IX. OUTSIDE AND IN.^ 157 



Now if there be one plant more than another in which the 

 pith is defined, it is the common Rush ; while the nobler 

 families of true herbs derive their principal character from 

 being pith] ess altogether! We cannot advance too slowly. 



5. In the families of one-leaved plants in which the 

 young leaves grow directly out of the old ones, it becomes 

 a grave question for them whether the old ones are to lie 

 flat or edgeways, and whether they must therefore grow 

 out of their faces or their edges. And we must at once 

 understand the way they contrive it, in either case. 



Among the many forms taken by the Arethusan leaf, 

 one of the commonest is long and gradually tapering, 

 much broader at the base than the point. 

 We will take such an one for examination, 

 and suppose that it is growing on the ground 

 as in Fig. 20, with a root to its every fibre. 

 Cut out a piece of strong paper roughly into 

 the shape of this Arethusan leaf, a, Fig. 

 21. Now suppose the next young leaf has 

 to spring out of the front of this one, at 

 about the middle of its height. Give it two 

 nicks with the scissors at b b ; then roll up 

 the lower part into a cylinder, (it will overlap 

 a good deal at the bottom,) and tie it fast 

 with a fine thread : so, you will get the form 

 at c. Then bend the top of it back, so that, 

 seen sideways, it appears as at d, and you see FlGK 20 - 

 you have made quite a little flower-pot to plant your 



