A "USE" FOR EVERYTHING? 103 



it from the browsing animals. All the world is as 

 perfect as a museum I 



I wondered what would happen if some inquis- 

 itive child were to ask what becomes of all the plants 

 which have no thorns or hairs or poison or ill scent. 

 What if he should ask why the thornless blackberry 

 does not perish, or why the sumacs that are not 

 poisonous still live, or if he should suggest that the 

 dandelion comes up earlier in the spring than the 

 buttercup and yet has no hairs on its slender flower 

 stem? As I wondered, a little hand went up. 

 The teacher granted a question. "Pigweeds ain't 

 got any prickers," said the boy. I saw that the 

 boy was a philosopher. ''True enough," replied 

 the teacher promptly, ''but I am sure that it has 

 something with which to protect itself." 



Thereby I knew her point of view : she had 

 made up her mind what to see, and it was necessary 

 only to hunt until she saw it; and in this respect 

 she was Hke many another. Persons seem to inter- 

 pret the struggle for existence as a fight. It is a 

 sanguinary combat between adults. Everything 

 must protect itself with armor. A botanist, in 

 writing a description of a new and strange plant, 

 noted the peculiar spines and then remarked : 

 *' That these are of some use to the plant can hardly 

 be doubted. Perhaps they serve to prevent the 

 access of undesirable insects." 



Nothing is easier than to find an explanation for 

 anything ; the only difficulty is to determine whether 

 the explanation is true. I have just read in an old 

 book that the reason why a particular kind of graft 



