16 NATURE STUDY. 



get the sunlight ; opens its yellow eye to the sun each 

 morning, and closes it at night; pushes its leaves up 

 above the grass, and out from the shade of stone and 

 fence ; evidently it depends on the sun. If it is de- 

 prived of air, it dies, much as we should; it depends, 

 then, on the air. The hairy sails on its seeds would be 

 useless without wind to carry them along. It spreads 

 in its flower a feast of nectar, which attracts hosts of 

 insects. It certainly helps the insects; we shall find 

 that the insects help it. The dandelion may be eaten 

 by animals and destroyed by man. Our dandelion de- 

 pends, then, on soil and dew and rain and clouds ; on 

 sun and air and wind ; on insects and other animals ; 

 and on man. If we could study it thoroughly, we should 

 find it more or less dependent on a host of other agen- 

 cies ; in fact, on all, or nearly all, of its physical envi- 

 ronment. 



If it depends on these, it must be fitted to get help 

 from its physical environment, or to struggle against it. 

 Let us take up its parts in order, studying them not 

 as mere forms, but as organs for sustaining life, investi- 

 gating not merely their structure, but their special 

 function and adaptation to their environment. Let us 

 constantly ask not merely " What ? ", but " Why ? " 

 and "How?". We shall have to study carefully; 

 not merely observe, but think. 



Beginning with the roots, if we very carefully dig 

 up from soft soil a root with all the earth about it, and 

 cautiously wash off the soil by moving the mass back 

 and forth in a pail of water, we shall discover many 



