94 Gambles witb Iftature Students 



The chief interest in watching this plant is to 

 observe its remarkable mode of sowing its seed. 



As soon as the sm;ill capsule is formed it begins 

 to turn towards the wall until it finds a crevice, 

 and in that its places itself, just as we should put 

 a small parcel on a shelf, and it remains secreted 

 there until ripened by the warmth of sunlight, 

 when the capsules split open, the seeds are shed 

 out and lie upon the crumbling mortar, ready to 

 germinate as soon as rain shall fall and afford 

 them the needed moisture. 



I often show this plant to my young friends as 

 affording a remarkable instance of vegetable instinct 

 and adaptation. 



I am tempted to quote from Miss Ann Pratt's 

 Flowering Plants of Great Britain an interesting 

 incident connected with this humble flower. 



In 1850 a deputation waited upon the Chancellor 

 of the Exchequer respecting the abolition of the 

 window tax. 



A spray of Linaria, which had grown in the 

 dark and produced only dwarfed and blanched 

 leaves, was shown in contrast with another spray 

 gathered from the same plant, which on its sun- 

 lighted side was of a rich green and covered with 

 flowers ; this mute appeal was well calculated to 

 show the evil and depressing effect of darkened 

 dwellings and the consequent cruelty of the window 

 tax. 



