76 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [16:2— Feb., 1920 



that the child from his own experience may be able to see truly 

 beyond his own horizon wherever the radii may lead. To illustrate 

 this let us suppose that near our school there is a quiet river, pond 

 or lake upon which f oat the leaves and flowers of the water lily. 

 Let us carefully s'udy this plant and its adaptations. We find its 

 root-stock is buried in mud where it serves as an anchor and we find 

 that upon the root-stock there are a few root hairs. The reason for 

 this is easy to see; the food and moisture are so immediately at 

 hand that root hairs do not need to be sent out into the soil in 

 search of them. We examine the leaf and find that it is essentially 

 a boat and is made to float. It may even have its margins up- 

 turned to insure its floating and the lower surface is leathery and 

 waterproof; and the stomata, ordinarily more numerous on the 

 lower sides of leaves, are here entirely on the upper surface, added 

 evidence that this leaf is a boat ; however, it functions perfectly as 

 a leaf as well. We find the leaf anchored to the root-stock by a 

 long soft, flexible stem which offers no resistance to the movement 

 of the water but holds the leaf-boat fast and at the same time 

 carries food and sap as do other stems. The flower of the water 

 lily is also a boat with such a gradual change from the outside 

 sepals to the petals that every crevice is calked with green water- 

 proofing; each lily boat is anchored by its flexible stem, moreover, 

 each lily opens its overflowing anthers to the sunshine only during 

 the period when the insects which fly over the quiet waters are 

 active and may thus cross-pollinate these blossoms. But this 

 flexible stem seems after all to be a stem of purpose and puils down 

 below the surface of the water the ripening fruit capsule; and the 

 seeds when liberated show that they are to the water boni for they 

 have a coat that acts as a life-preserver so that they rise to the sur- 

 face and float off to favorable locations for settling. 



To understand how fully our water Hly ha ■ accepted and made 

 the most of its watery environment, let us imagine for a moment 

 how it would act if it were planted upon the dry bank above its 

 pond. What could such a root-stock do with so few root hairs to 

 provide it with moisture and soil food ? What would such heavy, 

 thick, leathery leaves do if they depended upon their soft flexible 

 stems to hold them out to the sunshine? How could the heavy 

 white blossom be held aloft while it opened to the world its beauty 

 and fragrance if it depended only upon its rubber-like stem instead 

 of the gentle waters for support? 



