Inasmuch as it is positively known that plants are sensitive to light, it may be that, in this case, the vine actually perceives the support through a process akin to animal sight; but if a climbing plant finds itself growing between two mounds or ridges, and behind one there is a wall or some other means of support, and behind the other none, it will invariably bend its creeping steps over the ridge hiding the wall. The wall was invisible from the plant’s starting-point, and certainly betrayed its presence through no odour or other manifestation. In some mysterious way, the creeper simply knew that a vital necessity of its life lay in a certain direction. Ordinarily, we associate such phenomena with psychic influences. It is quite evident, that in certain ways, the plants display a very practical knowledge of such mysteries. For many years, man has instinctively been aware of this psychic superiority of the members of the vegetable kingdom, and has gone to them for advice in various troubles and difficulties, even sometimes believing the plants to have a direct control over the affairs and lives of men. While the great mass of such alleged influence is classed by modern thought as merest superstition, who can say that the wildest of these fancies does not contain certain germs of truth? At any rate, a brief investigation of some of the more popular beliefs of former years is very illuminating. In ancient days, many flowers and plants were supposed to possess the power of discovering the location of lost or hidden riches and conducting a human searcher to them. The Germans named the Primrose Schlüsselblume, or key-flower, in the belief that, if held in the hand, it would unlock to its possessor the location of buried treasure by some movement or other manifestation. To this day, many country people in Europe and America have implicit faith in the ability of the divining rod to seek out underground water. There are many enlightened folk who claim that reported successes of this method of picking well-sites are mere coincidences, but in view of the wide-spread reliance on this theory which is constantly meeting the most practical tests, would it not be open-minded to suggest that possibly the branches of the rod do make some slight movement toward the hidden water with which they have a natural affinity? As mentioned in a previous chapter, young people through all ages have gone to flowers for counsel when in love. The most frequent masculine question has been “Does she love me?” The flowers have given the answer in a variety of ways, most often by the number of their petals. The query of the very young girl usually has been “Will I be married?” and she has been sure to see that the reply is most often in the affirmative. In _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_, Oberon tells Puck to lay Pansies on Titania’s eyes in order that she may fall in love with the first person she sees upon awakening.