LIFE HISTORIES OF FAMILIAR PLANTS 



purpose in the economy of this complex and ad- 

 vanced plant structure, but I am not aware that 

 any naturalist or botanist has ever offered a 

 suggestion as to their use and meaning. 



Time after time, when looking on those weird 

 spots and trying to decipher their hidden meaning, 

 it has seemed to me that they possessed an 

 appearance with which I was familiar, but the ex- 

 planation I was seeking persistently evaded me. 

 To-day, I think I have caught a glimpse of their 

 true significance. My suggestion may by some be 

 thought absurd ; however that may be, the function 

 of these spots remains to be explained, and I have 

 just been forcibly impressed by what I have seen. 



By the side of my moist plot where the orchids 

 grow thickest there lies a wood, and I had just 

 reached the edge of it, in my search for choice 

 specimens of the plant, when I observed part of 

 what was apparently a particularly attractive leaf 

 resting against the fresh green of the surrounding 

 grass. I stretched out my hand to remove some 

 of the grass that was covering this fresh-looking 

 plant, when instantly the leaf disappeared from 

 view, and a moment later an adder — a rare reptile 

 in this district — scuttled away into the hedge 

 bottom and disappeared in the wood. That 

 rapid glimpse of the startled reptile awakened my 

 memory, and I was suddenly enabled to explain 

 what, in my mind, the curious snotted leaves of the 

 wild orchis resembled. 



The exposed part of the olive body of that 

 viper, striped and spotted with dark markings, as 



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