140 NATURE IN A CITY YARD 



stars. In very soft leaves these stars have 

 branches. The insect wandering among 

 them should know a delight as wild as that 

 of a man in a jungle. 



Oh, yes, we agree that the insect goes 

 to the flower to feed; but why is the flower 

 made beautiful for him as well as savory ? 

 Has the insect an esthetic sense ? If so, 

 it means more than ours, for color to him 

 is life. The guide-lines in the flowers are 

 ways to the honey. And look through a 

 magnifier and see into what palaces the 

 fly is bidden. With your eye at the lens, 

 you are a fly yourself. Take the tiny 

 nettle. What a hall of pearl and ame- 

 thyst ! What purple frescos, what rich, 

 dewy, nectarous translucency ! We could 

 not in a home of porcelain environ our- 

 selves like that ; but perhaps we shall try. 

 A dining-hall of rose and yellow, for ex- 

 ample, with no windows, but walls and roof 

 soft shining, full of fragrance. Will man 

 ever be kind and fine enough to fit such a 

 place ? Can he ever live as gaily as the 

 bee ? 



That reminds me that I had the family 



