Page:Early Spring in Massachusetts (1881).djvu/29

Rh Spaulding, his heirs and assigns, shall and may from this (?) time, and at all times forever hereafter, by force and virtue of these presents, lawfully, peaceably, and quietly have, hold, use, occupy, possess, and enjoy the said swamp," etc.

The following bears on the floating ice which has risen from the bottom of the meadows. Robert Hunt says, "Water conducts heat downward but very slowly; a mass of ice will remain undissolved but a few inches under water on the surface of which ether or any other inflammable body is burning. If ice swam beneath the surface the summer sun would scarcely have power to thaw it, and thus our lakes and seas would be gradually converted into solid masses."

Nature and man; some prefer one, others the other. But that is all "de gustibus." It makes no odds at what well you drink, provided it be a well-head.

Walking in the woods, it may be some afternoon, the shadow of the wings of a thought flits across the landscape of my mind, and I am reminded how little eventful are our lives. What have been all these wars and rumors of wars, and modern discoveries and improvements, so-called? A mere irritation in the skin. But this shadow which is so soon past, and whose substance is not detected, suggests that there