Part 1

Nature Readers.

SEA-SIDE AND WAY-SIDE.

No. 3.

BY

JULIA McNAIR WRIGHT.

“And if ever the way grew long, And his strength began to fail, She sang a more beautiful song, And she told a more wonderful tale.”

LONGFELLOW’S “_Birthday Poem to Agassiz_.”

Illustrated by C. S. King.

BOSTON, U.S.A., D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS. 1894.

COPYRIGHT, 1888, BY JULIA MCNAIR WRIGHT.

Norwood Press: J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith. Boston, Mass., U.S.A.

PREFACE.

In presenting a third volume of the Nature Readers to the children of our land, and to their parents and teachers, I feel it both a duty and a delight to thank those who have so cordially and sympathetically welcomed a new departure in School-Book Literature.

I have not sought to model these Readers upon any pattern previously set, but to make them the outcome of what I have learned, by observation, of the receptive and retentive powers of children.

I desired to impart useful and needful knowledge, in a fashion which should not be burdensome, and which should strongly impress young minds.

I have had no hobby of book-making, nor of style to follow. My one idea has been to benefit the child, and to that end I have directed my whole effort.

I sing an old song when I say, that we are a nervous race, and our children are more intensely nervous than their parents. The antidote for this nervousness, and its consequent train of disasters, is to be found in the open air, in healthful out-of-door exercise, in the serene calm of nature, in the peaceful joys which the investigation of nature affords us.

If we can open wide the gates of “the fairy-land of science,”--if we can bring the child near to the heart of nature,--if we can absorb his hours of leisure, and many of his hours of brain-work, in the study of nature out of doors, we shall have done much toward making him robust in body, sound in mind, cheerful of disposition, and useful in the future.

THE AUTHOR

TO THE BOYS AND GIRLS.

Once more we are going out together by the Sea-side and the Way-side. We shall now learn more of our Great Mother, the Earth, and of her many children.

Once I read a tale of a queen, who gave all that she had to her youngest son, and ordered all his brothers and sisters to be his servants. I did not think that that was fair.

But something very like this has happened to us in this world. We human beings are the last and youngest of living things, and yet all the rest serve us, and are for our use. In this book I shall tell you the secret of this. I shall tell you of the flowers and trees; they are the earth’s eldest children. I shall tell you how they have taken insects and birds for their partners, and have gone into business, to feed the world.

We shall look at those pretty partners in their work and play.

The birds have some lovely stories to tell us in their songs.

And then, we shall put on some new spectacles, and look into the brooks, and ponds, and into the rivers and seas, and see the Fin Family, which feel so safe, hiding deep down in the waters.

And when you have learned a little of the wonderful way in which all the parts of the world fit together, and work together, I want you to think how wise and good is the great God who made all.

J. M. N. W.

CONTENTS.

LESSON PAGE

I. THE GREAT MOTHER 1

II. THE EARTH’S ELDEST CHILD 5

III. A LOOK AT A PLANT 10

IV. A YEAR IN A PLANT’S LIFE 17

V. THE GROWTH OF PLANTS 23

VI. THE FOOD OF PLANTS 30

VII. SEEDS AND LEAVES 35

VIII. THE COLOR OF PLANTS 43

IX. THE MOTION OF PLANTS 49

X. PLANTS AND THEIR PARTNERS 56

XI. AIR, WATER, AND SAND PLANTS 66

XII. PLANTS THAT EAT ANIMALS 72

XIII. WEATHER PROPHET PLANTS 79

XIV. PLANT CLOCKS 84

XV. THE SCHOOL CABINET 90

XVI. THE OLD MAN OF THE MEADOW 99

XVII. THE LIFE OF THE OLD MAN OF THE MEADOW 105

XVIII. THE ROBBER COUSIN 110

XIX. THE MERRY COUSINS 117

XX. A QUEER CRICKET 123

XXI. OTHER HOPPERS 127

XXII. A REAL LIVE FAIRY 132

XXIII. THE CHILD OF THE DAY 138

XXIV. LIFE AMONG SNOW AND ROSES 143

XXV. JOSEPH’S COAT 149

XXVI. COUSIN MOTH 154

XXVII. THE CHILD OF THE NIGHT 160

XXVIII. THE BIRD 166

XXIX. BEAKS AND CLAWS 172

XXX. TREE, GROUND, AND WATER BIRDS 178

XXXI. ON THE WING 186

XXXII. NEST BUILDING 193

XXXIII. THE BIRD AT HOME 200

XXXIV. BIRDS OF SONG 207

XXXV. THE OTHER PARTNER 211

XXXVI. A BRIGADE OF BIRDS 217

XXXVII. THE BIRDS IN THE WOODS 223

XXXVIII. THE BIRDS IN THE HOUSE 230

XXXIX. THE LOST BIRDS 235

XL. THE FIN FAMILY 239

XLI. OUTSIDE AND INSIDE 245

XLII. WHERE THEY LIVE 252

XLIII. HOW THEY BEHAVE 257

XLIV. FRY AND SCHOOL 262

XLV. SCALES AND TEETH 267

XLVI. BIG AND LITTLE BROTHERS 274

SEA-SIDE AND WAY-SIDE.

LESSON I.

THE GREAT MOTHER.

“What are you doing?” I asked a boy to-day.

“Only digging in the dirt,” he said.

“And what is that in your little cart?”

“Nothing but dirt.”

“And what is this that you call dirt?”

He did not reply. An older boy, who had read more, said: “Dirt is the top crust of the ball, called the earth, on which we live.”

“Very good. Now my lad, what is dirt worth?”

The boy who was digging said: “Ho! Dirt is worth nothing.”

“Suppose that I could take away from you all that you get from the earth. What would you have left?”

“Many things,” said the little boy.

“Well,” said the older boy, “we should have no fruit, nor vegetables, for these come from the ground. We should have no bread. Wheat grows from the ground. No sugar, for sugar is made of beets and sugar-cane.”

“And,” I said, “you would have no milk, butter, or cheese. For the cows must eat grass and other plants, from which to make milk.”

“That is so,” said the big boy. “And, since it is so, you may say we should have no meat. The animals must eat plants, of some kind, or they could not live and grow.”

The boy who was digging now looked at the dirt with more respect.

“So you would lose all your food. For food is animal or vegetable, and so comes from the dirt. Let us see about your clothes. You would lose all cotton and linen clothes. For cotton and flax grow out of the ground. You would lose all silk, woollen, and leather, clothes. The silk-worms, sheep, and other animals feed on plants that grow in the dirt. You must lose your straw hats also. Straw is the stem of a plant.”

“I should have my house,” said the boy who was digging.

“Let us see about that. Your house is made of stone, brick, or wood, plaster, paint. All these things come from the earth. Bricks are clay, burned. Wood grew in the ground as trees. Plaster is lime, sand, and so on; these come from the earth. The paint is made of oil and ground minerals. We get these minerals from the earth. If I could take from you all you have from the earth, you would have no house, nor food, nor clothes. You must go and sit out-of-doors, in a very sad state.”

“At least,” said the boy, “I should have my little iron shovel, and my little iron cart.”

“No, you would not,” said the big boy. “Iron is dug out of the earth. You would have no stove, no knives, no such things as pots, and pans, to cook in! Ha! ha! ha!”

“I have a box full of pennies,” said the small boy, “and dimes, and gold dollars; I would buy more things.”

“All your money will be gone with the rest of your losses. The pennies, dimes, dollars, are made of metals. Metals come from rocks that are found in the earth,” I said. “Also, all the dishes in your house are made of clay and metal. You would have to lose them. All your furniture is of wood, metal, and leather, you would have to lose that. But you would soon starve without food. So it makes little matter what else you lose.”

“I should sit on the sea-shore, and catch fish to eat!” cried the small boy.

“You must then catch them without hook, net, or line. But let us begin on the fish, and take away all that feed on sea plants. Next let us take away all that feed on fish that have fed on plant-life. Soon you will be in a sad way for fish to catch.”

“So all that we have comes from the earth?”

“Yes. The earth is a great treasure box, out of which come all things which we see about us. It is for this reason that we say, ‘Mother Earth.’ In old times people said the earth was the great mother of all things. So do not speak with scorn of that dirt, which is ‘the earth’s top-crust.’ What would you _have_ without it?

“What would you _be_ without it? Your flesh, blood, bones, are built up of what you eat and drink. If all the things that come out of the earth were taken from you, you would soon perish.

“Just now you found that you would have no house to live in, and no clothes to wear. So, soon your mind and soul would have no body-house to live in; no flesh-clothes to wear. Every part of you, except the mind and soul part, comes from the earth.

“When we look at the earth that which we first notice is the plant, or vegetable. By plants we mean the trees, grasses, and other things, which grow out of the soil. Plants are Mother Earth’s first children.

“Beside the plants which grow in the soil, there are plants which are called air-plants, because they grow in the air. Also there are plants which grow in water. These are called water, or aquatic plants.”

We will now have some lessons on plant-life.

LESSON II.

THE EARTH’S ELDEST CHILD.

Perhaps you have looked at the books of some of the elder pupils in your school. Did you see one marked “_Botany_”? Did you see in it pictures of flowers, and parts of flowers? Botany is the study of plants.

These lessons in your Nature Reader are not to teach you botany. They are only to tell you some of the curious things about plants. When you read these lessons, you will like plants, not only because they are so very pretty and useful, but because of the wonders of the plant-world.

I shall tell you some of the secrets of the wonder-world of plants. Then I hope you will wish to find out more of the secrets for yourselves.

I once asked Tom, “What is a plant?”

“A plant!” cried Tom, “oh, a plant is--a potato, a turnip;” and off he went, quite satisfied with his answer.

He was content, because he knew so little. If he had known more, his answer would not have suited him so well.

You will get a peep at the wonders of plant-life from this little story. I said to a class of girls, who had studied botany for a year: “What is a plant? I will give you half an hour to find an answer that will suit you.”

One girl said in a hurry: “A plant is not a living thing!”

“O you silly girl!” cried all the rest. “A plant grows. Only living things can grow. Why do you say ‘a living tree,’ and ‘a dead tree,’ if plants are not living things? Did you never see a plant dying or dead?”

“A plant,” said another, “is a living thing that does not breathe.”

“Oh, but it does breathe. It breathes air.”

“A plant is a living thing that eats only minerals.”

“Ah! but some plants eat little bugs, and meat.”

“A plant is a living thing that does not move.”

“It does move! Does not the vine climb up the tree, or by the side of the house? Do not some flowers turn each day to follow the path of the sun? Does not the wild ivy run over the ground? Then there is a plant in the desert that moves to find water. It gets loose from the sand. It bends up into a circle or wheel. Then the wind rolls it along, until it reaches a moist place where it can live. There it roots again.”

“A plant is a living thing without blood.”

“Its sap, or juice, is its blood. It serves the plant as blood serves man. The sap is as much the blood of the plant as the white fluid in the jelly-fish, the insect, or the barnacle, is blood for them.[1] All animals do not have thick, red blood.”

“A plant is a thing that does not sleep,” said one girl.

“Yes, but plants _do_ sleep. We learned that once.”

“A plant is a living thing, without feelings.”

“Some of them seem to have feeling. They move or shrink when you touch them. A star-fish, as he breaks himself up, does not seem to have more feeling than a plant.”

“Let us say,” said one, “that a plant is a live thing, that grows in the soil.”

“But there are plants that grow only in air, or in water, or in other plants. There are plenty of plants that grow in bread, cheese, milk, and preserves.”[2]

Finally they said: “A plant is a living thing, generally rooted in the earth, and growing from a seed, or something like a seed. A plant has no brain, and no nerves.”

Their teacher told them that the great point about a plant is, that the plant eats minerals and turns them into other substances. Animals get most of the mineral food that they eat from the plants, after the plants have made it over.

Now, from what this class said, you have learned some of the curious things about plants. Plants live, breathe, grow, move, eat, drink, and sleep.

More than this, I shall show you how plants serve for clocks. Plants also can tell you about the weather, whether it will be wet or dry.

And the plants have gone into business, and have partners. The birds and insects are the plant’s partners. The plants live, and grow, and go into business, just to make other plants. But the end of the business is, that the world is fed.

Do you now think that you should like to learn about plants? Here are a few facts to begin with.

Plants are so different in size that they are among the largest and the smallest things in the world. The great trees in California are so large that a hundred people can stand upon one stump. They are as tall as the tallest towers in the world. Twenty men on horses can ride into the hollow of one tree. Other very great trees are found in other parts of the world.[3] The largest trees are in Australia and California.

In other places there are also very big trees. In New Jersey I once saw a large, hollow tree, in which a goat lived. He was a big goat. He jumped about and slept inside the tree. When the children called him he came out to draw their cart. In another hollow tree I saw a very nice play-house.

While some plants are so large, others are very small. There is a little pond weed, which, root and all, is not so big as a grain of rice. Other plants are as small as pin heads. Others are so small that you cannot see them without a microscope.

Plants differ as much in age as in size. Some grow and die in a few hours, or a day. Others live only a year. Some trees are said to live three thousand years.

There are plants that have flowers, and plants that never have any flowers. There are plants that grow from the outside in, other plants grow from the inside out.[4] If you like plants, and some day study Botany, you will find out about all these things.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See Nature Reader, No. 2, on these subjects.

[2] That which we call _mould_ upon such substances is a form of vegetable life.

[3] The oldest and largest known tree is a chestnut at the foot of Mount Etna. The trunk is 212 feet in girth.

[4] Gray’s “How Plants Grow,” pp. 41, 42, will here aid the teacher.

LESSON III.

A LOOK AT A PLANT.

Plants are divided into two great classes. One class contains all plants with flowers. The other class contains plants that have no flowers. The plants with flowers are the ones which you like best. They are of the most interest to you. Besides this, they are the easiest to learn about.

A piece of moss is a flowerless plant. What you call a “simple bit of moss,” would be harder to learn about than a whole garden full of lilies and roses.

The plants with flowers are the most perfect plants. They are also the most beautiful, and the most useful. A perfect plant has six parts for you to notice: 1, the root; 2, the stem; 3, leaves; 4, blossoms (the blossom is made of several parts); 5, a bag or box for seeds; 6, seeds.

Here are all those parts shown in our picture of a pea-vine. You see our pea-vine has something else. It has little curly things with which to climb. They are its hands for taking hold of objects. They are leaves, buds, or twigs, that have changed. They are now tendrils. They grew slim, and long, and curly, as the plant had need of them for climbing.

Some plants do not have all these parts. Some have no stems. Have you not found little plants without stems? The leaves and flowers sit close upon the earth. Some plants have no leaves.

Sometimes parts of the flower are gone. Instead of a fine flower there may be only a little scale, with a bunch of small threads lying upon it.

Now let us take a little look at the parts of a perfect plant. We just want to see the great variety in them. We will learn also of what use they are to the plant.

Of what use are roots? The root is the plant’s anchor to hold it firm in its place. The root is the plant’s pantry or cellar, where much of its food is stored up. The root is the plant’s mouth. Many of the mouths of the plant are on the ends of the little fibres that grow from the main part of the root. Get some plant roots and look at the fringe-like, slender fibres. These little mouths under ground are eating, eating, eating, all the time. They eat all kinds of minerals held in water in the earth.

Roots last one, two, or many years. Where the root lasts one year, the plant is soft and juicy. Where the root lasts over one year, the plant is often more or less hard and woody.

Roots differ much in shape. Pull up some grass. That has roots like a bunch of coarse threads. When I was a child I was much pleased to learn that it was such slim, thread-like roots that held together the earth of the Holland coast, so the sea could not wash it away.

Get a carrot from the garden or market. What a long wedge-like root it has. The radish is a slimmer root. The beet has the same general shape, but is thicker. The turnip is round. The dahlia has rough, knobby roots of many shapes.

But, in fact, all these thick parts which we call roots are not true roots. The real true roots are the little fibres with mouths at the ends. These thick, round, wedge-shaped, or knobby, parts, are stems, or parts of stems, that grow under ground.

Now and then, if a tree or plant is set in the earth, top down, the roots will put out leaves and buds. This shows that they are underground stems, or branches.

“What kind of a root is a potato?” asks Bobby. A potato is not a root. It is a thick underground stem. The real potato roots are the little fibres.

“What kind of root is an onion?” says Mary. An onion is not a root, it is a bud or bulb. The scales are leaves that have grown white and thick. The real roots of the onion are the fibres that hang in a bunch under the round part.

Roots are of many colors. They are brown, white, red, yellow, pink, orange.

Roots of many plants are useful to men for food. They also have stored up in them the food on which the plant lives.

Now let us look at the plant stem. See this lily stem. It dies down each year. It is soft and hollow, and full of water. Cut down a rose stem. That lives a number of years. It is hard and woody.

Some stems have leaves growing upon them, some have none. Some are smooth, others are jointed. Have you seen the joints or rings on a corn-stalk?

Some stems are erect, as the trunks of trees. Some stems climb, as that of the vine; some creep along the ground, as those of the strawberry.

Some stems are round, some square; some are smooth; some are rough.

The color of most stems is green, or brown. Sometimes they are yellow, or of other colors. The corn stem is pale yellow. It has joints. From some of these lower joints you will see roots growing out, and reaching down to fasten in the ground. They act as tent cords; they help hold the stalk firm in the earth.

The trunk of a great tree is a stem; so is the fine stalk of a violet. You see how they differ in size. But different kinds of stems have different names.

Of what use are stems? To the plant the stem is of use, as it holds the leaves, and flowers, and fruit, up into the air and sun. Also the stem is made up of the tubes or pipes which carry the sap, and the food it holds, through all the plant.

Plant stems are very useful to men. The stems of trees give us wood for fuel, and to build ships and houses, and to make furniture. Some stems are also good for food. The stems of flax give us linen.

Now let us look at leaves. What can you tell me about leaves? You will say they are mostly green, but some are of other colors. You will tell me that some are thick, some are thin. Some have veins like a net, some have straight veins. Some leaves are smooth, some rough, or downy.

Some leaves are long, like those of the yellow lily; some are round, like those of the water lily. Some are shaped like hearts, some like arrows, some like shields. Some have smooth edges, some have edges pointed or scalloped. Suppose you count and see how many kinds of leaves you find?

Of what use are leaves? By the leaves the plant breathes. But I shall tell you more about the use of leaves to the plant some other time. Leaves are of use to man. They make a lovely shade. Some leaves are good for food. Out of some leaves cloth, hats, and other useful things, are made.

Leaves differ much in size. There are big palm leaves, ten feet wide. Other leaves are as small as a grain of rice.

Most leaves die and drop from the trees in the fall of the year. But some leaves stay green all winter.

The part of the plant which you like best is the flower. The flower has the most of the color, and the most of the fragrance of the plant. In the flower cup is that drop of honey which the insects like.

Let us look at a buttercup flower. First, here is a ring of what you call five green leaves. They form a cup to hold the flower. Next to these you find a row of bright yellow leaves. These are the petals. Inside there is a little bunch of fine fringe. This fringe is of two kinds. The outside threads are stamens, the middle ones pistils.

The stamens have on them the pollen, or yellow dust, of which you have heard.[5] At the bottom of the pistil is the little seed case or bag. This case grows. It holds the seeds. The other parts of the flower fade and fall. The seed case grows and grows, and the seeds grow in it.

The seed cup, or case, is of many shapes and sizes. I shall tell you more of the seed and its case some other time.

Flowers differ as much or more than leaves in shape, color, size. They differ also in smell. Some smell sweet; some smell bad; some have no smell. Sometimes the flower cup is all in one piece, sometimes it is in two, three, five, or very many pieces.

FOOTNOTES:

[5] Nature Reader, No. 2, pp. 34, 35; No. 1, pp. 39, 45.

LESSON IV.

A YEAR IN A PLANT’S LIFE.