136 SAGA CITY A ND MORA LIT V OF PLANTS. 



vegetable massacre and plunder ? Our curiosity is 

 not abated on collecting a quantity of the most deli- 

 cate, attractive, and soft petals of all kinds of flowers, 

 and finding that hungry cattle utterly refuse to eat 

 them, and that most caterpillars, voracious creatures, 

 will actually die of hunger rather than partake of this 

 kind of vegetable food ! Evidently all conspicuous 

 flowers have acquired at least 07ie victorious method 

 of completely checkmating the animal kingdom ! 



We actually employ the petals of certain kinds of 

 flowers, such as the Flea-banes, as insecticides ; and 

 these compose a great part of some of the powders 

 denominated " insect-killers " and " moth-banes." 



Kerner, in his delightful little book. Flowers and 

 their Unbidden Gnests, explains the reason of this 

 floral protection as follows : " The substances which 

 make the flowers nauseous to many animals, and by 

 which ruminants in particular are kept from them, 

 are sometimes alkaloids, sometimes resins, but chiefly 

 ethereal oihr 



And yet these ethereal oils, whilst deterring cater- 

 pillars and grazing animals, attract flying insects 

 from a distance by their perfumes ! Kerner further 

 states that " the chemical compounds which prevent 

 many animals from touching fresh flowers are either 

 volatilised, or undergo change, when the petals are 

 dried. Many flowers, when dried, lose their special 

 scent, or change it, and, mixed in the hay, are then 

 eaten by ruminants without hesitation." 



