THE ARCADIAN DONKEY. 



at the edge, and so arranged in every way 

 as to defy evaporation. Rain sinks so 

 rapidly through the sandy soil the plant 

 inhabits that it does its best to economize 

 every drop, just as we human inhabitants 

 of the moorland economize it by constructing 

 big tanks for the storage of the rain-water 

 that falls on our roof-trees. Warping winds 

 sweep ever across the wold with parching 

 effect ; so the heather makes its foliage 

 small, square, and thickly covered by a hard 

 epidermis, as a protection against undue or 

 excessive dryness. It aims at being drought- 

 proof. Its purple bells, in like manner, in- 

 stead of being soft and fleshy, as is the case 

 with the corollas of meadow-blossoms like 

 the corn-poppy, or woodland flowers like 

 the wild hyacinth, are hard and dry, so as 

 to waste no water ; dainty waxen petals, like 

 those of the dog-rose or the cherry-blossom, 

 would wilt and wither at once before the 

 harsh, dry blasts that career unchecked over 

 the open moorland. Yet the heather-bells, 

 149 



