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210
The Fairy-Land of Science
·
Arabella B. Buckley
195
And
now
you
will
see
why
cup-shaped
flowers
so
often
droop
their
heads
-
think
of
the
harebell,
the
snowdrop,
the
lily-of-the-
valley,
the
campanula,
and
a
host
of
others;
how
pretty
they
look
with
their
bells
hanging
so
modestly
from
the
slender
stalk!
They
are
bending
down
to
protect
the
honey-glands
within
them,
for
if
the
cup
became
full
of
rain
or
dew
the
honey
would
be
useless,
and
the
insects
would
cease
to
visit
them.
Week
29
But
it
is
not
only
necessary
that
the
flowers
should
keep
their
honey
for
the
insects,
they
also
have
to
take
care
and
keep
it
for
the
right
kind
of
insect.
Ants
are
in
many
cases
great
enemies
to
them,
for
they
like
honey
as
much
as
bees
and
butterflies
do,
yet
you
will
easily
see
that
they
are
so
small
that
if
they
creep
into
a
flower
they
pass
the
anthers
without
rubbing
against
them,
and
so
take
the
honey
without
doing
any
good
to
the
plant.
Therefore
we
find
numberless
contrivances
for
keeping
the
ants
and
other
creeping
insects
away.
Look
for
example
at
the
hairy
stalk
of
the
primrose
flower;
those
little
hairs
are
like
a
forest
to
a
tiny
ant,
and
they
protect
the
flower
from
his
visits.
The
Spanish
catchfly
(Silene
otites),
on
the
other
hand,
has
a
smooth,
but
very
gummy
stem,
and
on
this
the
insects
stick,
if
they
try
to
climb.
Slugs
and
snails
too
will
often
attack
and
bite
flowers,
unless
they
are
kept
away
by
thorns
and
bristles,
such
as
we
find
on
the
teazel
and
the
burdock.
And
so
we
are
gradually
learning
that
everything
which
a
plant
does
has
its
meaning,
if
we
can
only
find
it
out,
and
that
even
very
insignificant
hair
has
its
own
proper
use,
and
when
we
are
once
aware
of
this
a
flower-garden
may
become
quite
a
new
world
to
us
if
we
open
our
eyes
to
all
that
is
going
on
in
it.
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