MOORLAND IDYLLS. 



tags of the umbrella, to carry out our con- 

 venient metaphor. Examination of other 

 and more complex plants reveals always the 

 action of the same general law ; each species 

 has a peculiar catchment system of its own, 

 more or less complicated, by means of which, 

 directly or indirectly, all the water that falls 

 upon its foliage is finally conducted to 

 certain specified spots or drinking-places ; 

 and at those specified spots the plant pro- 

 vides beforehand an elaborate system of 

 absorbent organs, exactly sufficient to suck 

 up and utilize the average amount of water 

 it expects to obtain and store at each of 



them. If London were a plant, now 



But hush ! I am silent. A gathering- frown 

 on the reader's brow warns me in time to 

 steer clear of such human and political 

 analogies. 



198 



