Sen] AND SYMBOLS. 315 



floating with their muzzles above the surface of the water in 

 the current. When close he throws his harpoon. The wounded 

 animal loses its blood ; this blood brings up the other manatees 

 to the assistance of the victim. At this fatal moment, some of 

 them try to wrench out the murderous weapon, the others to 

 bite through the cord which the wounded one is dragging along 

 with it, thus affording the fishermen an opportunity to massacre 

 the whole troop. The unselfish devotion of these animals leads 

 them on to their destruction. M. 



Blunted Sensibility. 



The leaves and branches of a sensitive plant shrink from the 

 touch; but on being too frequently approached, this delicacy 

 departs. Even so a sensitive nature may lose its beautiful 

 characteristic by unsuitable contact with the world. u. 



A Conflict between the Senses. 



It is not wise to rely absolutely upon the decision of one of 

 the senses alone, for it may be in conflict with that of another 

 of the senses whose judgment may happen to be better. Take 

 an instance. In the Island of Borneo there is a forest-tree as 

 large as an English elm, which produces a highly-esteemed fruit 

 called the durian. Though this fruit has a smell like that of 

 putrid flesh, so that a single specimen is enough to infect a 

 whole house, its flavour is so delicious that those who venture 

 to taste it soon become confirmed durian- eaters. Here the 

 sense of smell would reject that which the taste approves, and 

 which is a very useful fruit. c. M. 



Sensual Pleasures. 



The dogsbane (Apocymum androscemifolium), a native of 

 North America, is most cruelly destructive of animal life, and 

 generally conducive to the death of every fly that settles upon 

 it. Allured by the honey on the nectary of the expanded 

 blossom, the instant the trunk is protruded to feed on it, the 



