PERSONALITY OF PLANTS 
The desert Sage whistles in the wind; the Cedar 
laughs in the storm; the air rustles through a 
Wheat field; an agitated Sugar Cane or Corn 
field gives forth a sound like tinkling glass. 
The noise produced by a high wind in the 
Southern Smilax has been likened to a harp 
struck at random. 
The bursting pods of the Witch Hazel pop 
gently and the seeds fall among the dead leaves 
like so many buck shot; the Oxalis sends forth 
its seed-babies with the crack of a pistol shot. 
Members of the Bean family moan in the breeze 
like plaintive violins. The Squirting Cucum- 
ber gurgles not unlike certain frogs. The Sun- 
flower is a professional drummer who rattles 
his seeds about in his pods. The Rattlesnake 
Iris holds its seed-capsule in such a way that it 
gives an excellent imitation of the warning noise 
of the reptile for which it is named. Catalpa 
pods snap like horse-whips, but Cat-Tails sigh 
like small reed instruments. 
Early man gained more inspiration and plea- 
sure from the music of the plants than his wiser 
but more worldly successors. It is said that 
the idea for the first flute was obtained by lis- 
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