ON VARIATION 



or jump, the pod flops up and down, and its prickly 

 points, adding to the pain of the ever-pinching 

 hooks, are sure to keep the animal in motion. As 

 the frightened beast makes haste to get away from 

 an enemy which it cannot see, the seeds within the 

 pod begin to loosen and fall out on the ground. 

 When the last seed lias left its shelter, the trap 

 begins to fall apart — its object accomplished — its 

 seeds scattered throughout a mile or more of new 



environment. 



***** 



The sailor is awed by the mountains, and the 

 mountaineer is awed by the sea. 



And we, too, are more apt to wonder at the 

 jumping beans of Mexico and at the devil's claw of 

 the equator than at the cherry tree in our own 

 back yard — which outdoes both of these by form- 

 ing a double partnership. 



Just as the geranium bids for the bees, so the 

 cherry blossom, with its delicate pink and its store 

 of honey advertises for butterflies and bees to 

 bring the pollen from a neighboring tree. 



And this partnership concluded, the accounts 

 balanced and the books closed, it then seeks new 

 partners in the birds. 



That delicious meat around the seed, that shiny 

 skin of red, and that odor of the cherry as it ripens 

 — these are a part of the advertisement to the 



[105] 



