BABY LEAVES 51 



then bent over on its stalk, till its green blade 

 was upside down. The bud scales which cov- 

 ered it were oval and fashioned like a little 

 shallow dish. They were two in number and 

 placed together face to face, forming a dainty 

 little almond-shaped box, which alas! left no 

 room for the tips of the leaves. They had to 

 be sacrificed in order that the lo'dging^ might 

 be warm and wa,ter tight. 



Scientists, however, advance a much weight- 

 ier reason for the toothing and pointing of the 

 various leaves. It has been observed that the 

 leaves of American trees are not nearly so 

 deeply notched as those of their kin in the old- 

 world. Sir Herbert Spencer, the philosopher, 

 explains that this is due to the moister climate 

 and less brilliant sunshine of Europe. When 

 light and heat. Perhaps, on a hot summer day, 

 points and tongues to grasp it. They turn this 

 way and that, adapting themselves readily to 

 light and heat. Perhaps, on a hot summer day, 

 you may have noticed the leaves poised edge- 

 wise to the sky? This is to protect them from 

 the fierce rays of the sun, and so keep the little 

 chlorophyll babies and the leaf juices from be- 

 coming parched and withered. 



In our southwestern deserts, there is an odd 

 plant, called the pilot weed, or compass flower, 



