Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1861-09-27
AUTUMN LEAVES.

yR bAVe now approached the season wher
Snr American woods put ON their glorious gar
Il'ent Of many hues, eclipsing the gayeSt tint.
: che painter spreads on his pallet, and ryainq
the splendid hues OF the sapphire, the ruby, tht
t@p@z, and the emerald. The boldest attempt
ut pictorial representation never yet presented
more than faint and feeble mockery of the
Prinmatic brilliancy of our autumnal forest.
I he golden glow Of the walnut, the splend
ia geld and crimson Of the sugar maple, the
scarlet Of the beech the ruddy gleam of the
oak leaves, how can art hope 20 Eerpetaate
them? 70 what are these vivid and varied
e0lors to be attributed? A writer has an-
swersd the question. lie says: Ii i. com.
rpH notien with most people thai lhe gorge
OiIs colors Of onr autumn foliage are due TO
the action Of the frost. The fact that the rich
reds, aud scarlrts, and browns, of our oaks
RlaPlts ard hckOrics. make their appearance
~ ~ shout the same tiine us the early frosts
of fall hns giYrn rise 10 this general belief
But the truth is tlmt The frost has t'at col
lateral cff-ct npun this ,iscOlsFution. The
2 real cause Of this change is the ripen,ng Of
lhsteaf Leaves ripcn aud fall in accordance
With the same vegetable economy which gives
color to flowers aud fruit at Iilefr period OF
maturity. 4 flower is only u transformed
leaf, which at a certain period Of its growth
Snddenly changes its normal green hue into the
particular color which belongs 10 its family or
s species. Flowers assume their final color ear
EeE thap the leaves, because their mission is
accomplished, and they mature qpd fall away
Of % earlier period. The fiyit WHICH Eel1sias
continues green for certain space of time,
2ud then at maturity assumes its own peculiar
color. Leaves in the same way change their
cOloEs, from the light delicate green in spring.
which Is due to the scanty development OF the
perenchymatous tissue, into the dark opaque
green Of late summer, which is due TO the
gradual filling up Of the leafy cells by an ac-
a enmulation Of pigment and pareDehyma. AT
this stage all growth has ceased, and they be-
gin to take on the color which belongs to
rPcnees, and which PEeccdes their fall Early
in autumn may be seen the rich scarlet of the
woodbine and sumach peering through the
dense green around. long before Frost bas made
ils appearance. Some maple may stand among
its mates all flaming in brilliant array What
che ultimate cause Of this change Of color
may be We cannot discover. 1t may be chem
ical or mechanical. Certain fungi assume a
brilliant blue al the instant they are broken,
and this is thought to be molecular change
not q chemical. Were it cold or frost alone
which occasiOned the changes, we should not
Gee individual plants varying in color weeks
before their mates but there would be a stimuli
taneous change. The process of ripepiug,
however, is varied according to soil, exposure,
Era fpt Il
exists in the periods Of change in the different
localities. Cod weather does, of course, has.
ten this natural coloration. The sap no long
q runs to supply the leaves, but retreats to
the eoil; this deprives them of ihs vital fluid
which feeds them, and consequently they
change. wither and fall.