254 Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers 



tionless, finds itself thrust forth into the great 

 world. 



Being cast upon his own resources has had an 

 energizing and awakening effect upon many a human 

 idler or Jack-a-dreams. And the little antherozoid, 

 turned loose, acts as if it had become instinct with 

 conscious life. 



Its coils draw apart, and we see that at the 

 thicker end of the spiral is a tiny drop of jelly, 

 which is all that now remains of the contents of the 

 mother-cell, while at the thinner end there is a dense 

 tuft of fine, curved filaments. 



These tremble and sway like the fins of a fish, 

 and by their aid the antherozoid can swim about, 

 with a motion so like that of an aquatic animal 

 that one who watches it is inclined to doubt that 

 it is endowed only with the blind, unconscious life 

 of the vegetable world. Hence, the tiny thing is 

 sometimes called a spermatozooid, for the Greek suf- 

 fix zooid signifies 'Mike an animal," while*sperma 

 means " a germinal principle of life." 



There is ample opportunity for the display of its 

 natatorial powers, for to a swimmer so minute 

 every drop of dew is a lake. 



While Nature has been giving birth to these little 

 navigators, there have been forming, on the cush- 



