A PLANT THAT MELTS ICE 41 



They are therefore driven to curl round the tips of 

 their stamens and fertilise themselves a process 

 which almost always produces inferior seeds and 

 very weak seed- 

 lings. It is in 

 order to prevent 

 such disastrous 

 results on a large 

 scale, and to avoid 

 the evils of con- 

 stant " breeding 

 in and in," that 

 soldanella has in- 

 vented its curious 

 device for push- 

 ing its way boldly 

 through its native 

 ice-sheet to the 

 sky and the in- 

 sects. It goes 

 there, not to look 

 beautiful for you 

 and me, but to 

 secure the aid of 

 its established 

 pollen-carriers. 



You must not 

 suppose, however, 



that in doing all this the soldanella is displaying any 

 extraordinary amount of unusual originality. Its 

 speciality consists merely in the somewhat abnormal 

 volume of heat which it generates. A great many 



NO. 7. PAIR OF FLOWERS WHICH HAVE 

 FAILED TO REACH THE SURFACE, OPEN- 

 ING IN A SPHERE-SHAPED HOLLOW. 



