162 THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS 
as were those clever arctic foxes spoken of by the 
Danish travellers as being particularly fond of 
the eider-duck’s eggs and having to devise the trick 
of reaching the almost inaccessible nests where they 
are located on the steep sides of high cliffs, by tak- 
ing one another’s tails in their mouths, and thus 
forming a string, similar to a “human chain,” of 
sufficient length to reach the eggs, and then letting 
one end down over the cliff. We are not told, 
however, how these eggs were passed up by the 
crafty foxes! 
Plants are no less capable in acquiring their ne- 
cessities, though much of their cleverness is hidden 
from us. It is well known, however, that when 
they hibernate they suspend practically all natural 
functions, and the long sleep is broken only by 
the approach of spring. This period of slumber 
is the time when the plant is inwardly preparing 
for the oncoming season. 
But this sleep is not for long. When the snow 
disappears, note the marvellous change! It is al- 
most a re-creative awakening. Even when there 
may be still many days of cold and frost ahead, 
those trees whose habit it is to flower early begin 
to put forth their first young buds. But should a 
mild period occur in December, there are no signs 
of awakening in these trees. Hither, it seems, the 
