20 
THE FAIRY-LAND OF SCIENCE. 
petals free and definite, stamens hypogynous and 
indefinite, pistil apocarpous. But it is far sweeter to 
learn about the life of the little plant, to understand 
why its peculiar flower is useful to it, and how it 
feeds itself, and makes its seed. No one can love dry 
Fig> 2 facts ; we must clothe 
them with real mean- 
ing and love the truths 
they tell, if we wish to 
enjoy science. 
Let us take an ex- 
ample to show this. 
I have here a branch 
of white coral, a beau- 
tiful, delicate piece of 
nature's work. We 
will begin by copy- 
ing a description of 
it from one of those 
class-books which sup- 
pose children to learn 
words like parrots, 
and to repeat them 
with just as little un- 
derstanding. 
" Coral is formed by 
an animal belonging 
to the kingdom of 
Radiates, sub-kingdom Polypes. The soft body of 
the animal is attached to a support, the mouth 
opening upwards in a row of tentacles. The coral 
is secreted in the body of the polyp out of the 
Piece of white coral. 
