272 FLASHLIGHTS ON NATURE 



out to the nearest common, and examine a flower- 

 ing gorse -bush for yourself, when you will see 

 how wonderfully and how intelligently the plant 

 provides for the equal security of all its blossoms. 

 I do not wish to be personal, but if for one 

 moment you can imagine yourself a donkey, and 

 try to help yourself with your teeth to some of the 

 juicy buds, you will find that it is practically im- 

 possible to do so without receiving a whole array 

 of serried lance -thrusts from several separate 

 prickles. 



But large animals are not the only foes against 

 which the gorse has to defend its blossoms. It is 

 almost equally exposed to the unfriendly attentions 

 of flying insects, which desire to lay their eggs near 

 its rich store of pollen and its soft yellow petals. 

 To ward off these winged assailants, mere prickles 

 are insufficient. The insect can wriggle in side- 

 ways, and so deposit its egg, which would develop 

 in time into a hungry grub ; the grub would pro- 

 ceed to eat up the flower, and thus defeat the 

 object which the plant has in view in producing 

 its blossoms. No. 8 shows you how the gorse 

 meets this second difficulty. It covers up the buds 

 with its stout calyx, which, for greater security, is 

 reduced to a pair of sepals only, though in allied 

 types there are five, and traces of the five still 

 exist in the lobed top of the existing calyx. This 

 outer coverlet, or greatcoat, is thickly sprinkled with 

 a sort of fur, composed of dark brown hairs, which 

 baffle the insects, and prevent them from laying 

 their eggs upon the surface. Indeed, nothing 



