26 ENGLISH TTILD FLOWEBS. 



cast their downy seeds to the wind ; the furze bush 

 and the balsam open their seed-vessels with a spring, 

 and project their seeds to a considerable distance, 

 others have their seeds contained in a luscious fruit ; 

 others cling as the burdock and teazle to every 

 passing thing. Ultimately they find a home, and 

 spring up in all their marvellous beauty, " woven by 

 the magic chemistry of Nature from earth and air, 

 and coloured by the distant sun." 



There are other phases of plant life which can 

 only be indicated rather than defined here. Day by 

 day the plants arise out of a seeming sleep. In the 

 day-time they breathe out oxygen and absorb carbonic 

 acid : thus they fulfil an important function in the 

 laboratory of Nature. At night they give out car- 

 bonic acid, but to such a small extent as to render 

 the injurious consequences likely to arise therefrom 

 very small indeed. If we lived in perpetual night, 

 the earth would cease to be habitable ; without day- 

 light the plants could not form the chlorophyll or leaf- 

 green. The flowers are coloured by the sun. When 

 the petals are folded together in the bud, they are of 

 a greenish hue, and they only acquire their radiance 

 and beauty by a direct exposure to the sun's rays. 



