The Betony 



it does not stand out as particularly remarkable, 



nor has it any specially distinguishing features. It 



comes up year after year from a woody root the 



thickness of one's little finger. Its square stem, 



a foot or two high, is furrowed, each portion that 



lies between the pairs of leaves having two sides 



more deeply hollowed than the other two. These 



deeper grooves are the gutters of the plant leading 



down to its reservoir, namely, the soil immediately 



round the root, and they run from the points between 



the leaves of one pair to the midrib of each of the 



leaves in the pair immediately below it. The 



surfaces of the leaves collect moisture and tilt so as 



to send it down the next groove, and so on, and thus 



the greater part of the rain falling on a plant is 



gathered up into two streams which increase in 



volume as the base of the plant is reached. It is 



interesting to find that though the ungrooved part 



of the stem is not " wetted " by water, these gutters 



can be so wetted, and hence the passage of water 



is facihtated down them. The reason of this 



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