarkable reproduction resemblance rocks seeds singular snow soil sometimes species spores sporules spots spreads stem stones strange structure substances summits surface tains thallus tion tissue trees tropical trunks tufts vast vegetable kingdom whole wonderful woods yellow
Popular passages
Page 54 - THIS is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks, Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight, Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic, Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms.
Page 68 - But here,— above, around, below, On mountain or in glen, Nor tree, nor shrub, nor plant, nor flower, Nor aught of vegetative power, The weary eye may ken. For all is rocks at random thrown, Black waves, bare crags, and banks of stone...
Page 103 - Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.
Page 111 - When all other service is vain, from plant and tree, the soft mosses and gray lichen take up their watch by the head-stone. The woods, the blossoms, the gift-bearing grasses, have done their parts for a time, but these do service for ever. Trees for the builder's yard, flowers for the bride's chamber, corn for the granary, moss for the grave.
Page 8 - Unfading as motionless, the worm frets them not, and the autumn wastes not. Strong in lowliness, they neither blanch in heat nor pine in frost.
Page 110 - Meek creatures ! the first mercy of the earth, veiling with hushed softness its dintless rocks ; creatures full of pity, covering with strange and tender honour the scarred disgrace of ruin — laying quiet finger on the trembling stones to teach them rest.
Page 76 - And spread th' enduring foliage ; — then we trace The freckled flower upon the flinty base ; These all increase, till in unnoticed years The stony tower as grey with age appears ; With coats of vegetation, thinly spread, Coat above coat, the living on the dead : These then dissolve to dust, and make a way For bolder foliage, nursed by their decay : The...
Page 59 - ... after a minute examination of every detail, we could not discover the least deception. The characters all appeared to us portions of the leaf itself, equally with its veins and nerves ; the position was not the same in all ; in one leaf they would be at the top of the leaf; in another, in the middle ; in a third, at the base, or at the side ; the younger leaves represented the characters only in a partial state of formation.
Page 111 - None are delicate enough, none perfect enough, none rich enough. How is one to tell of the rounded bosses of furred and beaming green, — the starred divisions of rubied bloom, fine-filmed, as if the Rock Spirits could spin porphyry as we do glass, — the traceries of intricate silver, and fringes of amber, lustrous, arborescent, burnished through every fibre into fitful brightness and glossy traverses of silken change, yet all subdued and pensive, and framed for simplest, sweetest offices of grace...
Page 9 - Sharing the stillness of the unimpassioned rock, they share also its endurance ; and while the winds of departing spring scatter the white hawthorn blossom like drifted snow, and summer dims on the parched meadow the drooping of its cowslip-gold, — far above, among the mountains, the silver lichen-spots rest, starlike, on the stone ; and the gathering orange stain upon the edge of yonder western peak reflects the sunsets of a thousand years.