''DEFENCE, NOT DEFIANCE" 135 



of protection it has acquired against the assaults 

 of monkeys. The "Cannon Ball -tree" {CotiroiLpita 

 gitianensis) indicates its superior hardness by its very 

 name. The Monkey-Pot tree {Lecythis ollaris), so 

 delightfully described in Kingsley's At Last, is another 

 fruit evidently specialised with reference to the quad- 

 rumana. 



Most, if not all the fruits popularly known as 

 " nuts," are included in this category. Our European 

 species have to be protected more especially from 

 squirrels, mice, and other small mammals. In ad- 

 dition, all are liable to the attacks of weevils. 



As we stroll along some green lane-side, or across 

 the breezy heath, in the glowing summer time, we 

 cannot help noticing how many enemies the wild 

 plants have to contend against The leaves are 

 gnawed by mammals, or eaten into tatters by 

 innumerable caterpillars. By and by, when the 

 summer heat is intensified, perhaps a drought sets 

 in, and the poor patient leaves droop, become brown 

 and shrivelled, and so drop off before their time. 

 Meantime, how remarkable it is that the flowers on 

 the same plants are neither eaten by animals nor 

 much affected by heat ? If we consider the great 

 importance of the reproductive organs, it is evident 

 that, under other circumstances, the species would 

 soon be extinct. What is the nature of the subtle 

 means of protection possessed by the petals of flowers, 

 that they should be preserved amid such a wholesale 



