THE RUSH FOR THE SUN 



THE cynic may deny the existence of the sun, or, at 

 any rate, that it has been lately in evidence. It does 

 not follow, however, that because the human observer 

 cannot find one spot in the clouds more illumined 

 than another, or a darker shadow of himself on one 

 side than on any other, there are not X-rays and 

 Y-rays and Z-rays of very real import darting here 

 and there throughout the animal and vegetable king- 

 dom. If we will lower the umbrella and condescend 

 to look at the trees or the annual flowers of the earth, 

 we shall be struck by the fact that this gloomy season 

 of wet, varied with false promises of what we call fine, 

 is very good growing weather. The horse-chestnut 

 has lifted its drooping fans and spread them out, so 

 that already there is more leaf than sky to be seen as 

 we look up. The tiny leaves of the elm daily, almost 

 hourly, look less babyish, and beneath them the thick 

 fool's-parsley comes to the knees. It is springing up 

 with a verve that looks like an ambition to overtop 

 the elms. But that cannot be done in one year, even 

 by the fool's-parsley, and the glance of a perfect 

 stranger would be enough to show that it is but an 

 annual. With hollow stalks for strength and lightness, 

 of brittle material for cheapness and speed of construc- 

 tion, strengthened with angular ribs of tougher fibre 

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