NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



371 



blossom. It is an aptitude which results from the 

 figure of the flow er, and, as we have said, is strict- 

 ly mechanical, as much so as the turning of a wea- 

 ther-board or tin cap upon the top of a chimney. Of 

 the poppy, and of many similar species of flowers, 

 the head while it is growing hangs down, a rigid 

 curvature in the upper pait of the stem giving to 



Papaver rhc^as — Poj'py. 



it that position ; and in that position it is impene- 

 trable by rain or moisture. When the head has 

 acquired its size and is ready to open, the stalk 

 erects itself for the purpose, as it should seem, of 

 presenting the flower, and with the flower the in- 

 struments of fructification, to the genial influence 

 of the sun's rays. This always struck me as a 

 curious property, and specifically as well as origi- 

 nally provided for in the constitution of the plant; 

 for if the stem be only bent by the weight of the 

 head, how comes it to straighten itself when the 

 head is the heaviest ? These instances show the 



