A Family History. 2 1 1 



tected in some such fashion, as we see in the case of 

 gorse, nettles, blackthorn, holly, thistles, and other 

 plants ; but the particular nature of the protection 

 varies much from plant to plant. In the brambles it 

 takes the form of stiff prickly hairs ; in the nettles, of 

 stinging hairs ; in the gorse, of pointed leaves ; and 

 in the thorn-bushes of short, sharp, barren branches. 



Another peculiarity of the bramble group is their 

 larger white flowers and their curious granulated fruit. 

 The flowers, of course, are larger and whiter in order 

 to secure the visits of their proper fertilising insects ; 

 the fruits are sweet and coloured in order to attract 

 the hedgerow birds. Observe, too, that the flowers 

 being higher in type than those of the strawberry, are 

 often tinged with pink : here we get the first upward 

 step in the direction of the true roses. The nature of 

 the fruit in the raspberry, the blackberr}', and the 

 dewberry, again, is quite different from that of the 

 strawberr)'. Here, instead of the receptacle swelling 

 out and growing red and juicy, it is the outer coat 

 of the separate little seeds themselves that forms the 

 eatable part ; while the receptacle remains white and 

 inedible, being the ' hull ' or stem which we pick out 

 from the hollow thimble-like fruit in the raspberry. 

 Each little nut, which in the strawberry was quite 

 hard and brown, is here covered with a juicy black or 



