Masterpieces of Science 



flower is after all the hospitality of an inn- 

 keeper who earns and requires payment. Vexed 

 as flowers are apt to be by intruders that con- 

 sume their stores without requital, no wonder 

 that they present so ample an array of repulsion 

 and defence. Best of all is such a resource as 

 that of the red clover, which hides its honey 

 at the bottom of a tube so deep that only a 

 friendly bumblebee can sip it. Less effective, 

 but well worth a moment's examination, are 

 the methods by which leaves' are oppcsed as 

 fences for the discouragement of thieves. Here, 

 in a Bellwort, is a perfoliate leaf that encircles 

 the stem upon which it grows; and there in a 

 Honeysuckle is a connate leaf on much the 

 same plan, formed of two leaves, stiff and strong, 

 soldered at their bases. Sometimes the pillager 

 meets prickles that sting him, as in the roses 

 and briers; and if he is a little fellow he is sure 

 to regard him with intense disgust, a bristly 

 guard of wiry hair — hence the commonness of 

 that kind of fortification. Against enemies of 

 larger growth a tree or shrub will often aim 

 sharp thorns — another piece of masquerade, 

 for thorns are but branches checked in growth, 

 and frowning with a barb in token of disappoint- 

 ment at not being able to smile in a blossom. 

 In every jot and tittle of barb and prickle, of 

 the glossiness which disheartens or the gummi- 

 ness which ensnares, we may be sure that equally 

 with all the lures of hue, form and scent, noth- 

 ing, however trifling it may seem, is as we 

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