THE SUMMIT OF THE YEARS 



"find," when, in truth, they find nothing; they 

 simply fall by chance upon the spots suitable for 

 them, as a thirsty blind man might stumble upon a 

 spring. 



The spores of the black knot trust themselves 

 blindly to the wind which bloweth where it listeth, 

 and yet had they a thousand eyes they could not 

 more surely find the plum or cherry trees or other 

 hosts they are in need of. In autumn how many 

 seeds of how many plants are waiting with hooks 

 and barbs ready to seize on some passing creature 

 and get free transportation to new lands ! To cow's 

 tail, to sheep's wool, to dog's hair, to men's clothing, 

 they commit themselves and take their chances. 

 Some one has written a book called "A Vagabond 

 Journey around the World" — circling the globe 

 without money or friends. How many plants have 

 made this same journey, catching or stealing a ride 

 here and there, tarrying in this country and in that, 

 but sooner or later pressing forward! 



This haphazard method of Nature is well illus- 

 trated by the experimental course of an animal in 

 learning to do a new thing. The laboratory experi- 

 mentalists tell us that when a rat or a cat learns to 

 open a box to get food, it does so by an all-round- 

 the-circle course of action. It proceeds as Nature 

 does in her endless trials. The rat begins by running 

 round and over the box that holds the food, gnawing 

 the wires, pushing its nose into every mesh of the 

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