WARRIORS OF SPRING 25 



Each button now nearly open sits behind a long, 

 sharp bayonet, well fitted to guard it from its infancy 

 till the time when it has been succeeded by leaves, 

 and they again by fruit The fresh leaves of the 

 hawthorn are just as effectually guarded, and in this 

 case we may note that the upper branches, which 

 are beyond the reach of any grazing animal, are 

 far less prickly, and often entirely without spines. 

 Grant Allen noticed the same thing with reference 

 to the holly, and drew from it his strongest conclu- 

 sion that the prickles of such plants are evolved by 

 the attentions of grazing animals. It was, perhaps, 

 only half the story, but that does not excuse the 

 modern scientist for insisting only on the other half. 

 According to some of them the prickles, which can 

 usually be shown to be modified leaves or branches, 

 are the result of starvation, and are only to be found 

 on plants having dry habits or conditions of growth. 

 Even the water-soldier, that lives up to its neck in 

 water, must, for the purposes of this argument, be 

 written do\vn a xerophyte, a fact that makes the 

 theory sufficiently absurd to prevent it from becom- 

 ing very popular. We prefer to believe that necessity 

 has taught the blackthorn, the bramble of rose or 

 blackberry, the holly, and others, to protect them- 

 selves from the molestation of cattle by converting 

 a portion of their greenery into spikes and prickles. 

 They preserve their beauty at the point of the sword. 

 Meanwhile, high above their heads, the unprickly 

 elms are one mass of rosy bloom. They and other 

 notable ones are removed by a generous growth from 

 the necessity to fight for the privilege of an early 

 spring. 



