THE WHITE CLOVER. 
349 
been clearly worked out and adopted by the ablest comparative 
anatomists of tkis and other countries as applied to higher 
organisms, and even to man himself. 
The susceptibility of the little Trifolium to the withdrawal 
of light, and its habit of closing its leaves somewhat on the 
approach of night, remind us of its family relationship to the 
group of Sensitive plants. While examining the tissue of 
the stems under the microscope, the abundance of spiral fibre 
suggested the thought that this very elastic and delicate material 
might possibly have something to do with the hitherto unex- 
plained cause of the curious movements of the Sensitive Plants. 
Microscopic research, in skilful hands, will do much to clear up 
these unsolved questions ; yet we cannot hope to see the time 
when, in the whole Ocean of Truth, there shall not be, even to 
the greatest and wisest of our race, hidden and unexplored 
depths, whose existence is only indicated on the surface by a 
gentle ripple, which excites no attention from the casual 
observer. Let us, each in his own way, be it ever so small, do 
what we can to trace out and mark 
“ Lessons of wisdom even in a flower.” 
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES XIX. and XX. 
Fig. 1 . Plant of White Clover. 
2. Seed of White Clover germinating. 
3. Flower of White Clover’. 
4. Stamens of same. 
5. Legume or Fruit. 
6. 7. Seed. 
8. Metamorphosis of the calyx teeth of the flower into leaves. 
9. The Flowerets, consisting of a calyx larger than usual, with mere 
rudimentary traces of petals and stamens, and the plant passing 
over two stages of its flower structure proceeds directly to form 
a pod. 
10. A specimen in which the stamens were distinct, but where one 
stamen had the form of a leaf, with two bract-like appendages, 
perhaps representing two other leaves at its base, together with 
a true stamen attached to the stalk at either side. 
11. The Pistil metamorphosed into a perfect expanded leaf, leaflets 
occupying the place of ovules at its edge. 
12. The Pistil represented by a leaflet which is metamorphosed into a 
pod, two abortive leaflets at the base of the imperfect pod on 
either side. 
