SPINES. 123 



leaves and flowers. But \\'illdeiiow did not perceive 

 the beautiful adaptation of means to ends, which forms, 

 in my opinion, by far the most interesting part of the 

 phenomenon. 



' ' In open barren tracts of country, the very circum- 

 stance of the sterility of the soil must prevent the pro- 

 duction of many plants, and of those which grow, few 

 will be enabled to perfect many seeds. It is necessary, 

 therefore, to protect such as are produced from exter- 

 mination, by the brow^zing of cattle, otherwise not onlv 

 would the progeny be cancelled, but also the present 

 generation be cut off. And what more beautiful and 

 simple expedient could have been devised, than ordain- 

 ing that the very barrenness of the soil, which pre- 

 cludes the abundant generation by seed, should at the 

 very same time, and by the very same means, render 

 the abortive buds (abortive for the production of fruit) 

 a defensive armour to protect the indi\-idual plant, and 

 to guard the scantier crop which the half-starved stem 

 can bear ?" 



These opinions are borrowed from Darwin {Botanic 

 Garden, Vol. ii. 139), and are ingenious enough. I 

 am, however, by no means sure that they are well 

 founded. But with objections to them, I am not dis- 

 posed to entertain you. 



Of course you will not confound the spines or thorns 

 of the Buck-thorn, the Christ's-thorn, the White-thorn, 

 the Black- thorn, &c. with the prickles of the Rose, 

 because the latter are also popularly called thorns. 

 True spines or thorns grow from the wood of plants ; 

 prickles, or false thorns (aculei), grow, like hairs, from 

 the surface of the bark. 



