THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 85 



they act like this ? Such tricks are not uncommon in bee-fertiUzed 

 flowers, because they insure the pollen being shed only when a bee 

 thrusts his head into the blossom ; but what use can this device be 

 to the wind-fertilized nettle ? I think the object must be something 

 like this : If the pollen were shed during perfectly calm weather, it 

 would simply fall upon the ground without reaching the pistils of 

 neighboring plants at all ; but by having the stamens doubled up 

 with elastic stalks it happens that even when ripe they do not open 

 and shed the pollen unless upon the occurrence of some slight con- 

 cussion. This concussion is given when the stems are waved about 

 by the wind, and then the pollen is shaken out under circumstances 

 which gives it the best chance of reaching the pistil. 



We leave our nettle by remarking, that as regards stings, it is 

 one of the best protected plants ; as regards flower and fruits, it is 

 merely one of the ruck. So we see one plant survives by dint of its 

 prickles, another by dint of its attractive flowers, a third by its sweet 

 fruit, and a fourth by its hard nut shell, and so on. 



Thus there is opened up to us a vast field of interesting study, 

 ' with a profusion of the most fascinating paths around the whole, and 

 outside of technical names and formal classification, not excelled by 

 any other branch of scientific study and accessible to us all. When 

 these facts in plant history and life come to us, we feel that our life 

 is too short to read but a very few of the entrancing pages of 

 this wondrous book of nature. 



