784 



THE NATURE BOOK 



THE BUTTERFLY BECAME IMPATIENT 

 AND QUICKLY TRAVELLED UP THE 

 STEM. 



the development of the luitterfly occu- 

 pies only about six weeks, so that 

 even in the short British summer there 

 would be time for another generation 

 to appear. Another possible happen- 

 ing is that some day when the brother 

 and sister butterflies are sunning 

 themselves, a strong wind may com- 

 mence to blow, so strongly that 

 with almost one consent the butter- 

 flies will rise and drift before it, and 

 so be carried high and driven onwards 

 and onwards, until at last the strong- 

 est fliers of the family that remain 

 will find that the wind has ceased to 

 blow, and that they have come nearer 

 to the earth. So tired are they from 

 tlieir forced flight that they allalight. 

 Of course, they may have"dropi)ed in 

 some remote part of Europe or 

 Africa, or elsewhere : Vmt that does 

 not matter in the slightest so long as 



nettles and thistles, or other food plants, 

 are to be fcund there together with warm 

 sunshine — those are all they need. 



Perhaps, too, the same strong wind 

 will have brought to the same place otheis 

 of their species, among whom they will 

 find mates that have also stood the test 

 of a journey ; and in this way, by the 

 natural law of heredity, a race cf still 

 l)ettcr fliers will be forthcoming for the 

 iourne3's of the future. In this manner, 

 from small beginnings, the species may 

 have developed an instinct to fly before a 

 strong wind ; and as the species have 

 l)enefited by the habit (because it extends 

 the area over which the insect is dispersed, 

 and thus enlarges its opportunities in life), 

 so it naturally follows that the habit has 

 become inherent, and thus we find that 

 the Painted Lad}' can now claim almost 

 the whole world as its home. 



John J. Ward. 



IT OPENED WIDE ITS WINGS AND TOOK ITS FIRST 

 OUTLOOK UPON THE NEW WORLD OF SPACE 

 IT HAD TO CONQUER. 



