self of this, he subjected plants whose leaves are disposed to sleep, to the action of artificial light, furnished by two lamps, which were, when united, equal to five-sixths of daylight. The results were varied.

8. "When I exposed," he says, "the sensitive plant to the light during the night, and to the shade during the day, I observed that at first the plants opened and closed their leaves without any fixed rule, but after a few days they seemed to submit to the new conditions, and opened their leaves in the night, which was day to them, and closed them in the morning, which was their night. When exposed to a continuous light, they had, as in their ordinary state, periods of sleeping and waking, but each of the periods was shorter than ordinary. On the other hand, when exposed to continuous darkness, they still presented the changes from sleeping to waking, but very irregularly."

9. Returning to the sensitive plant, we may observe that it has to a certain extent the power of accustoming itself to a touch or shock. A botanist, carrying a sensitive plant in a carriage, noticed that the plant closed its leaflets and all its leaves drooped as soon as the carriage began to roll over the pavement, but by degrees it seemed to recover from its fright, and became habituated, so to speak, to the movements, for its leaves resumed their erect position, and its leaflets their full expansion. The carriage was then stopped for a time, and when it resumed its motion the plant responded by dropping its leaves as before, but after a time they expanded again, and so continued during the remainder of the journey.

FIGUIER. Adapted.

17. — THE FLOWER.

dis-pens'er, that which bestows.
hy-men-e'al, pertaining to marriage.
ma-tür'ing, growing, ripening.

re-pro-duc'tion, act of reproducing. sym'me-try, proportion of parts. ten'e-ment, dwelling-place.

1. WHY comes the flower upon the plant? That fruit may come. And why the fruit? That it may hold, protect, and cherish the seed. And why the seed? That the plant may have offspring-that other plants may grow up and be as near like itself as one living thing can well be like another.

2. The flower is the beginning of the seed, the first step toward reproduction, and the fruit is the flower completed. If it does throw aside its floral ornaments, if it sheds its petals or any other adorning or useful parts of its blooming period, it still retains the maturing seed and ends in the ripened fruit.

3. Look inside of almost any flower and you will see embosomed in its petals the thread-like organs called stamens with little yellow knobs at their ends. Shake them; if they are ripe, they will give up the fine dust or pollen, so light that the breeze will blow it away.

4. Some flowers have few stamens, some have many, and of the latter the apple and cherry blossoms afford examples. Most of the different grasses have three stamens to each of their little flowers. Here for example is a head of timothygrass with its long thick bunch of flowers crowded together at the top of the slender stem. Early in the summer about June you may see the little stamens peeping out all around, three of them together, and their little golden knobs dangling in the breeze. Some plants have only two stamens on

a flower, and there is a water plant called the mare's-tail with only one stamen. A few flowers, indeed, are wholly destitute of this organ.

5. Besides the stamens, there are also in most flowers, other threads, stems, or knobs, somewhat like the stamens, but generally of a different color. These pistils, as they are called, have their place in the center of the flower, while the stamens stand around them. Unlike the stamens, the pistils have no pollen; but it is on the latter that the pollen must fall, in order that the plant may bear seed. It is in the bottom of the pistils that the seeds grow, but there will OTHY-GRASS. be no seed unless the dust or pollen from the stamens falls on the pistils.

HEAD OF TIM

6. Most plants bear flowers that have always both stamens and pistils, and such flowers are called perfect flowers. But there are also plants that have two kinds of flowers, in some of which are stamens only, and in the others pistils only. Then, again, there are flowers with stamens only on one plant, and flowers with pistils only on another plant of the same kind. The willow-trees have such flowers.

7. Flowers are the joyous expression of the plant at the first flush of coming offspring. Fit emblems are they of hymeneal happiness. In form the flower gives us the first evidence of beauty circling into symmetry; and in this simple framework of budding elegance singleness of color finds a fit dwelling-place. Let a flower have but three petals, of red, of yellow, of blue, or of white, and does it not address itself most charmingly to the eye? Its very simplicity is dear to us. In flowers we behold the first

announcement of the law that all life shall mould itself out of earthly elements a tenement of beauty.

8. Of the five senses, flowers address themselves most feelingly to two. In delighting the sense of smell they stand pre-eminent almost alone. Does true fragrance ever come from anything but a plant? and are not flowers especially the generous dispensers of grateful odors ? And to the eye what wealth of beauty do they unfold!

9. We need think of no more than the lily, the pink, and the rose. Was anything ever arrayed like one of these? When we look upon them they fill the heart with a childlike joy. We smell of them, and exclaim that their fragrance exceeds even their beauty. Again we look upon them, and now we aver that their beauty surpasses their perfume.

SPAKE full well in language quaint and olden,
One who dwelleth by the castled Rhine,
When he called the flowers so blue and golden,
Stars that in earth's firmament do shine.

Wondrous truths and manifold as wondrous,
God hath written in those stars above;
But not less in the bright flowerets under us
Stands the revelation of His love.

Bright and glorious is that revelation,
Writ all over this great world of ours
Making evident our own creation,

In these stars of earth, these golden flowers.

Everywhere about us are they glowing:
Some like stars to tell us spring is born;
Others, their blue eyes with tears o'erflowing,
Stand like Ruth amid the golden corn.

LONGFELLOW.

19. HOW PLANTS EMPLOY INSECTS TO WORK FOR THEM.

al-lüre'ments, enticements.

cat'kin, lengthened flower cluster. chrys'a-lis [kris-], pupa, or cocoon

into which an insect passes. fer'ti-lize, make fruitful.

pro-bos'cis, a horny tube, projecting
from the head of insects.
prog'e-ny [proj'-], offspring.
stig'ma, the part of the pistil which
receives the pollen.

1. PLANTS supply animals say, is what they were made for.

with food. That, we may In some cases the whole