THE MASTER INSTINCT 



on the resonant limbs. This marked contrast be- 

 tween their ordinary tones and their love-songs 

 reminds one of Browning's lines : — 



"God be thanked, the meanest of his creatures 

 Boasts two soul-sides, one to face the world with. 

 One to show a woman when he loves her!" 



In the vegetable world the males of dioecious 

 plants perish as soon as the period of bloom of the 

 females, or pistillate plants, has passed. Our spring 

 plant called mouse-ear and everlasting {Anten- 

 naria) is a familiar example. The two sexes are in 

 separate groups, and show a marked difference in 

 their appearance. The pistillate plants have a fem- 

 inine look, they are more slender and graceful, and 

 show more color; they differ in looks from the males 

 as much as the queen bees differ from the drones. 

 The males are short, stubby, freckled, and after they 

 have shed their pollen they wither and perish, 

 while the females continue to develop and grow 

 in grace and beauty till their seeds are matured. 

 The same is true with all shrubs and trees — hazels, 

 chestnuts, oaks, beeches — which develop their 

 pollen in catkins or aments; as soon as the pollen 

 is shed upon the inconspicuous flowers the catkins 

 wither and fall. 



There is no case of love and mating among the 

 plants more pleasing to me than that of our Indian 

 corn. When I see the male blossom push its panicle 



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