THE NETTLE 



141 



"I ran after a butterfly, and when I put out my 

 hand to catch it on the weeds at the foot of the wall, 

 something stung me. See ! ' ' 



"It is nothing, my poor Emile; go and dip your 

 hand into the cool water of 

 the fountain, and the pain 

 will go away." 



Quarter of an hour later 

 they were talking of 

 Kmile's accident, he being 

 quite recovered from his 

 misadventure. 



"Now that the pain is 

 gone, does not Emile want 

 to know what stung him?" 

 asked his uncle. 



"I certainly ought to 

 know, so as not to be 

 caught another time." 



"Well, it is a plant called nettle. Its leaves, 

 stems, slightest branches are covered with a multi- 

 tude of bristles, stiff, hollow, and filled with a 

 venomous liquid. When one of these bristles pene- 

 trates the skin, the point breaks, the little vial of 

 venom opens and spills its contents into the wound, 

 l-'rom that comes a smarting but not dangerous pain. 

 Y'u see, the nettle's bristles act like the weapons of 

 venomous creatures. It is always a hollow point 

 that makes a fine wound in the skin, and passes a 

 drop of li(|uid into it, the cause of all the ill. Tin- 

 nettle is thus a venomous plant. 



"I will also tell Emile that the beautiful luitter- 



Xcttle 



