WOOD-CRAFT. 49 



of an empty cathedral, whilst the service is being 

 celebrated aloft on the blazing roof! 



Our own " Ivy green " Is less cruel and selfish, 

 although we frequently see It growing to such a 

 luxuriance as to throw Its own foliage over that 

 of the ancient oak, whose trunk It had utilised in 

 order to get above the ground, and attain to all 

 the advantages it would have possessed had Its own 

 stem grown bulky and erect. This height It reaches 

 by special structural organs. Indeed, all the weak- 

 stemmed and weak-trunked plants put forth similar 

 special efforts, which seem to partake more of clever- 

 ness than of strength. The Ivy, however. Is honest. 

 Its clasping roots do not rob the tree It climbs by of 

 any nourishment or sap — notwithstanding prejudice 

 to the contrary. We doubt whether the Ivy Is not 

 often a benefactor — shielding and protecting stems 

 and branches from severe winter cold, by Its stratum 

 of non-conducting foliage. The Ivy is not the sole 

 possessor of this particular method of climbing. A 

 species of Fig (Ficus repens) in the East Indies so far 

 departs from the habits of its fellows as to raise Its 

 weak stems on walls and rocks by means of creeping 

 roots like those of the Ivy. The latter species of 

 Fig has improved upon the Ivy's method, for its roots 

 emit a viscid fluid which acts as an adhesive cement, 

 and assists the plant to hold on by. There Is also 

 the sweetly -perfumed Hoy a carnosa^ one of the 

 Ascleplads, common In most conservatories, which 



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