26o Flashlights on Xatirk 



narcissus, " Wliy docs it prodiRc this notch on 

 its petals ? Why docs it make tliis ciiri(Jiis crown 

 inside the cup of its Hower ? " Tliose thin<j;s arc 

 tliouj^ht of as purely ornamental ; as parts of tliC 

 plant, not as organs made by it. Yet the rose 

 ajid the narcissus have just as much a reason of 

 their own for everythin;^ they do and everythini^ 

 they make as the cat or tlie bird ; they are just 

 as umch governed by ancestral wisdom, thou}4h 

 ihe wisdom may in one case be conscious, in 

 tiie other hereditary. 



The rose, for example, produces prickles for 

 its own defence, and scented blossoms to attract 

 the fertilisinj4 insects for its own propaijation. 

 it does evervthin^ in life for soir.e j»ood and 

 sutficient reason of its own, and takes as little 

 heed of other people's convenience as the tij^er 

 or the snake does. " Each species for itself," is 

 the rule of nature ; no species ever un.lertakes 

 anythinj4 for the sake of any other, except in 

 the expectation of a corresponding^ advantaj^e. If 

 the wild thyme lays by in its throat abundant 

 honey for the bundile-bee, that is because it counts 

 upon the bumble-bee to carry its pollen from 

 blossom to blossom ; if the holly puts forth brij^ht 

 red berries for the robin to eat, that is not be- 

 cause it cares for the robin's distress, but because 

 it looks upon the bird as a paid disperser of its 

 stony seeds, and j^ives him in return a pittance 

 of pulp for his pains, as stin^v payinent for the 

 service rendered. The holly and the thyme are 

 conlirmed sweaters. Indeed, you will hnd that 



