368 WHAT IS CHLOROPHYLL? 



" The rose has but a summer reign, 

 The daisy never dies ; " 



and though it first makes its appearance in the merry spring- 

 time, and is truly a child of the early year, it lingers on to 

 become a precious ornament of our scanty autumn wreaths. 

 Sweet flower of song ! dearer to the poet than even lily or 

 violet! who does not remember, and remembering feel, all 

 the pathos of the dying exclamation of poor Keats, " I 

 feel the daisies already growing over me ! " They heighten 

 the commonest and cheer the saddest corners of the earth, 

 and are ever ready, in their simple loveliness, to awaken 

 thoughts of grateful tenderness and love 



" So glad am I when in the daisy's presence, 

 That I am fain to do it reverence. " 



To what do the leaves, now changing their hues so rapidly, 

 and varying through all the tints of purple, brown, and yellow, 

 to what do they owe their normal colour, the fresh, vivid, 

 beautiful green ? 



To a substance called chlorophyll (X^UMS, green, and 

 puXXoi/, a leaf). 



Well, what is chlorophyll ? 



The colouring matter of plants, which, accompanied by 

 grains of starch, floats like very minute seeds in the fluid of 

 their cells. In some respects it is analogous to wax ; it will not 

 dissolve in water, but is easily affected by ether or alcohol. 



Chlorophyll is dependent upon the action of light, if not 

 for its formation, at all events for its development. Keep a 

 plant in a dark room or cellar, and it will become blanched 



