FLOWERS AND INSECTS 139 



The beauty of nature, that is constantly 

 offered and frequently spurned, is always 

 there for the looking and smelling and 

 hearing. But we prize best what is bought 

 with some cost of human muscle, blood, 

 sin, virtue, or cash especially cash. If 

 dandelions were made in Birmingham at 

 i los. 6d. a gross, many ships would 

 be laden with them every spring. If they 

 were tin ones made to look like real, they 

 would have a good sale, anyway. In fu- 

 nerals it will be noticed that the importance 

 of the man in the coffin is usually in in- 

 verse ratio to the number of the carriages 

 that follow him. In life it is noise and 

 difficulty that advertise some men. Flow- 

 ers would be more admired if they barked. 

 It is not the exception that is wonderful: 

 it is the steadfast. Yet perpetuation and 

 duplication, which to us are order, are per- 

 haps a proof that nature proceeds along 

 the lines of least resistance. It is easier 

 to imitate than to invent. The flowers, 

 the crystals, the planets, the water-drops, 

 are orderly in form and conduct. Look 

 at a mullein leaf. Its velvet is a crowd of 



