THE LEAF, 43 



birds that pass their lives on the surface of the waves though 

 they must breathe in the air. 



And these natant leaves, as they lie on the water surfaoe, 

 do not want strong ribs to carry them,* but have very delicate 

 ones beautifully branching into the orbed space, to keep the 

 tissue nice and flat ; while, on the other hand, leaves that 

 really have to grow under water, sacrifice their tissue, and 

 keep only their ribs, like coral animals ; (' Kanunculus hetero- 

 phyllus,' 'other-leaved Frog-flower/ and its like,) just as, if 

 you keep your own hands too long in water, they shrivel at 

 the finger-ends. 



26. So that you must not attach any great botanical impor- 

 tance to the characters of contrasted aspects in leaves, which I 

 wish you to express by the words * Apolline ' and ' Arethusan ' ; 

 but their mythic importance is very great, and your careful 

 observance of it will help you completely to understand the 

 beautiful Greek fable of Apollo and Daphne. There are in- 

 deed several Daphnes, and the first root of the name is far 

 away in another field of thought altogether, connected with 

 the Gods of Light. But etymology, the best of servants, is an 

 unreasonable master ; and Professor Max Miiller trusts his 

 deep-reaching knowledge of the first ideas connected with the 

 names of Athena and Daphne, too implicitly, when he sup- 

 poses this idea to be retained in central Greek theology. 

 ' Athena ' originally meant only the dawn, among nations who 

 knew nothing of a Sacred Spirit. But the Athena who catches 

 Achilles by the hair, and urges the spear of Diomed, has not, 

 in the mind of Homer, the slightest remaining connection with 

 the mere beauty of daybreak. Daphne chased lay Apollo, may 

 perhaps though I doubt even this much of consistence in the 

 earlier myth have meant the Dawn pursued by the Sun. 

 But there is no trace whatever of this first idea left in the 

 fable of Arcadia and Thessaly. 



27. The central Greek Daphne is the daughter of one of 

 the great river gods of Arcadia ; her mother is the Earth. 



* "You should see tlie girders on under-side of the Victoria Water- 

 lily, the most wonderful Lit of engineering, of the kind, I know of. " 

 (' Botanical friend.') 



