12 THE MEADOW. 



a daisy open. Here and there, perhaps, you will 

 find one which appears to depart from this rule, 

 but on examination you will find that all the cen- 

 tral flowers are either dead or withering, and, con- 

 sequently, stand in no need of protection. 



Not worlds on worlds in phalanx deep 



Need we to prove a God is here ; 

 The daisy fresh from nature's sleep,* 



Tells of His hand in lines as clear ; 

 For who but He who arch'd the skies, 



And poured the day-spring's living flood 

 Wondrous alike in all he tries 



Could raise the daisy's purple bud ; 

 Mould its green cup, its wiry stem, 



Its fringed border nicely spin, 

 And cut the gold-embossed gem 



That, set in silver, gleams within ? 

 And fling it unrestrain'd and free, 



O'er hill, and dale, and desert sod, 

 That man, where'er he walks, may see 



In every step the stamp of God. 



Dr. MASON GOOD. 



There are a great many other flowers which, 

 like the Daisy, are made up of a number of smaller 

 florets ; of these, some on the approach of rain 

 close in the same way that the Daisy does, others 

 hang down their heads, or turn away from the 

 rain. The Goat's-beard always shuts its flowers 

 about twelve o'clock. The Sun-flower does not 

 close either by day or night, but keeps its face 

 always turned towards the shining sun. 



By what strange mechanism these extraordinary 

 effects are produced, no one has yet discovered. 

 That the plant has not the power of choosing for 



* This peculiarity in some plants of closing their flowers or 

 leaves has been called " the sleep of plants." 



