More Beetles 



native of Peru. This curious plant sets us 

 a puzzling problem. At the first glance, its 

 leaves, shaped more or less like those of the 

 willow, offer nothing that deserves attentive 

 examination; but look at them more closely. 

 The leaf-stalk, flattened into a ribbon of 

 some length, is tightly twisted upon itself; 

 and the twist is repeated on every one of the 

 leaves. From one end of the plant to the 

 other we find this clearly-marked torsion. 



Delicately, with the tips of our fingers, let 

 us re-establish the natural order of affairs 

 and spread out flat the ribbon of the twisted 

 leaf-stalk. A surprise awaits us. The un- 

 twisted ribbon, replaced in its normal posi- 

 tion, is upside down; it shows on the top what 

 ought to be underneath, that is to say, the 

 pale surface, rich in stomata and deeply 

 veined; it shows underneath what ought to 

 be on top, that is to say, the green, smooth 

 surface, as is the rule with all other plants. 



In short, the Inca lily, when we forcibly 

 restore the natural arrangement by undoing 

 its torsions, has its leaves upside down. 

 What was made for the shadow faces the 

 light, what was made for the light faces the 

 shadow. In this contrary arrangement, the 

 functions of the leaves become impossible; 

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