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HOW TO DISSECT A FLOWER. 
By M. C. COOKE. 
T he first flowers of spring always possess greater interest 
for us than the more showy and attractive floral beauties 
that grace the summer. The absence of wild flowers during the 
winter causes the opening of the first primrose or buttercup to be 
welcomed like the coming of a long absent friend. The snow- 
drop becomes the type of the resurrection of vegetable life, and 
the crocus with its cloth of gold ” prophesies of golden sunlight. 
Then we begin to think of the advent of the cuckoo, the sweet 
odour of the hawthorn, the twitterings of the swallows, and, 
unless we are very prosaic, dream ourselves into the summer 
unawares. But these early flowers have in themselves hidden 
beauty, order, and harmony, which are not apparent to every 
eye ; and, if questioned closely, they will reveal their mysteries 
to the enquiring spirit. Even the primrose and the buttercup 
become of greater interest when better understood; and as a 
help towards this better acquaintance, it is our purpose to tear 
them in pieces, full of hope that in their destruction we may 
obtain wisdom. 
There is not much mystery in the art of dissecting a flower ; 
but, as in everything else, there is a method — a right way and 
its opposite — and method is not always intuitive. The requisite 
instruments are but few — the fewer and simpler the better ; 
a multitude of tools is no evidence of the excellence of a work- 
man. It may be that many who read these pages will be as 
familiar therewith beforehand as the writer, and marvel that he 
should not have told them more, or at least some new thing. 
Others will be glad of such a commonplace companion over a 
primrose, and with them the story begins. 
A good clump of primroses, at least half a dozen flowers, is 
the first requisite, and the most important one. As we pluck 
one and hold it between the finger and thumb, 'turning it 
about in all directions, we observe that the stalk, or peduncle, 
which supports the flower, expands into a kind of long cup 
which holds within it the lower portion of the pale sulphur- 
