] I IN THE OPEN 



upon the eye or ear. It is obvious that the cathe- 

 dral had its origin in the forest. What a fair and 

 devout congregation has jack-in-the-pulpit, where 

 the Canada violet stands side by side with the mede- 

 ola and the painted trillium. The medeola declines 

 its unfertilized flower, so that its maiden life is hid 

 from view beneath the tri-leaved canopy, and only 

 in its mature and matronly days does it begin to 

 ascend and take a position where the seed shall 

 crown the plant and be in evidence. From what 

 insedt: despoiler is this shy virgin so carefully hid ? 

 It seems as if the light that penetrates these 

 woods has undergone a change, or been deprived 

 of some of its rays, so that the wood flowers are 

 nourished by a finer food than the rest, as with 

 ambrosia. It is perhaps the subdued light which 

 inspires a certain solemn and hymn-like quality in 

 the notes of wood birds, as in the thrushes and the 

 altogether dida&ic tone of the redeye. There is 

 here none of that self-assertiveness among the 

 flowers that is to be observed among certain groups 

 of plants ; the competitive spirit is lacking. Solo- 

 mon's-seal, bellworts and twisted-stalk, like mede- 

 ola, are rather at pains to conceal themselves. 

 There is no self-advertising among them. What 



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