i8o VIGNETTES FROM NATURE, 



to suppose that the thyme was quite barren, 

 and so failed entirely of its function in life. 

 But if you cut open the calyx of the over- 

 blown thyme-blossoms with a sharp penknife 

 you will find that the barrenness is only pre- 

 tended, not real. What seems to be the 

 bottom of the calyx is really a thick wall of 

 interlacing hairs ; and beneath this wall lie 

 four little nuts, just like those of the hemp- 

 nettle, only on a smaller scale. If, again, you 

 cut open one of the full-blown blossoms, you 

 will find that these hairs may be seen inside 

 the calyx even while the corolla tube is 

 entire, but they are then pressed back against 

 the throat by the tube itself As soon, how- 

 ever, as the tube and the corolla wither and 

 fall out — which they do at once when they 

 have played their part in the economy of the 

 plant by inducing a bee to visit and fertilise 

 it — the little hairs, relieved of this pressure, 

 jump out by their own elasticity, and com- 

 pletely obstruct the entrance to the calyx, 

 thus forming, as it were, a false bottom. 



