Walks in Weardale (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1883 Excerpt: ... fly. The sheltered seclusion of the ravine is most enjoyable on a sultry summer's day, when, screened by the overhanging trees, you can seat yourself on the limestone shelf and listen to the ancient song of the mountain stream accented here and there as the water tumbles over each rocky ledge. Leaving the cave you can retrace your steps and examine the flora of the banks. Passing over the stepping stones and going a short distance in the direction of up stream, you will find about June a profuse growth of the yellow blooms of the Mountain Globe flower. Its petals and sepals are of burnished gold and bent over at the top, giving it a globe-like appearance. Very beautiful it is, flashing in the summer sun, and inviting us to consider the purpose of such showy colours in the flower world. To delight the eye of man was the old theory; to attract the attention of insects and secure their services is the later theory. It is well known that insects are attracted by showy colours and that they have also an exquisite sense of smell. Bees, butterflies, and moths are the principal agents in flower fertilization; attracted by the showy colour or fragrance of the flower they come in search of its delicious nectar, guided in many cases by the veins of the flowers which lead down to the nectaries, and after robbing the flower of its sweets, they pursue their way, and carry with them adhering to their bodies the fertilizing dust or pollen which they deposit on the flowers subsequently visited. The butterfly with his 28,000 perfect eyes, 14,000 on each side, works by day and the moth by night. To facilitate the services of the moth, those flowers that bloom at evening are generally white or yellow so as to be more easily seen in the dusk, and are usually of the sweetest per...