124 A GOOD WORD FOR THE NETTLE 



every one has felt, and never forgets. The stinging 

 apparatus is, in fact, a tiny flask of burning juice, 

 with a long neck ending in a point sharper than 

 a fine needle. If the nettle-stalk be firmly grasped 

 in such a manner as to press the hairs along 

 the stem, the hand takes no hurt: it is gentle 

 handling that permits the tender hair to penetrate 

 and sting. Hotspur in the play refers to the bold 

 and skilful treatment of the nettle by the naked 

 hand when he remarks aphoristically ' Out of this *o 

 nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.' He 

 simply means that with courage and caution danger 

 may be safely encountered. What use the sting of 

 the nettle is to the plant, in the economy of nature, 

 it is not easy to say. It may serve against its 

 destruction by browsing animals, but the foraging 

 snail slides over it on a slimy pathway with impunity, 

 and entomologists tell us that ' at least thirty distinct 

 species of insects in our native land derive their 

 support from its stems and foliage '. Birds, too, in- so 

 eluding poultry, peck at the ripened and ripening 

 seeds, and find in them a nutritious or stimulative 

 diet. The clumps and colonies of nettles so often 

 seen growing rank beside abandoned homesteads have 

 probably sprung up from seeds scattered in one way 

 or another by 'the villatic fowl' which have long 

 since vanished with their proprietors. 



Its artistic But, besides the botanical, there is also the artistic 

 interest. j n {j eres t } which will be recognized as soon as attention 

 is called to it. A plantation or clump of the common eo 

 nettle is not without grace, alike of colour, form, 

 and air. The stately stem bears aloft, with an air 

 of tranquil independence, a pomp of rich and well- 



