224 
THE FAIRY-LAND OF SCIENCE. 
when they were disappointed that they went off to 
the red. 
Is it not beautiful to think that the bright pleasant 
colours we love so much in flowers, are not only orna- 
mental, but that they are useful and doing their part 
in keeping up healthy life in our world ? 
Neither must we forget what sweet scents can do. 
Have you never noticed the delicious smell which 
comes from beds of mignonette, thyme, rosemary, 
mint, or sweet alyssum, from the small hidden bunches 
of laurustinus blossom, or from the tiny flowers of the 
privet? These plants have found another way of 
attracting the insects; they have no need of bright 
colours, for their scent is quite as true and certain a 
guide. You will be surprised if you once begin to 
count them up, how many white and dull or dark- 
looking flowers are sweet-scented, while gaudy flow- 
ers, such as the tulip, foxglove, and hollyhock, have 
little or no scent. And then, just as in the world we 
find some people who have everything to attract others 
to them, beauty and gentleness, cleverness, kindliness, 
and loving sympathy, so we find some flowers, like the 
beautiful lily, the lovely rose, and the delicate hya- 
cinth, which have colour and scent and graceful shapes 
all combined. 
But we are not yet nearly at an end of the con- 
trivances of flowers to secure the visits of insects. 
Have you not observed that different flowers open 
and close at different times? The daisy receives its 
name, day's eye, because it opens at sunrise and 
closes at sunset, while the evening primrose (CEnothcra 
biennis) and the night campion (Silene noctiHord) 
