120 THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE chap. 



accounts for the redness of the berries ; the 

 Mistletoe was so grieved that she has ever 

 since borne fruit like tears ; and the crow, 

 whose form Loki had taken, and which till 

 then had been white, was turned black. 



This pretty myth accounts for several things, 

 but is open to fatal objections. 



Recent attempts to explain the facts of 

 Nature are not less fascinating, and, I think, 

 more successful. 



Why then this marvellous variety ? this 

 inexhaustible treasury of beautiful forms ? 

 Does it result from some innate tendency in 

 each species ? Is it intentionally designed to 

 delight the eye of man ? Or has the form 

 and size and texture some reference to the 

 structure and organisation, the habits and 

 requirements of the whole plant ? 



I shall never forget hearing Darwin's paper 

 on the structure of the Cowslip and Primrose, 

 after which even Sir Joseph Hooker compared 

 himself to Peter Bell, to whom 



A primrose by a river's brim 

 A yellow primrose was to him, 

 And it was nothing more. 



