probably saved its life by falling into the hands of

Art'-i-fi-cer, one who makes by Be-at'-i-fy, to make blessed or

EAVES are so common

that we do not observe how beautiful they are. But let us take any common leaf into our hand and examine it-say the leaf of the strawberry plant. See how prettily it is notched. Hold it up to the light, and see the lines that run from the middle line to the edge. Then observe how delicate and beautiful is the fine network between these lines.

2. Notice also the back of the leaf, and you will see ribs that spread out from the main rib in the middle to the edge. These form the frame of the leaf, just as timbers are the frame of a house. They

are to the leaf what the ribs are to an umbrella. They give strength to it, and without it the leaf would look faded and hang down. These ribs are very large in broad spreading leaves, as in those of the vine and rhubarb plant; while in leaves that are stiff and firm, like the holly and the laurel, the ribs are very small.

3. Some leaves are of a very singular shape, and one of the most remarkable is that of the pitcherplant, a native of China. At the end of the leaf the main rib extends like a tendril, and to this is attached a little pitcher with a lid on the top. This lid, though it can be raised, is generally shut down. The rain, therefore, cannot get in, and yet the pitcher is always full of water.

4. Now, how do you suppose this water gets there? It is a part of the sap of the plant, and is poured from thousands of little mouths on the inside into the pitcher, which is thus kept filled with water.

5. This plant is quite common in the island of Ceylon, where it is called the monkey-cup, because the monkeys sometimes open the lid and drink the water. Men, too, sometimes drink from these little pitchers, when there is no spring of water at hand where they can quench their thirst.

6. The leaf of the Venus fly-trap-a plant which is a native of Canada-is a real trap for flies and other insects. When undisturbed, it looks as if no danger were there; but let an insect alight on the leaf, and he is made a prisoner at once. The two parts of the leaf close, and the points on the edges

are locked together, so as to furnish bars to the prison.

7. Most leaves are thin, but some are very thick, as in the case of the India-rubber tree. The plants

called cactuses have thick fleshy leaves, which make them look very awkward; but the flowers are very beautiful. It is a singular fact that if one of the

leaves be broken off and put into the ground, it will take root and grow.

8. Why does a leaf fade when it is plucked from a tree? It is because the sap can no longer get to it; just as no water can get into a house when the water-pipe is cut off. When the leaf is on the tree, the sap flows to all parts of it through the ribs of the leaf; the ribs, like the stem, having innumerable little pipes in them for the sap to run in.

9. But when a leaf is plucked, the watery part of the sap escapes into the air through innumerable little holes or pores on the under surface of the leaf, so small that they cannot be seen without the aid of a powerful microscope. When the ribs and the fine network between them have thus lost their supply of sap, the leaf is said to be faded.

10. The water in the leaf of the pitcher-plant, as already stated, comes from the pores on the inside. If, instead of having a pitcher-shape, the leaf were laid open and spread out like a common leaf, the water would all pass away into the air; but the little pitcher, with its curious lid, prevents the moisture from escaping, and is soon quite full. This shows how much water escapes from leaves into the air. If any common leaf could be changed into a pitcher or cup shape, with a lid on it, it would soon be filled with water, flowing into it from the pores of the leaf.

11. Leaves may be said to be continually breathing moisture into the air. This moisture helps to make the air soft, and the fragrance of the flowers makes it balmy. Each leaf, it is true, yields but