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Much as these plants look alike, they bear 

 witness to the fact that they have within them 

 two entirely different strains of heredity. 



The acacia will permit us to touch it and 

 handle it without showing signs of disturbance. 



But its cousin in the same soil, and of the same 

 size, immediately folds up its leaves, in self-pro- 

 tection, at the slightest touch. 



From this we read the fact that one branch of 

 this family has found it necessary to perfect a 

 form of self-defense, while the other has had no 

 such experience in its life history. 



The acacia being a tree which grows out of 

 the reach of browsing animals, while the sensitive 

 plant is a low-growing succulent tender plant, 

 the acacia needs no thorns, and has none, while 

 the sensitive plant has the added defense of 

 numerous thorns. 



I have been much interested lately in an ex- 

 periment with clover in producing clover leaves 

 with wonderful markings. 



The only way in which I can account for the 

 markings with which some clover leaves will be- 

 deck themselves is that, in the heredity of the 

 plant, there was a time when, not being poison- 

 ous itself, it tried to simulate the appearance of 

 some poisonous plant to protect itself from 

 insects or other enemies. 



