A Vkry Intklligknt Plant 25; 



tiiiiiMcr, till- ll();itiiij4 j^rccn voKox, wliicli wliiris 

 alioiit t-iuicklv till tiiij^li tlif Wiitt'i likt- ;i liviiii^ wheel, 

 hv means oi it>. rapid vihiatoiv liaiis ; and there 

 are, on tlie other liancl, lixed animals, such as the 

 oyster and tlie sea-anemone, which are far more 

 rij^idly attached to one spot tor lite than, sav, the 

 connnon lield-orchid or the yellow crocus. For 

 lield-orchids and crocuses do travel very slij^htly 

 from place to place each season, by puttinj^ out 

 fresh bulbs or tiibeis at the sides of the old ones, 

 and sprin;^in<4 up next year in a spot a few inches 

 awav from their last vear's foothold ; whereas the 

 oyster and the sea-anemoife settle down earlv in 

 life on a particular rock, and never stir one step 

 from it durin}4 their whole existence. Thus the 

 distinction which seems to most people most funda- 

 mental as marking olf plants from animals — the 

 distinction n( movement- turns out on examina- 

 tion to be purelv fallacious There are sedentarv 

 animals and movinj^ plants ; there are herbs that 

 catch and eat insects, and there are insects that 

 live a life more uneventful and more staj^nant than 

 that of any herb in a summer meadow. 



Aj4am, everybody who has studied plants in a 

 broad spirit is well aware that each act of the 

 plant's is just as trulv purposive, as full of 

 practical import, as any act of an animal's. If 

 a child sees a cat lyinj^ in wait at a mouse's 

 hole, it asks vou whv she does so ; it is told, in 

 reply, and truly told, " Because she wants to catch 

 her prey for dinner." Hut even imaginative 

 children seldom or never ask of a rose or a 



