64 ROUND THE YEAR 



ingly eclipses, both of the sun and Moon may be 

 expected to recur after this interval of time. But 

 the correspondence is never quite exact, and the rule 

 is an imperfect one. In old times, before the motions 

 of the Moon were thoroughly understood, there was 

 no better way of predicting eclipses than this, and it 

 was found to work tolerably well. 



SPRING CROCUSES. 



The Snowdrop heads the procession of spring 

 flowers. Then comes the Crocus, and a little later, 

 the Hyacinth. The Narcissi follow, and keep us gay 

 till early summer, when the gardener has neither 

 space nor leisure for all the things that are ready to 

 come into bloom at once. 



What tempts the Crocus to flower so early, before 

 the snow has quite gone, and when night-frosts may 

 be expected for two months yet? It must be an 

 advantage to the plant that its flowers appear before 

 the grass begins to grow, and its attractiveness to the 

 Insects which emerge so early will be unusually strong. 

 The autumn-flowering Crocuses enjoy a like advan- 

 tage. Both find it hard to bring their wares to 

 market, and there are few customers ; but then there 

 is little or no competition among the dealers. 



Can we be sure that the Crocus is insect-fertilised ? 

 Its bright colours and large size testify to its need of 

 attracting the notice of animals, and the slender tube 

 of the flower is filled to the brim with honey. Hermann 

 M tiller can tell you what Insects fertilise the purple 



