INTRODUCTORY. 1 1 



The ovules thus answer very closely to the eggs 

 of animals. After they have been fertilised, the 

 pistil begins to mature into what we call a fruit, 

 which is sometimes a sweet and juicy berry, as in 

 the grape or the currant, but more often a dry 

 capsule, as in the poppy or the violet. 



Plants, however, unlike animals, are usually 

 fixed and rooted to one spot. This makes it 

 practically impossible for them to go in search 

 of mates, like birds or butterflies, squirrels or 

 weasels. So they are obliged to depend upon 

 outside agencies, not themselves, for the convey- 

 ance of pollen from one flower to another. Some- 

 times, in particular plants, such as the hazels and 

 grasses, it is the wind that carries the pollen on 

 its wings from one blossom to its neighbour; and, 

 in this case, the stamens which shed the pollen 

 hang out freely to the breeze, while the pistil, 

 which is to catch it, is provided with numberless 

 little feathery tails to receive the passing grains 

 of fertilising powder. But oftener still, it is in- 

 sects that perform this kind office for the plant, 

 as in the dog-rose, the hollyhock, and the greater 

 part of our beautiful garden flowers. In such 

 cases the plant usually makes its blossom very 

 attractive with bright-coloured petals, so as to 

 allure the insect, while it repays him for his 

 trouble in carrying away the pollen by giving him 

 in return a drop of honey. The bee or butterfly 

 goes there, of course, for the honey alone, un- 

 conscious that he is aiding the plant to set its 

 seeds; but the plant puts the honey there in 

 order to entice him against his will to transport 

 the fertilising powder from flower to flower. 

 There is no more fascinating chapter in the great 

 book of life than that which deals with these mar- 



