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 PUBLIC HEALTH INTERESTS CONCERNED IN THE PRES- 
 ERVATION OF CERTAIN PRIMEVAL FORESTS AND IN 
 THE CULTIVATION OF GI^OVES AND TREES. 
 
 Bv FRANKLIN B; HOUGH, M. D.. 
 
 <v - Leivis County, New York. 
 
 A PAPER READ AT THE ANNUAL MEETING IN BALTIMORE, NOVEMBER II,.l875. 
 
 The influence of woodland shade upon the public health, presents a 
 theme for thoughtful inquir)', and the more so, because it is almost wholly 
 under our control, and as found beneficial, inconvenient, or injurious, it may 
 be increased, diminished, or suppressed. We will dismiss from the present 
 inquiry all ideas of pecuniary profit or economy, involved in the cultivation 
 of timber as a material, or otherwise than in its presumed relations to sani- 
 tary science ; and will endeavor to point out the manner in which the culti- 
 vation of trees may^ within proper limits, be made a measure of utility as 
 regards human health, and the reasons that may be assigned for this influ- 
 ence. In doing this, it will be proper to consider as well the direct effects 
 of temperature, moisture, electricity, and other physical causes, as the less 
 tangible but not less real effects by which, through the senses, they operate 
 upon the mind. 
 
 It will be conceded that a country wholly and densely covered with a for- 
 est, more especially if the surface be level, the drainage imperfect, and de- 
 caying organic matter present, is less healthy than one more exposed to the 
 sun and open to the winds. In a region thus densely covered, the soil and 
 the stagnant air near the surface, are at all seasons overcharged and often 
 saturated with moisture, and the decaying vegetation always present, will, in 
 hot climates and seasons, tend oftentimes to malarious diseases of a typhoid, 
 and sometimes of a malignant type. These humid conditions, in colder 
 regions, and in winter, predispose to pulmonary and rheumatic diseases. 
 These effects are more apparent upon the new-comer than upon one long 
 resident, so that the immigrant may suffer, where the acclimated would feel 
 little or no inconvenience. 
 
 It is well known that the most virulent forms of malaria have been wit- 
 nessed in countries where swampy low-lands have been newly-drained and 
 cleared, and the decaying vegetation first exposed in hot seasons to the sun 
 and the air, in the first attempts to cultivate the soil. Yet, in most cases, 
 where the drainage can be made complete, these conditions will wear away, 
 as the organic matter in the soil becomes fully decomposed ; and a region 
 once noted for insalubrity may become quite free from malarial diseases, 
 and even exceptionally healthy. Thus the Genesee country, in Western 
 New York, and the lake region of ^tiiIl:hern Ohio, have, by patient waiting 
 
PRESERVATION OF FORESTS AND CULTIVATION OF TREES. I'J'J 
 
 and persistent industry, fairly outlived the bad name acquired in the days 
 of pioneer settlement. Other regions, like the Maremma of Tuscany, by 
 dint of long and costly effort, guided by science, have regained their ancient 
 prestige for salubrity; while others, like the Campagna of Rome, remain as 
 possible fields for re-conquest, but not without heavy expenditures of life 
 and treasure ; and others, like thetropical jungles of India and Afr'ica, which 
 have remained since the earliest known period the seat of deadly miasms, 
 will probably so continue beyond the power of man to overcome, or, if too 
 venturesome, to escape. 
 
 It may be deemed a fact established by frequent observation, that belts 
 of woodland, intercepting the sweep of winds from the swamps, purify them 
 from malarious emanations ; but whether this be from mechanical obstruc- 
 tion, or from the absorption of the poisonous etHuvia of the marshes, has 
 not been sufficiently proved by scientific observation. 
 
 But aside from this influence of woodlands upon malaria, the ordinary 
 conditions of the atmosphere dependent upon the presence or absence of 
 forest shade, present the most interesting themes for observation. Among 
 the most obvious of these, is a tendency to the equalization of temperature 
 throughout the year ; moderating the extremes of heat in summer and of 
 cold in winter, as well as the changes between day and night. 
 
 We know that sudden vicissitudes of temperature, or a steady maintenance 
 of either heat or cold, in unusual degree, and for a considerable time, 
 operate notably as a predisposing cause of disease. A high and sustained 
 heat, especially if it continues into the night, as in tropical climates, is de- 
 bilitating in its effects. Under this influence, the muscles, and with them 
 the heart and arteries, lose their powder and tone. Respiration is reduced in 
 frequency, the cutaneous and bilious secretions are increased, and that of 
 the kidneys is diminished, the nervous energy is relaxed, and a general lan- 
 guor and debility is induced, predisposing to dysenteric and other intestinal 
 disorders, and bringing the system to that condition most susceptible to dis- 
 eases of a typhoid or adynamic type. It is at such- times, especially when 
 putrescent organic matter is allowed to diffuse its emanations near human 
 habitations, that malignant epidemics appear and spread, until finally sub- 
 dued upon the return of confirmed cold weather. 
 
 A person who has been exposed to unusual heat for a length of time, 
 without apparent injury, may suffer sooner from the sudden alterations of 
 temperature liable to occur at the close of the hot season ; and hence autum- 
 nal fevers, and other* forms of disease, appearing at the end of summer, 
 and which are sometimes more fatal than the sickness of midsvmimer, may 
 prove more malignant, because the system, weakened by long exposure to 
 heat, is then less able to withstand these sudden transitions between heat 
 and cold. 
 
 A low temperature, when extreme and long continued, operates as a direct 
 sedative ; abstracting the animal heat faster than is consistent with full 
 health, and reducing all the vital powers, weakening the circulation, arrest- 
 ing or greatly reducing the cutaneous secretion, increasing that of the kid- 
 neys, and tending to cause internal congestions and pulmonary disease. 
 
 s5^' 
 
 fe\ 
 
1 78 PRESERVA TION OF FORESTS AND CUL TIVA TION OF TREES. 
 
 Excessive moisture, with extremes of cither heat or cohl, may Ije said to 
 generally aggravate their injurious tendencies. A very dry air exerts on the 
 body the influences due to rapid evaporation and a high degree of electrical 
 tension, which, while they may be beneficial to some persons, will in others 
 tend to excite cutaneous inflammation, fever, and thirst. Its effect, how- 
 ever, if not in extreme degree, and too long continued, is more generally 
 beneficial than otherwise. 
 
 Any causes, therefore, that tend to moderate the extremes of heat and 
 cold, — rendering our winters warmer, our summers cooler, and the country 
 less exposed to sweeping winds, which often bring the noxious exhalations 
 of marshes far beyond their otherwise normal reach, — maybe ranked as 
 salutary, and worthy of attention. These effects our woodlands and groves 
 directly tend to accomplish, in proof of which I invite your attention to the 
 following thoughts and facts : — 
 
 The tendency to equalization of temperature between winter and summer, 
 and between day and night, has been observed in woodlands, in all ages and 
 countries, and is within the personal knowledge of every common observer. 
 We seek the shelter of the grove in summer for its refreshing coolness and 
 shade. Of the throngs that migrate from our crowded cities on the ap- 
 proach of the warm season, the greater part seek a rural retreat. No place 
 is so inviting as that which offers opportunities for rambling in woodlands, 
 and resting in the shade of trees, and our picnic excursions of a day seek 
 nothing else. So it has been in every age and country ; and Pliny, writing 
 more than eighteen hundred years ago, thus speaks of trees, as rendered in 
 the language of his translator, Holland : — 
 
 " In old time, trees were the very temples of the gods ; and according to 
 the ancient manner, the plain and simple peasants of the country, savoring 
 still of antiquitie, doe at this day consecrate to one god or another, the 
 goodliest and fairest trees that they can meet withall. And verily wee our- 
 selves adore not with more reverence and devotion, the stately images of 
 the gods within our temples (made though they bee with glittering gold and 
 beautifuU yvorie) than the very groves and tufts of trees, wherein wee wor- 
 ship the same gods in all religious silence. ' First and foremost, the ancient 
 ceremonie of dedicating this and that kind of tree to several gods as proper 
 and peculiar unto them, was alwaies observed, and continueth yet to this 
 day. For the mightie great Oke called ^sculus, is consecrated to jfupiter ; 
 the Lawrell to Apollo; the Olive Tree to Minerva; the Myrtle to Venus ; and 
 the Poplar to Hercules. Moreover, it is received and believed generally, 
 that the Sylvanes and Faunes, yea, and certain goddesses, are appropriate 
 and assigned to woods and forests ; yea, there is attributed unto those 
 places a certain divine power and godhead, there to inhabite ; as well as 
 unto heaven, the proper seat for other gods." 
 
 This esteem for groves, which in the olden time was fostered by religious 
 sentiment, and which has in all ages and countries been favored by the com- 
 mon sense of mankind, must have some substantial causes ; and here scien- 
 tific observation may guide us in determining the elements. We have not 
 yet in this country any series of thermomctric and hygrometric records. 
 
PRESERVA TION OF FORESTS AND CUL TIVA TION OF TREES. 1 79 
 
 made with direct reference to the influence of forests and woodlands upon 
 the cUmate, and the extent to which we may, through their agency, modify 
 these conditions. The only series of observations that has hitherto been 
 made upon this point, upon a scale sufficient to give absolute and trustwor- 
 thy results, is that begun in 1867, under the direction of Dr. Ernst Eber- 
 mayer. Professor at the Forest Academy at Aschaffenberg, in Bavaria, and 
 at stations for comparative observations established at his suggestion at 
 other points in Europe. There are now about six of these in Bavaria, ten 
 in Prussia, one in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, three in Alsace-Lorraine, one in 
 Bohemia, three in Switzerland, and one or more in France. In a corre- 
 spondence which I have had with Dr. Ebermayer, he expresses an earnest 
 desire for cooperation in the United States, in order that the laws which 
 govern these influences may be fully determined. Accidental circumstances 
 may affect local observations ; and in order to arrive at general laws, the 
 records should be made in various countries and climates, with instruments 
 comparable as to their scale, location, and time of observation, and as 
 nearly alike as may be in all the circumstances that may affect their indica- 
 tions. 
 
 Of course each station should have two places of observation, and two 
 sets of instruments ; one in the open fields, entirely away from the local 
 effect of the forest, and the other in the midst of its shelter, and fully 
 within its influence. 
 
 The instruments consist of common and self-registering thermometers, 
 psychrometers, and means for carefully measuring the rain-fall and evapo- 
 ration, direction and force of winds, barometric conditions, and, at some 
 stations, the electricity and ozone. The temperature in the woods is taken 
 at the level of the tree-tops, and at both places at fiv^e feet above the 
 ground ; and below the surface at depths of one half, one, two, three, and 
 four feet. The hours of observation are at 9 a. m., and at 5 p. m. The 
 elastic force of vapor and percentage of saturation are deduced from the 
 wet and dry bulb thermometers, and the amount of rain and snow, and rate 
 of evaporation by weight and measure. But one set of records is made of 
 barometric pressure, and aspect of sky. Care is of course taken to keep 
 out from the immediate influence of particular trees, and to see that the in- 
 struments shall give a fair average result of the conditions in which they 
 are placed. 
 
 These observations, so far as published, tend to show the following 
 facts : — 
 
 1. That the average annual temperature of the atmosphere in the woods 
 is one and a half to two degrees Fahrenheit below that of the open fields. 
 
 2. That the average annual temperature at the crowns of the trees is 
 about one and an eighth degrees above that found in dense woods at five 
 feet from the ground ; and that in the former case the average is a little 
 over half a degree (|^) below that of unwooded land, at a point five feet 
 above the ground. 
 
 3. That in spring the average temperature in the forest is about 3° 
 below that of unwooded land, the difference being relatively less among 
 deciduous trees than among pines. 
 
l8o PRESERVATlOiX OF FORESTS AA'D CUI.TIVATIO.V OF TREES. 
 
 4. That the average temperature in the daytime, in summer, in thick 
 woods, is 3.78° below that of unwooded hxnd. 
 
 5. That the temperature of the atmosphere within the woods, in the sum- 
 mer season, increased 3.94° from the ground to the tops of the trees. 
 
 6. That in autumn, the difference of temperature at five feet from the 
 ground, is scarcely i^°, and, 
 
 7. That in winter the difference almost entirely disappears. 
 
 As a direct result of this difference, there is observed a current of air in 
 the daytime, from the surface of the ground in the woods, upward and out- 
 ward, the cooler air spreading over the open fields. At night, the conditions 
 are changed, and we have currents from the fields to the woods, and thus 
 alternately, like the land and sea breeze. In some cases the woods were 
 found over 8° cooler by day, and 4^° warmer by night, than the open field. 
 
 The differences of temperature may be ascribed, — 
 
 1. To the obstruction of the sun's rays by the foliage, or the direct effect 
 of shade. 
 
 2. To the cooling due to ev^aporation that is constantly going on from 
 the leaves in the growing season, whereby much heat becomes latent, and, 
 
 3. To the fact that wood is a slow conductor of heat, so that the body of 
 a tree, exposed to the sun, or surrounded by warmer air, slowly absorbs 
 heat and does not reach its maximum till late in the afternoon, nor does it 
 cool down to the temperature of the chilly night-air till near morning. It 
 thus absorbs heat by day, and gives it out by night. 
 
 It does not need an instrument to prove that the snows lie on the surface 
 much longer in the shade of forests than in open fields ; nor that the shaded 
 soil, especially when covered with a matting of decaying leaves, retains 
 moisture, and maintains the supply of water for springs and rivulets, while 
 the open field is parched with drouth, and summer brooks diminish and dis- 
 appear under the drying effects of the sun and winds. Nor is it a theo- 
 retical statement, that the retention of snows in climates where they fall, 
 has a tendency to delay the premature blossoming of fruit trees, by temper- 
 ing the heat of the early spring, until danger from late spring frosts has 
 passed, and thus a fruitful season is secured in localities where, without 
 this equalizing influence, it would be often lost ; nor can it be doubted 
 but that the moderation of extremes in .temperature, which forest shelter 
 secures and maintains, results in great benefit to the farmer, as well in his 
 fruit and his grain fields as to his farm stock. 
 
 The Bavarian records show that there is less than sixty-four per cent, of 
 evaporation from a given surface of water in the woods than in the fields, 
 and this difference is about the same at all seasons. Probably the stag- 
 nant condition of the air is partly the cause of this, as in dense woods the 
 winds but slightly disturb the surface. A large amount of evaporation is, 
 however, going on through the growing season from the leaves, so that the 
 relative humidity is greater, while the surface evaporation is less. The dif- 
 ference is greater in proportion to elevation, and Professor Ebermayer as- 
 sumes that the increase of rain-fall caused by large areas of woodlands, in 
 some places, is to be attributed merely to the increase of relative moisture 
 
PRESER VA TION OF FORESTS AND CUL TIVA TION OF TREES. 1 8 1 
 
 within the forests. It is quite evident th|t a cooler temperature would re- 
 quire less cooling in woodlands to bring the atmosphere to the dew point. 
 
 These records show that more ozone exists in higher elevations where 
 there is much humidity, and less in the rnidst of a dense forest than in 
 adjoining fields. 
 
 It has long been known that plants derive their carbon chiefly from the 
 carbonic acid always present in the atmosphere, and that by this vital pro- 
 cess in the leaf, the oxygen in combination is released. As carbonic acid 
 gas is a product of respiration, combustion^ and fermentation, it might 
 accumulate in deleterious excess, but for this compensating analysis in 
 plants, by wdiich an element essential to life is supplied. By the laws 
 which govern the diffusion of gases, and by the action of the winds, this 
 process of amelioration is extended over a wide region, and is felt in the 
 distant city, as well as the immediate neighborhood. 
 
 It can scarcely be doubted but that woodlands thus tend to promote the 
 public health, and that some benefit may result from parks and belts of 
 woodland near the great cities, from this cause. 
 
 Electrical Conditions. — There can be no reasonable doubt but that groves 
 and woodlands exercise a notable influence upon the electrical conditions of 
 the atmosphere, but it remains to be demonstrated, by future researches, 
 as to what effect this may have upon the public health. We know that 
 there can be no evaporation, no condensation of vapor, no expansion or 
 contraction in any form ; in short, no change of place in nature without a dis- 
 turbance of the equilibrium of electrical forces, and that when this is not 
 conveyed away by conducting bodies, it will be shown by the electrometer 
 and sometimes to our senses. We further know that electricity is dissipated 
 by points ; and that an insulated branch of a tree cannot be charged, so as 
 to manifest the presence of electricity for many moments after the con- 
 nection with the prime conductor is withdrawn. When we consider the mill- 
 ions of points raised high in air, bristling from every leaf, and thorn, and 
 pubescent fibre, on the foliage of a single tree, we may well believe that the 
 general result must favor the rapid equalization of electricity, whenever, 
 from any cause, its equilibrium is disturbed. 
 
 A house surrounded by high trees is seldom struck by lightning, and in 
 the vine districts of France it has been observed that vineyards are more 
 liable to injury from this cause, where the timber has been cut away. If 
 it be proved, as maintained by high scientific opinion, that hail-storms are 
 of electrical origin, this view of the importance of trees in equalizing atmos- 
 pheric and terrestrial electrical perturbations, acquires a double value. 
 
 The agency of woodlands in fixing drifting sands, and in intercepting and 
 breaking the force of ocean winds, is obvious, nor can we fail to see therein 
 an important relation to the public health, as well as great advantage in an 
 agricultural point of view. Still greater benefits are promised in climates 
 where the Australian gum trees {Eucalyptus of various species) will thrive, 
 if half that is said in their favor proves true. It is claimed, concerning 
 them, that when planted in marshy groves, they absorb and evaporate the 
 moisture of the soil, so as to serve as a measure of drainage in a notable 
 
1 82 PRESERVA TION OF FORESTS AND CUL TIVA T/ON OF TREES. 
 
 degree, wliilc the foliage emits a hulsaniie aioma, tending to eounteract 
 malarious eflluvia, and to rL-nder the atmosphere salubrious around them. 
 It is an unfortunate circumstance that the pAicalyptus grows only to perfec- 
 tion in a very warm climate, and that its range with us is limited to the 
 southern border of the l^nion, and a part of California. 
 
 The hygienic and curative influence of a pine forest, in the case of persons 
 predisposed to phthisis, and in the incipient stages of that disease, has been 
 claimed by some, and deserves more careful observation. 
 
 But although we find many benefits to the public from the presence of 
 sylvan shade, there is a limit beyond which we should not pass, — a kind of 
 golden mean between too little and too much, and no country or people is 
 so fortunate as that wherein this due balance is carefully maintained. With 
 too much, we have a cool, humid climate; with too little, we have a climate 
 liable to alternate extremes of heat and cold, — to unreasonable and exces- 
 sive floods and to destructive drouths, with all the adverse effect upon the 
 public health and human happiness which these conditions imply. Passing 
 rapidly from the side of excess, we have already, in many parts of the coun- 
 try, begun to realize the evils presented in the other extreme, and may find 
 them much more difficult to overcome. Perhaps nothing short of actual 
 want, and the high prices which scarcity is sure to bring, will ever thoroughly 
 arouse our people to a realizing sense of the necessity of timber culture, 
 and our only hope of its success, then, lies in a sublime faith in that trait in 
 the American character, which is sure to be manifested, whenever it appears 
 that there is money in it. 
 
 Although we claim many benefits to the public from sylvan shade near 
 the large centres of population, there is a limit which we should not pass. 
 A house too densely shaded is too dark and too damp for health. Its free 
 ventilation is obstructed, and sometimes the larvae of insects and other direct 
 annoyances, render trees too near a dwelling little better than nuisances. 
 This is eminently true with respect to narrow streets in cities, where sunlight 
 and the free circulation of air are more needed than shade. 
 
 Business often requires as much light as possible, and hence a thorough- 
 fare of trade, or a seat of manufacture, might be seriously incommoded 
 by the shade of trees. But along the wide avenue, upon plats of ground 
 reserved for public enjoyment, and in the open grounds of suburbs, inviting 
 opportunities are presented for the display of good taste, and for refined 
 enjoyment, in the cultivation of trees best suited to the conditions, and of 
 greatest service for ornament and shade. 
 
 The municipal authorities in many of our cities have been wisely intrusted 
 with the care of shade trees in public streets, so that the owner of the ad- 
 jacent ground may not plant or remove whatever tree he pleases ; but under 
 the right of eminent domain, the public agents are empowered to control 
 these measures for the public good. This imposes upon those intrusted with 
 these duties a grave responsibility, which, if realized, will lead to a careful 
 study of the principles involved, and, if rightly improved, will result in 
 great good. 
 
 With reference to city parks, I cannot too strongly commend the plans 
 
PRESERVATION OF FORESTS AND CULTIVATION OF TREES. 1 83 
 
 that seek to give the greatest benefit to thg greatest number, and within easy 
 reach of the humbler classes, that stand in greatest need of their refreshing 
 and refining influences. 
 
 Were the alternative presented between a grand public park, in one mass, 
 adorned with all that could charm the eye and cultivate the most refined 
 taste, yet from distance or regulation accessible only to the wealthy ; or, 
 on the other hand^ a series of small reservations scattered here and there 
 within easy reach of the masses of the population, connecting by shaded 
 avenues, supplied with fountains and resting-places, and tastefully improved 
 with such imitations of wild rustic scenery as opportunities allowed, we 
 think the true philanthropist would not for a moment hesitate in the choice 
 which should confer the greatest happiness upon the greatest number. If 
 we can afford both, very well. If not, then let those having means seek 
 their opportunities where they can readily find them, in more distant places 
 of fashionable resort, where interest is sure to create attractions for those 
 that pay. 
 
 Finally, but not least, I will briefly notice an eft'ect upon the public 
 health which may be fairly claimed for groves and trees, in the cheerful and 
 tranquilizing influence which they exert upon the mind, more especially 
 when worn down by mental labor, or convalescent from sickness ; and this 
 simple remedy alone might, if seasonably applied, save the lives of thou- 
 sands of infants, who, for the want of the fresh air of the fields and groves, 
 are every year dying in the crowded quarters of our great cities. The con- 
 tact with nature, in such cases, has often a renovating and restorative power 
 of positive value, and which every medical adviser must have witnessed with 
 great satisfaction. Permit me to cite a case in point, and with this I will 
 leave the subject to your consideration. Over twenty years ago, while en- 
 gaged in a historical study, I became interested in tracing the origin and 
 condition of a remnant of one of our Indian tribes, — the St. Regis In- 
 dians, living on the south bank of the St. Lawrence, on the line of forty-five 
 degrees north latitude, partly in the State of New York, but mainly in 
 Canada. In 1855 I took an opportunity of personally enumerating the fam- 
 ilies living on the American side of the boundary, as a part of the State 
 census labors then in my charge, and I found them numbering 413. Ten 
 years later (1865) they were enumerated by a man of my own selection, and 
 I know he did it well. He found the number 426 — an increase of but 13. 
 In the month of June of the present year, I accepted an invitation of our 
 State officials for again taking their census, as an opportunity for studying 
 the growth of a people who long ago had made me an honorary member of 
 their tribe ; and personally, with a guide and interpreter, I visited every fam- 
 ily, and carefully enumerated every person. The number was 737, an in- 
 crease of 311, or over 73 per cent, in ten years ! There had been no immi- 
 gration whatever, and the tables showed these increasing numbers in the 
 multitude of children under ten years of age. Here was a study, and the 
 solution was not difficult. Some thirty years or more ago, these people had 
 been permitted by a State law to lease their lands for twenty-one years ; and 
 the privilege was granted to many white persons, who cleared small farms, 
 
184 rRESERVATION OF FORESTS AND CUI.TIVA'l lOX OE 7REES. 
 
 and made iniproveinents, wliich lliey were oblij^ed to leave wlicn their leases 
 expired. The Indians coming into possession had moved out of their 
 squalid village, and had become small farmers, with an abundance of farm 
 produce for subsistence, and plentj' of pure air. As many children had 
 been born before as there had been since, but they had nearly all died. 
 
 This striking argument in favor of pure air and rural life should not be 
 lost upon those who would benefit their fellow men. We cannot remove the 
 humble poor of our great cities away from the labors by which they earn 
 their daily bread, nor plant them upon farms, like the Indians of St. Regis ; 
 but we can provide them with sylvan shade and fresh air, within easy reach, 
 or means of cheap transit to such places, whenever their wasted energies 
 require. More especially is this needed for those of tender age, who pine 
 and die in the crowded tenements of our cities from the want of pure air, 
 and the invigorating inspiration of rural life. In this direction lies our 
 greatest hope of future benefit to our crowded cities, towards which, by the 
 imperative demands of business employment, the surplus of our population 
 is steadily and increasingly tending, by the law of necessity, as uniform and 
 unavoidable as that of gravitation itself ; and which, if we cannot prevent 
 we must endeavor to control, or, so far as possible, alleviate. 
 
 Now, the fresh air and rural scenery, to which we should invite the classes 
 most needing their invigorating influence, are not to be sought in sunburnt 
 fields and naked sands, but in cool groves, enlivened with the song of birds 
 that there find a safe resting-place and their subsistence upon the insects 
 that harm by their excessive numbers, when not repressed. The wasted 
 energies of life are renewed by communion with nature in her wild and rug- 
 ged forms, which gain new interest when brought in near contrast with the 
 improvements of the city, and scattered here and there near the marts of 
 trade and the beaten paths of industry. Let us, then, bring home glimpses 
 of nature from the wildwood, to relieve the monotony of city life, if by so 
 doing we refresh the weary, and make existence enjoyment, where but for 
 this timely provision it might prove a burden. 
 
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