64 PICTURING MIRACLES 



then a second cut made under the water so no air 

 can enter. The blossom cluster is four or five inches 

 long and inclosed in a sheath which finally becomes 

 a leaf in front of the lapse-time camera as it unfolds. 

 It illustrates graphically the periodic growth of 

 plants, growing quite rapidly for a time, then rest- 

 ing, then growing again. The camera, running at a 

 uniform speed, shows this very accurately. The 

 sheath inclosing the blossoms and also the stem, is 

 covered with numerous rather long hairs, which pre- 

 vent ants and other crawling insects from climbing 

 the stem and robbing the blossoms of their pollen 

 and nectar. Flowers must protect themselves from 

 some insects and entice others if they are to survive. 

 These hairs under the microscope show plainly the 

 circulation of the protoplasm, especially with dark 

 field illumination. The plants grow so thickly one 

 can hardly penetrate a group of them but the deer 

 have made little paths leading through them to their 

 beds. In the heat of the day, if you tread very care- 

 fully, you might find them curled up in a ball sound 

 asleep. 



The California Poppy, our own state flower, will 

 and does grow almost the world over, so widely have 

 its seeds been scattered. Miles and miles of them, 

 magic carpets of gold, cover hillside and valley. The 

 early explorers, if they told of no other flower, al- 



