extremity of the root and the water is drawn up, as it 

 were step by step, to the top. 



If the under surface of an ashwaihwcCs leaf be 

 examined with a powerful fens, or better still, under a 

 microscope, a large number of pores will be found. 

 They look like so many mouths, and to make this 

 resemblance to a mouth complete, the two cells situated 

 at the entrance to the pore look remarkably like a pair 

 of lips. Each of these pores open into an air cavity 

 mentioned above. It is through these pores that the 

 surplus water of the leaf escapes into the air as vapour. 



The openings in the surfaces of the leaves are so 

 constructed as to regukte the escape of moisture. 

 Nothing is purposeless in nature, much less these 

 lips. They perform some very important function 

 in the economy of our ashwathwd' 's life. They are 

 the veritable turnkeys of the pores of the leaf, through 

 which water escapes into the air as vapour. During the 

 fierce heat of summer when everything is dry, and water 

 becomes scarce, the large and wide spreading ashwa- 

 thwa has to be very economical as to the way in which 

 it uses the water. At such a time the lips render the 

 tree useful services. They come together and thereby 

 close the pores, and diminish evaporation. Again when 

 the rain sets in, and the earth becomes moistened, and 

 the roots suck up water, they stand aside to open the 

 door of the pores as it were, and allow the evaporation 

 to go on as before. The ancient Hindus were wise 

 in laying down sacred injunctions to irrigate the more 



